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To: r9etb
Perhaps you desire to tell us all about how traffic and driving laws serve no community interest?

Trafic laws are there to protect individual drivers. Trafic laws are there to clearly define "individual" rights of way in various driving situations.

Or perhaps you would like to quibble about the long and happy history of INDIVIDUAL (mine) charitable giving and large-scale philanthropy in this country -- acts of generosity often undertaken with the community-interested view of "making this a better place to live," and with beneficial results stretching decades after the act?

Until the fairly recent socialist coup (of which you seem to be a part of) all charity was a private concern regardless of benificiary. The fed was left out of funding such matters.

And, of course, you'd have to argue against the whole idea of Duty -- to country, state, family -- upon which our nation and our freedom were founded, and continue to depend. A more "community-interested" thing than a sense of duty would be difficult to find.

Again, purely private concerns. "I" am community orientated. I volunteer at the local Christian School. "I" participate in fund-raisers to make my community better. "I" volunteered to defend my country by joining the USMC. GET IT? "I" as an individual did/do these things of my OWN volition.

And, by golly, if you're going to deny the concept of community interest, you'd even have to argue against the fact that libertarianism has a strong "community interest" at its very core. To wit, not only are libertarians expected to protect their own rights, but for a libertarian society to work, they are also required to respectthe rights of others -- both individually, and in aggregate, which is certainly an example of "community interest".

Right, you do get it!!

In trying to ignore the idea of "community interest" libertarians pretty much have to give up everything but the profit motive, and even that's a dodgy proposition.

Crap, you lost it. Those that don't understand Libertarianism assume that our "individual" rights are counter to community-interest. Which is false, even according to your previous statement.

Libertarians are willfully blind on the idea of community service because, as often as not, they are trying to live according to Ayn Rand's objectivist creed, which denies the existence of "community interest." (Of course, the basis for this "objective" idea is utterly subjective -- but then, Rand's ideas are rife with such contradictions.)

The message you missed was that in the end, in the valley, the ultimate community-spirit arose, "live and let live". You also seemed to miss the point that greed ultimately serves the community by way of jobs, security, and profit for all that partake the producers credo. If you think community spirit is a gubment enforced "free ride for the weak on the backs of the strong" you are no better than Lenin or Clowntoon for that matter.

EBUCK

157 posted on 05/02/2002 2:25:21 PM PDT by EBUCK
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To: EBUCK
I was commenting on the obviously incorrect statement that "community interests" do not exist.

As you noted, they do exist, and in some cases (e.g., traffic laws or taxation for the common defense) it is desirable and necessary to pass laws to ensure that those community interests are preserved.

Your needless (but typical) descent to insults does nothing to alter the existence of community interests; however, it does put a rather unpleasant face on those who claim otherwise.

353 posted on 05/03/2002 8:01:26 AM PDT by r9etb
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