OK, This Is Sheer Idiocy
I know I am an evil "statist," but really, I don't think the State is our salvation or anything of the sort, and often it screws up really badly.
Or really, really badly, as when a Texas town just spent $60 million on a new high school football stadium. Now, that number alone fills me with despair: while I don't think that all taxes are theft, I do think that for the most part people ought to be left to spend their money as they see fit, and taxation should only be used to take care of true collective action problems. So if the town had had a severe problem with lots of destitute people living on the street, and it spent $60 million to give them all decent housing… well, it would sound a little excessive, but maybe that would be okay. But for a football stadium? For a high school? And I assume all of these kids are already reading beyond grade level, are computer programming experts, understand the history of Western civilization, can speak a foreign language fluently, and are getting into great colleges? Every one of them? And so the only thing left to spend $60 million on is a football stadium?
But here is the real kicker: The stadium, just completed, is already broken. It can't even be used.
While this is gross government-level stupidity, I don't think eliminating the town government and making this community ancap would fix this. No, in a "pure free market," this crew would just be out purchasing hammers with which to whack themselves in the head.
Or really, really badly, as when a Texas town just spent $60 million on a new high school football stadium. Now, that number alone fills me with despair: while I don't think that all taxes are theft, I do think that for the most part people ought to be left to spend their money as they see fit, and taxation should only be used to take care of true collective action problems. So if the town had had a severe problem with lots of destitute people living on the street, and it spent $60 million to give them all decent housing… well, it would sound a little excessive, but maybe that would be okay. But for a football stadium? For a high school? And I assume all of these kids are already reading beyond grade level, are computer programming experts, understand the history of Western civilization, can speak a foreign language fluently, and are getting into great colleges? Every one of them? And so the only thing left to spend $60 million on is a football stadium?
But here is the real kicker: The stadium, just completed, is already broken. It can't even be used.
While this is gross government-level stupidity, I don't think eliminating the town government and making this community ancap would fix this. No, in a "pure free market," this crew would just be out purchasing hammers with which to whack themselves in the head.
Count me as glad it's unusable. Otherwise people can defend this kind of thing. That sounds extravagant of me but not really. How much is this really worth? Change rooms and bleachers. The other 59.9 million is already a waste, this just makes it more obvious.
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