Sometimes, Libs, I Got Your Back
I just calls 'em as I sees 'em. And on this one, I will defend you. On its face, the argument being ridiculed is quite plausible: The USPS delivers tons of junk mail, which is bad for the environment, so killing the service would be an environmental good. (I have a PO Box in which I receive about 90% junk mail, with no apparent way to stem the flood.)
Now, that argument might well be wrong, for a number of reason. For instance, it might be that in the absence of the USPS, FedEx would deliver the junk mail instead. Or perhaps the USPS does so much good otherwise that the environmental bad is more than offset. But Clarissa does not offer any such reason as to why the "Libertarian" argument is wrong. (Apparently, it is a vague, nameless "Libertarian" mass that offers the argument, as there is no link to anyone actually offering it.) Her "counter-argument" is nothing but sneering: as if any libertarian ever had any actual concern about the environment!
This rubbish is on about the same level of "argument" as "John Maynard Keynes loved the Nazis!"
Now, that argument might well be wrong, for a number of reason. For instance, it might be that in the absence of the USPS, FedEx would deliver the junk mail instead. Or perhaps the USPS does so much good otherwise that the environmental bad is more than offset. But Clarissa does not offer any such reason as to why the "Libertarian" argument is wrong. (Apparently, it is a vague, nameless "Libertarian" mass that offers the argument, as there is no link to anyone actually offering it.) Her "counter-argument" is nothing but sneering: as if any libertarian ever had any actual concern about the environment!
This rubbish is on about the same level of "argument" as "John Maynard Keynes loved the Nazis!"
O Gene, try Earth Class Mail, to Stem thy tide of Junketh Mail. http://www.earthclassmail.com/
ReplyDeleteHa! Libertarians don't care about the environment! You must own stock in earthclassmail!
ReplyDeleteI'm not a Libertarian. Why did you capitalize it? Oh, wait.
ReplyDeleteClarissa, in fact, capitalized it in her original post, you might have noted.
ReplyDeleteI might have. Or might I not have? I never capitalise It.
ReplyDeletep.s. Gene the joke was that you had it as the first word of a sentence, and you see .... never mind. Go with Mises, My Son.
ReplyDeleteYes, Stephan, I got it and was highly amused. I was just noting that Clarissa probably isn't even sure if there is a difference between the party and the position.
ReplyDeleteI could never give a damn about what a "Clarissa" might think. Not after what happened to me that June evening in 7th grade, so long ago, under that oak tree...
ReplyDeleteI was going to participate in the discussion but after I saw the last comment in the thread, I realized that dealing with adolescent traumas of rejected kids who were unpopular in high school is a waste of my time.
ReplyDeleteAs for the anti-USPS argument I was responding to, you can find it right here: http://opinion-forum.com/index/2011/08/life-in-america-advertising/
And in a gazillion other places, too.
Nice ad hominem, Clarissa. Stephan was just kidding around. He's a pretty popular fellow, and a quite successful attorney, who does not live in his parent's basement.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, I freely admitted that there may be good counter-arguments to the libertarian position. (I have just written and had accepted at a good journal a lengthy critique of many libertarian positions, btw.) My point was that *you* did not offer any argument at all.
Ah, I see, that link was to the anti-USPS argument. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteBut again, my point was that that was not in your post, not that it did not exist.