FladaBlog has an excellent post on public school socialism:
Let’s consider an island with one family with children and one childless couple. Does the family have a right to force the autonomous couple to contribute to the education of their children? Most rational people will agree that they do not have such a right. Additionally, the childless couple does not have the right to force the other family to let the couple dictate how the family’s children should be educated. Does adding another family with children change the underlying principle of rights? Again, most rational people will agree that it does not.
So the question is: at what number of families does it become moral to force the childless couples to pay for the education of the families’ children? At what number does society gain the right to force families to start allowing the society to educate their children? Is 100 the magic number? 1000? 1,000,000?
Anyone? Anyone?
Read it again, substituting “education” with “health care”.
Again, this time with “retirement”.
Again, this time with “cable television”.
Again, this time with “reduced rates for energy” (corporate welfare).
Again, this time with “watermelon”, or “hair brushes” or “tire guages” or “jock straps”.
Of course, we all have the right, and I believe responsibility, to choose to contribute at any time. The question is, at what point do others have the right to force us to contribute?
