Government Shutdown? Promise?
There’s a post over at The Politico about a potential government shutdown in the fall.
I don’t know about you, but nothing would make me happier!
The federal government unable to function? Unable to tell us how to live, how strongly to support political candidates, how to run our businesses, how to obtain our health care, and all the other gross intrusions of the government in our lives? Would the government stop confiscating part of my paycheck and redistributing it to others? Would it stop funding expensive scientific projects? Would it stop sending troops all over the world in ‘defense’ of America?
Those are a few of the things I would expect if the government actually ’shut down.’ But I imagine they’ll be finding ways to continue coercing us regardless of Congressional budget decisions.
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Comments
Comment from Darren
Time: August 9, 2007, 1:19 pm
Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m sure there are lots of legitimate research projects the government funds. But I can’t get away from the fact that it does so through funds forcibly taken from people against their will. Whatever the practical consequences of the research, the moral implications can’t be ignored. In a free society, the ends cannot be used to justify coercive means.
Comment from Kelly
Time: August 12, 2007, 12:57 pm
Well, honestly, I don’t think that “the people” can decide what basic research (which is what is often funded at the federal level) is worth funding - and something tells me that “the people”-if given a choice, will choose not to fund anything - leaving many possibilities unexplored. You - a former physicist- should recognize this.
Comment from Darren
Time: August 13, 2007, 8:32 pm
There’s plenty of basic science that gets done by private companies because “the people” have decided what products and services are valuable to them and informed businesses of this through the free market by what they’re willing to pay for things. When clever, profit-seeking businesses see that they may be able to provide something of value by delving into to basic science research, they do so. Sometimes that research doesn’t pan out, sometimes it does. Either way, they’re not doing it with money that was coercively taken from others (ignoring defense contractors and others whose ‘customer’ for a particular project is the government since those don’t involve legitimate market forces and value-for-value trade). In a free and unrestrained economy, there would undoubtedly be many breakthroughs in basic science since you can only go so far with the science currently at your disposal. Regardless, there is nothing that could morally justify using force to take property from someone in order to do research that the ‘poor fool’ just didn’t see the need for.
Comment from Tim O.
Time: August 24, 2007, 7:33 am
“Regardless, there is nothing that could morally justify using force to take property from someone in order to do research that the ‘poor fool’ just didn’t see the need for.”
Damn right.
Comment from Kelly
Time: August 9, 2007, 9:18 am
hey-I would really like it if the federal government funded OUR moderately-priced research projects, k? Let’s just make sure the NIH/NSF stay open long enough to write us a check….and possible offer me a post-doc….and real job….and career….