I have similar “independent” friends. They always get to the “Interstate Highways” argument (”you can’t be against limited government and drive on an Interstate highway”).
When they ask me what I’d give up, I tell them the Dept of Education, HUD, and HHS. Then they tell me that those agencies don’t “give” me anything to give up and I tell them “that’s exactly my point. If a department that is designed to help people doesn’t benefit the average Joe, then it is a failure and we need to get rid of it”.
Thanks for your reply. Your exchanges mirror the frustration I am experiencing. It seems to me—and this has been shown via psychological testing to be true—that conservatives can think like liberals if we have to, but liberals simply cannot think like, or begin to fathom, the logic and rationality, and most of all the FACTS, that go into conservative thinking. What a brick wall.
I’ve thought about discussing one of Dr. Seuss’s [I give up; how do you spell it] books with my friend. I think it’s called Thadwick the Big Hearted Moose. Thadwick keeps allowing freeloaders to ride along in his antlers, until eventually most of the animals in the forest are up there. They aren’t grateful for the accommodations, either; they’re demanding and fault-finding.
Anyway, once I’ve set it up, I think I’ll ask my friend what he thinks Thadwick should give up. The answer is so obvious, maybe even an “independent” could get it.
Even though the Interstate Highway System was originally justified as a way of helping the US military move around the country because prior to it, there WAS no way for that to happen.
Of course, your friends probably need a reminder that in most states, paying for roads is 100% optional. If one chooses not to drive than he is not on the hook for paying any of the costs of roads because he'd not be paying gas tax, tolls, vehicle registration fees or any number of other costs associated with driving.