The New Center of Brooklyn
St. Paul and I Agree...
Taxation is not theft: "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves." -- Romans 13 The key idea implicit here, and the one that turned me on the subject of whether or not taxation is theft, is that "every soul" owes obedience to the "governing authorities." Now, if that is a debt I truly owe , then, when those authorities levy the taxes they need to do the job of governing, I owe them those taxes, and attempts to collect them certainly do not constitute acts of theft. And obviously it doesn't matter at all, from this point of view, whether or not I "signed" any sort of "social contract." (In fact, the history of political thought since the Reformation can be read as an attempt to find a secular rep...
Ah, yes. Much more regal than "The Prog" or "The Q", I must say.
ReplyDeleteHey, didn't Jay-Z play there. LOL
As is the case with all of these deals, a lot of people got shafted so that some connected people could make a boatload of money.
(note: I catered that last sentence to conform to the PG-rating of this blog. You would not have permitted my original permutation.)
It is a tremendous improvement to the neighborhood. I was stunned at how much nicer the area looks and and how well the center fits into the place it sits.
DeleteSome people may not have gotten the compensation due them for their property. If so, that is bad. I wish they would. It doesn't change the fact the center is wonderful, and will be enjoyed by millions of people each year.
The Sistine Chapel is a marvel, despite the fact that the Pope who commissioned it probably did some bad things.
And note: I am not saying, "The Barclay's Center is wonderful, therefore it was OK to screw some small landowners." No, I am saying, "Screwing any screwed landowners was wrong. Nevertheless, the Barclay's Center is wonderful."
Delete