[12794] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: EFF ENDORSES BROAD BASED INFO-TAX TO FUND UNIVERSAL SERVICE
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Karl Denninger)
Sun May 29 02:41:13 1994
From: karl@mcs.com (Karl Denninger)
To: love@essential.org (James Love)
Date: Sat, 28 May 1994 10:17:49 -0500 (CDT)
Cc: frezza@radiomail.net, com-priv@psi.com, interesting-people@eff.org,
rre-maintainers@weber.ucsd.edu, alt-politics-datahighway@cs.utexas.edu
In-Reply-To: <Pine.3.85.9405271130.D20454-0100000@essential> from "James Love" at May 27, 94 11:20:30 am
>
> Bill, since you are so opposed to public funding of public spaces in
> networks, how do you feel about public funding of parks or libraries?
> - jamie
Bill may be opposed to this, but I am not.
What I <AM> opposed to, and strongly, is "hidden" information taxes and
hidden redistribution methods.
If you want to publically fund something, do it in the light of day with a
direct subsidy from government to the institution or person you wish to
fund. That has the effect of both increasing competition (since now the
cold hard green stuff can be spent on any one of a number of providers of
what you're trying to distribute) and, MORE IMPORTANTLY, society can see
<exactly> how much this is costing them.
The only way to make an honest decision in society on whether something is
"worth" doing is to know exactly how much it costs.
It is evil in the extreme to "hide" these kinds of subsidy. By doing that
you make it impossible to account for, and therefore make it an unaccountable
resource and problem. One of the reasons that our individual tax system
is so full of bullpucky is that there are all kinds of taxes which are
"hidden" from the employee -- the other half of FICA, unemployment tax, etc.
I make it a point of tabulating ALL the taxes that each employee costs my
business here -- and showing it to the employee at the time of hire. I
also make sure that they understand that since that is the cost of
employing them, were I not to be assessed the tax, I would give <THEM> the
money instead of the government.
That accounting should be required learning for all new hires everywhere
across the country. If it was, or if more businessowners did what I do
and made sure that people <knew> what this was all costing them, I suspect
that we'd have a revolt in very, very short order.
Anyone else for my plan on education of the workforce?
--
--
Karl Denninger (karl@MCS.Net)| MCSNet - The Finest Internet Connectivity
Modem: [+1 312 248-0900] | (shell, PPP, SLIP, leased) in Chicagoland
Voice/FAX: [+1 312 248-8649] | Email "info@mcs.com". MCSNet is a CIX member.
Ask me about Loyalty Pays(tm)| WWW: http://www.mcs.net, gopher: gopher.mcs.net
