PLAYER57832 wrote:Army of GOD wrote:
I mean, ya, if none of those effected other people in the world then they'd be fine, but it's evident that they do, in one way or another. Like I, personally, can't stand the smell of smoke. And people have died from drunk-driving accidents or drunken rages.
This is the key. But the problem is too many people wish to deny the things THEY want to do truly impact others. Like not paying fire taxes means houses and public lands will burn. Not having health insurance means the rest of us wind up picking up YOUR bills (in higher healthcare direct costs due to absorption of non-payers, higher taxes as more people th4e insurance companies decline to cover wind up on tax rolls, AND higher insurance bills [plus lower coverage overall to help pay for overall health care cost increases. Not paying attention to infrastructure like roads leads to accidents and increased repair costs later. Not paying attention to "environmental" impacts and externatilies of ALL kinds means that you are essentially stealing profits from someone, else in time or location. Pollute the Mississippi and Gulf fisherment pay, as do all consumers of Gulf resources. Dump acid into our atmosphere and the forests, rivers and lakes in the East die. ETC.
Army of GOD wrote:Other than that though, it's all good. Too bad people are too easily corruptible.
Not so much "corruptable" and "intentionally ignorant," mixed in with greed. It can seem the same, but corruptable deals only with greed. "Intentionally ignorant" deals far more with education.. or lack of it.
The REAL difference between a liberal and a conservative is not whether you like or dislike taxes, like or dislike profits. We all actually agree on those things. The difference is on whether we believe we need to look beyond the immediate for impacts. Liberals say that if you are taking down a forest that takes 100 years to recreate (true for some Pacific Forests), then you need to look at a 100 year cycle and decide if taking that forest will truly provide 100 years of benefit before taking it (and I say, yes, if done properly, by-the-way). If you are putting pollutants into a river that take 500 years to go away, then you need to look 500 years into the futre... etc.
Conservatives say "we need profit NOW".. and leave any other concerns "for the future", with exceptions for things that have already been brought to their attention as problems. (and that is a lONG list.. DDT, some acid raing concerns, some worker safety issues, etc, etc, etc... we are not right now again in the Time of Dickens.) However, long though the list of recognized impacts is, it is just not long enough. THAT is why our deficit keeps growing and lifetyles of many people keep diminishing in many, many subtle and not-so-subtle ways.
