but if we workers support our elders, that will reduce the supply of labor to Wal-Mart! if we support our children, who will make the artificial flowers to sell at the street-corner? By supporting these non-workers, do not we encourage them to become dependent on our help? Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://myweb.lmu.edu/jdevine
________________________________ From: PEN-L list on behalf of paul phillips Sent: Fri 11/5/2004 8:08 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [PEN-L] Social Security David's posts are exactly why I insist that the left must have a moral compass and not the neolib compass of personal gain. It is my moral obligation to provide for my parents/grand parents who not only brought me into this world but raised me, paid for my upbringing and education and for the infrastructure that I now enjoy. But also I have a moral obligation to pay for those who were less fortunate than myself, for whatever reason. I feel a particular obligation to my children and grandchildren to provide them with the education and social capital they need and try to restore the environment to a sustainable condition so that they can enjoy the fruits of nature and human design, and also help to maintain me and our generation at a confortable material and cultural level. Without that moral compass, we are mere beasts, sans humanite! That, to my mind, is the meaning of being 'left'! Paul Phillips Eubulides wrote: >----- Original Message ----- >From: "David B. Shemano" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Again, to generalize, I distinguish capital investments (roads, schools, >bridges, military, etc.) and other types of public goods which have >cross-generational benefits. The costs of public goods that have >cross-generational benefits should be shared with future generations, >which would justify deficit spending. I would not put generational >monetary transfers into that category. > >David Shemano > >================= > >So parents should leave no bequests? > >Such is the insidiousness of the comparative statics of neoclassical >micro............ > > >
