A Good Libertarian Point
Although I am often critical of libertarians here, that does not mean they don't make plenty of excellent points. In fact, if they didn't make plenty of excellent points, they wouldn't be worth criticizing! (That's why you don't see me spending any time on, say, people who claim the moon landing was faked, or young earth creationists.)
One such point was brought home to me at my son's high school graduation, when people kept thanking the Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer (our keynote speaker) for all the money she had "given" to LaGuardia High School. It was as though she had dipped into her savings account for the new theater lighting system!
Of course Brewer expended some political capital directing taxpayer dollars in one direction rather than another. But the students ought to be reminded frequently that the taxpayers bought them that new lighting system, and almost everything else at their school as well. (There are private donors.) Failing to make that link breeds, I think, a feeling of entitlement towards one's funding. Eventually, we get students like those I witnessed at one state college: when the U. S. would start bombing some new group of foreigners, the students would become mildly dyspeptic. But, talk about raising their (heavily subsidized) tuition 5%, and they would go ballistic. Not pretty.
One such point was brought home to me at my son's high school graduation, when people kept thanking the Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer (our keynote speaker) for all the money she had "given" to LaGuardia High School. It was as though she had dipped into her savings account for the new theater lighting system!
Of course Brewer expended some political capital directing taxpayer dollars in one direction rather than another. But the students ought to be reminded frequently that the taxpayers bought them that new lighting system, and almost everything else at their school as well. (There are private donors.) Failing to make that link breeds, I think, a feeling of entitlement towards one's funding. Eventually, we get students like those I witnessed at one state college: when the U. S. would start bombing some new group of foreigners, the students would become mildly dyspeptic. But, talk about raising their (heavily subsidized) tuition 5%, and they would go ballistic. Not pretty.
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