I am going to describe two scenarios and I want you to tell me which scenario you would rather live in and why. Also please include your age, gender, country and political affiliation.
Scenario A:
Your government (and its citizens through a majority vote) has decided that all citizens should be given the basic necessities. Every citizen is given a car and a home to suit their needs. The car is one that is safe, reliable and gets the best gas mileage. You are allowed limited options such as color and whether you want a convertible, two door or four door, and other options are allowed for those who need them such as pickup trucks for farmers, minivans for large families and handicap accessibility features. The homes you get are also suited to your needs with few options, and if the home doesn’t fit your needs you may be asked to move (but in the same town) such as if you have children you can move to a larger house, when they grow up you must move to a smaller house. You also get free healthy food and you have the option of buying junk food with your own money if you so choose. You are not however allowed to buy larger cars or houses due to the environmental impact. You also get your utilities provided for up to a certain limit as well as gasoline and car maintenance (you are free to buy more utilities and gasoline from your own earnings if you wish). Healthcare and education is also provided to each citizen as well as clothing for work and job interviews (other clothing may of course be bought by the individual) as well as free school uniforms for school children. Childcare is covered for everyone and so is care for the elderly, sick and disabled such as home health, hospice, nursing homes and retirement homes.
There are no taxes for anyone making less than $250k per year, and subsidies to get incomes up to 250k for families and 200k for individuals who are working full time and not making that much. People making over that will be taxed, and very wealthy who have more than one million dollars will be taxed heavily.
Scenario B:
You live in a system with total freedom and complete individual responsibility. The government exists only to curb serious crime (murder and rape – there are no more laws against drugs, prostitution or other such crimes and private property is the individual’s responsibility to protect) and to provide a military. Everything is owned by the private sector including schools, roads and fire departments. You must pay for children to go to school, you must subscribe to the fire department to use their services, even emergency room care is not provided to people with no insurance. There are no more public libraries – there are privately owned book rentals instead. You must also pay tolls on every road you drive because they are all privately owned. However, there are no taxes other than a sales tax to fund police and military.
Reagan '12
June 21, 2010 at 1:58 am
25, Male, USA, Conservative
I lean to the right, believe in freedom, and agree with majority of the libertarian values, scenario B for me.
Pfo
June 21, 2010 at 2:37 am
I’ll take B. Scenario A does not exist because I define comfort as having freedom.
For anyone that benefits from A, you’ll think it’s better, but a generation grows up with that and takes it for granted. Suddenly, a free car, free home, free whatever, is as valuable as the air you breathe. You might need it to survive, but you never think about it. People will become complacent and demand more for free, citing the fact that other things are already provided for “free” (when in reality, everything that is produced has a cost to produce it; free doesn’t mean that someone didn’t pay for it).
Celeste Nicole
June 21, 2010 at 3:00 am
i also lean to the right.
i want my freedoms.
scenario B please.
18, f, united states.
John J. S
June 21, 2010 at 3:19 am
Read the book- Escape From Freedom — by Ethan Fromm. The German people chose the first scenario. People basically say they want freedom, but greed kicks in and they trade it away for free stuff.
NYYanks1
June 21, 2010 at 3:50 am
21 Male USA Libertarian. I would choose B. A is unreal. To quote Ben Franklin those who give up freedom for security deserve neither.
Give me liberty or give me death. Patrick Henry
Still Quazee
June 21, 2010 at 4:21 am
First off, plan A will never happen and can never be sustained ESPECIALLY the part concerning no one making less than $250 pays taxes. Impossible to provide that kind of fantasy world without every breathing person paying out no less than 70% of their income to hundreds of various taxation hits. Sort of like where we’re headed, however, with the looming Value Added Tax (a la Europe now) to start helping to pay for many similar entitlements you’ve listed. http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=171993
People who could make the kind of money that would get hit with those kind of staggering taxes, would soon STOP making that kind of money. Whyinell would they continue to do so? And ‘millionaires’ would become a thing of the past, as they would also disappear, either overseas or become ‘invisible’ to the govt. So, ultimately, the whole thing collapses, as socialist countries always do, as there’s no one left to tax to support all the ‘free stuff’ that the lazyazz society clamors for.
redhotsillypepper
June 21, 2010 at 4:51 am
Scenario A might sound good, but the trouble is that having all of your needs guaranteed is a motivation killer. Why would somebody work if they are guaranteed to get what they need? And if nobody works, then who finances this utopia? Scenario B might sound good, but is it really total freedom to be dependent on private corporations for everything? Are you really free if you have to rely on a for profit entity to supply basic protections such as roads and bridges, and fire departments, and at least a fundamental social safety net? What happens to the disabled, the mentally retarded, the chronically ill in such a society? This is a false choice; A is not perfect comfort, nor is B perfect freedom. The choices are between two dysfunctional societies that would be miserable for their citizens.