[12687] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: EFF and the big bad T (tax) word [same old stuff]
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Stanton McCandlish)
Thu May 26 07:01:11 1994
From: Stanton McCandlish <mech@eff.org>
To: frezza@radiomail.net (Bill Frezza)
Date: Wed, 25 May 1994 18:39:18 -0400 (EDT)
Cc: djw@eff.org, com-priv@psi.com, alt-politics-datahighway@cs.utexas.edu
In-Reply-To: <199405252147.AA14250@radiomail.net> from "Bill Frezza" at May 25, 94 02:47:51 pm
> Oh so you want to help yourself to the general tax base in order to subsidize
> your goals of info-equity. EVEYRBODY gets to pay. Fine. That answers
> question 1). Now, answer questions 2) through 6) regarding how this money
> is to be distributed, I believe they still apply.
Again and again you misinterpret. How is implicitly supporting the
sensible use of tax revenue *which will be spent on libraries and schools
anyway* to fund future-net access for said schools and libraries, in any
way equatable with "want[ing] to help [ourselves] to the general tax base
in order to subsidize [our] goals"?
1) we don't want to help ourselves to anything. Please demonstrate how we
would personally make use of any of said tax revenue.
2) we aren't advocating subsidy for our goals. We accept no government
funding. We are advocating sensible subsidy of educational goals to get
online.
Clearing up these obfuscations, I think it's time for some quid pro quo:
Bill, do you believe that funding schools and libraries from the general
tax base is somehow bad? Can you suggest a realistic alternative? Can
you answer this question without lapsing into a lot of fantasy-land
rhetoric about how great life would be if we had a functional privatized
school and library system, no taxes, and no government - that is, can you
answer the question and proprose a viable alternative that is practical in
current real life? Somehow I doubt you can. I'm sure you can tell us a
grand vision that would work in a perfect world. But let's face it, a
child can do that.
Secondly, and charitably presuming you can actually do this, why aren't
you doing it? Put your money where your mouth is. Start an organization,
or better yet for the libertarian/objectivist camp, a corporation, to pull
this off. You can't honestly believe that flaming away on usenet and
mailing lists will actually change anything whatsoever or make any
progress toward your goals. This is all a waste of time, and you know it.
> <If you showed any capacity or interest in engaging in a serious discussion,
> I would answer you questions in detail>
>
> I am deadly serious. Are you?
Somehow I don't believe this. I'm not even sure you believe this.
--
Stanton McCandlish * mech@eff.org * Electronic Frontier Found. OnlineActivist
"In a Time/CNN poll of 1,000 Americans conducted last week by Yankelovich
Partners, two-thirds said it was more important to protect the privacy of
phone calls than to preserve the ability of police to conduct wiretaps.
When informed about the Clipper Chip, 80% said they opposed it."
- Philip Elmer-Dewitt, "Who Should Keep the Keys", TIME, Mar. 14 1994
