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Author Topic: Taking government money is virtuous.  (Read 1845 times)

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Pizzly

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Taking government money is virtuous.
« on: August 19, 2011, 02:40:42 AM »

Last nights show mentioned the ethics of voting, and someone mentioned Ron Paul taking payment from the government for working for Congress. They seemed to agree that it's bad someone takes "blood money" from the government, I completely disagree.

Walter Block writes on this.

Let's imagine you know someone has stolen something. You know they do not own this. You are a morally justufied, and acting in virtue, by taking this item from them. You may not be able to give it to the true owner, but surely it's better not allowing the thief to retain possession.

It's the same with government money. You are acting in virtue by taking government money, whether it be in subsidies, welfare, etc. The only catch is that you are in moral opposition to the initial acquisition.
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Diogenes The Cynic

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Re: Taking government money is virtuous.
« Reply #1 on: August 19, 2011, 04:58:15 AM »

My view is that if one standard argument libertarians have about state welfare is that it discourages work, and is unsustainable, then to prove its unsustainable, and to make oneself not a chump, but rather beating others to the punch in getting cool stuff from the government, one should sign up for government assistance.
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John Shaw

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Re: Taking government money is virtuous.
« Reply #2 on: August 19, 2011, 05:18:29 AM »

Mormons call it bleeding the beast.

I don't bleed the beast, but I'm not ashamed of people who do.
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Bill Brasky

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Re: Taking government money is virtuous.
« Reply #3 on: August 19, 2011, 08:56:07 AM »

I got a piece of paper one day, out of the blue.

Back when I used to open letters.



It showed all the places I worked from nearly my first day .  Close enough, holy shit.

Til basically whenever was the year before the letter.  Also close enough.  Frightening.

And not only was that a lot of work, but that was a lot of seizure.


I think ultimately, the proper answer is..

It depends.







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Level 20 Anklebiter

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Re: Taking government money is virtuous.
« Reply #4 on: August 19, 2011, 10:30:17 AM »

I'd advise against this course of action over the intergenerational timespan. Look to London as for why.
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Cognitive Dissident

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Re: Taking government money is virtuous.
« Reply #5 on: August 19, 2011, 10:55:52 AM »

I say it could only be virtuous if you found a way to channel it into market forces and not benefit, yourself.  I say this because taking government money is bad for the soul.  It makes you a dependent.  Then again, I say "could."  Ultimately, that money has an opportunity cost, and the fact that someone is taking it (you) guarantees that it will be stolen from someone.  I'd also be working to shut off that spigot, while finding a way to channel it into something good. 

Ultimately, it boils down to that old money spending matrix.  The best money spent is money you earn, and you spend, on yourself.  The next best is money you earn, and you spend on someone you care about.  The next best is money someone you care about earns, and spends on you, etc., etc.  The most horribly spent money is money that's stolen from one party by a second party, to spend on a third party, when none of them really cares about any of the others.
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