[Platt] Don't think so. If the prisoner refuses to work and starves himself to death that is his choice, whereas to execute him is the state's choice.
[Arlo] Now you're talking suicide? If a prisoner "opts" to go on a hunger strike, the state can do little, but if the prisoner wants to eat, the state may not ignore this and passively let him/her starve. By ignoring the prisoner's desire to eat, and passively letting him/her starve, the state is in fact committing execution. Pirsig is clear about the only moral reason under which this can occur. [Platt] Taxation, an assault on man's pocketbook, is an assault on a man's liberty. [Arlo] So now you're saying that taxation to fund public land is an "assault on man's liberty"? What about taxation to fund the military? Is that "an assault on man's liberty"? The statement you provided makes no differentiation, so I guess we abolish the military and let the good times roll. Taxation is simply not an assault on "liberty", that's one of the more gross distortions of the modern dialogue. Taxation to fund social infrastructure enables freedom. In the same way that a man who is restricted from murdering (less "liberty") finds him/herself living with far greater freedoms, taxation is a good thing. As is challenging the notion that a man should live or die by the size of his bank account. [Platt] Some values are higher than life itself, no matter how you try to run from them. [Arlo] And wealth is not one of them. moq_discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
