Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83 v7 ucbtopaz-1.8; site ucbtopaz.CC.Berkeley.ARPA Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!bellcore!decvax!ucbvax!ucbtopaz!mwm From: mwm@ucbtopaz.CC.Berkeley.ARPA Newsgroups: net.politics.theory Subject: Re: Who deserves what? Message-ID: <828@ucbtopaz.CC.Berkeley.ARPA> Date: Mon, 18-Mar-85 02:53:18 EST Article-I.D.: ucbtopaz.828 Posted: Mon Mar 18 02:53:18 1985 Date-Received: Wed, 20-Mar-85 04:37:28 EST References: <356@gargoyle.UChicago.UUCP> <5183@utzoo.UUCP> <754@bunker.UUCP> Reply-To: mwm@ucbtopaz.UUCP (Praiser of Bob) Organization: Missionaria Phonibalonica Lines: 50 Summary: In article <754@bunker.UUCP> garys@bunker.UUCP (Gary M. Samuelson) writes: >Laura Creighton says: >> I assume that *everybody* deserves what they get until I can see >> some evidence of coercion -- fraud included. >That doesn't seem like a good assumption. I was born into a good >home in an affluent country -- how did I deserve that more than >those who were not so fortunate? And if everyone deserves the >same start that I got, then those who didn't get it have been >defrauded in some way, so that forced redistribution of wealth >would be a proper thing to do. And if I didn't deserve it, then >by what right can I withhold the benefits thereof from others? Depends on your religious beliefs. Some will claim that you had a load of good karma left over from your last life. Others will claim that it was God's will (which is by definition just). Still others will claim that putting you there then was the thing the Gods thought would be most humorous. (1/2 :-) The problem here, like so many other cases ignored by liberals, is that there isn't any reasonable way to flatten out the differences. As an experiment, let's pick a thousand random children, born at roughly the same time, into nearly identical circumstances. Right off the bat, the kids are different. They have different sexes, hair color, eye color, coordination, intelligence, etc. Any or all of these things could affect how well they will do in the future. They also have different parents, who will treat them differently. Some will be spoiled, some may be abandoned. Some will be encouraged to read, and otherwise taught to seek an education. Others will be allowed to do as they want, and learn to see self-gratification. All of this will probably affect how they do in the future. And there isn't a lot you can do about it. The physical differences are (currently) unfixable. The environmental differences can be fixed, by taking the kids away from their parents and raising them in groups. This would also fix the disparity in economic circumstances. At the same time, you can insure that the kids don't grow up to be libertarians - or anything else foolish enough to question the state. Thanks, but no thanks. In other words, you won the luck of the draw (or the will of the Gods, or the turn of the wheel). Forced redistribution of wealth is a partial correction, but leaves the other - far more important - things broken. I don't think the partial fix is worth giving others that much control of our lives.