[Rhodes22-list] Special Tribute to Brad Haslett {about America, you can call what you want}

[Herb Parsons]

Now there's a guy that very well articulates my thoughts.

My personal belief is that anyone that receives over 50% of their income 
directly from the government should be disenfranchised. They have a 
conflict of interest.

Robert A Heinlein proposed a similar restriction in his 
political/science fiction novel Starship Troopers. In his "would be" 
world, only those that had served in the military in one fashion or 
another were eligible to vote. You had to sever in SOME fashion, which 
was the one indicator that you were willing to sacrifice your personal 
needs/desires/aspirations to benefit society as a whole. Ironically, in 
his book, those IN the military were not eligible to vote. Only after 
you finished your tour(s) of duty were you enfranchised.

I'm not quite that extreme, but I say if you're making your living 
directly from the government, you have an predisposition to expand their 
ability to "give", and thus have a conflict of interest.

Since I've mentioned, I'll also say that Heinlein has a quote that would 
be VERY applicable here:

=====
Political tags - such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, 
fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth - are never basic criteria. 
The human race divides politically into those who want people to be 
controlled and those who have no such desire.
=====



Tootle wrote:
> Brad,
>
> This guy must have been reading your posts over the years or could you
> believe somebody else echos your thoughts and words?
>
> Attachment of November 14, 2008
> http://www.nabble.com/file/p20504188/Our%2BCulture.jpg Our+Culture.jpg 
>
> Ed K
>   

-- 
Herb Parsons