tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7464708.post110204314861189489..comments2024-03-22T06:05:36.544-04:00Comments on Kids Prefer Cheese: The Thing Itself IIIMungowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340064320347875601noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7464708.post-1102327494254097472004-12-06T05:04:00.000-05:002004-12-06T05:04:00.000-05:00This is only to the poster above me. Duke is payi...This is only to the poster above me. Duke is paying me a whooole lot of money to be here. Does this shame me and make me want to run and hide? Of course, only the rich should have access to good education.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7464708.post-1102267179264793062004-12-05T12:19:00.000-05:002004-12-05T12:19:00.000-05:00I would argue that the view of humankind represent...I would argue that the view of humankind represented by this statement identifies the political cutting line between modern liberals and conservatives perfectly:<br /><br />"I believed (and still believe) in the goals of the program, which were to give poor people a life of dignity and a chance to achieve self sufficiency."<br /><br />I am a conservative because I believe that people's dignity has nothing whatsoever to do with their wealth. (It may well be that there is some causation in the other direction, but let us put that aside.) Moreover, I believe that living off the money seized from others by the state reduces one's dignity rather than enhancing it.<br /><br />The liberals who remain baffled by the insistence of working-class voters to prefer the party of tax cuts, despite the inevitable fact that the bulk of those tax cuts go to the "rich", do not understand something that these allegedly misguided voters DO understand. They want the money that they themselves earned, with dignity.<br /><br />I am truly shocked by your cavalier embrace of such a narrowly materialistic view of human existence.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7464708.post-1102099846079348192004-12-03T13:50:00.000-05:002004-12-03T13:50:00.000-05:00Hmmmm...it seems that you answered yer'own questio...Hmmmm...it seems that you answered yer'own question incorrectly. YOU participated because YOU needed the grant money. So why is it a burden then for organizations to compete for it? <br /><br />Regardless if anyone (or "customers") is actually helped by the ultimate "project", the fact is that a lot of smart (or studious), relatively unemployable people now have jobs. Think tanks, non-profits, tenuerd profs, etc. could not exist without grant money, the more competition the more people are needed, and therefore it creates an industry that is relatively middle-class. If they are skillful or talented, some may actually go on to be dept. heads who will be able to employ others in grant seeking activity.<br /><br />I'm saying this not to insinuate that you are hypocrticial, or that I disagree, but rather that it seems like the targeted beneficiaries (oppps, my bad - "customers")aren't really the raison d'etre of these programs from the get go (although you are on target, they can be used nicely as a moral justification). <br /><br />So is the problem that these programs don't actually do what they propose and often end up making it worse? Or is it that "grants" are a hidden employment program which increases, and encourages, the enlargement of the welfare state?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7464708.post-1102098585685001322004-12-03T13:29:00.000-05:002004-12-03T13:29:00.000-05:00To the 1st point: in the long run (equilibrium) we...To the 1st point: in the long run (equilibrium) we are all dead. But don't we live in the short run?<br />To the 2nd point: I agree.Anonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08846939137265040043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7464708.post-1102045515641452852004-12-02T22:45:00.000-05:002004-12-02T22:45:00.000-05:00Now, I participated for two reasons: First, I need...Now, I participated for two reasons: First, I needed the grant money. Second, I believed (and still believe) in the goals of the program, which were to give poor people a life of dignity and a chance to achieve self sufficiency. <br /><br /><br />But if you participate in something you know creates these problems, aren't you part of the problem? Or are you just a liberal in disguise?<br /><br />TtwbCAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com