Arthur, When I read it, I agreed with Chris' remarks. Except of course his aside on protectionism.
There are probably areas almost the size of Switzerland in the US where there is little crime and living is good. There are other areas that aren't like that, However, unless thought is given to the basics such as education, we will get nowhere with our slapped on social poultices. Talking with a friend last night who teaches Junior College kids. When they find he wants written work, they flee to other classes. He's left with those who can't find another class. He says he should fail 75% of them but veteran teachers tell him to pass them through. Our only hope in the US in many places is to make education voluntary. Teachers should teach only those who want to learn - or whose parents want them to learn. Also, teachers should be allowed tax money to run their own schools. I suggested the economics of this a week or two ago. (The State could save money and the teachers would get a hefty raise. Harry ******************************************** Henry George School of Social Science of Los Angeles Box 655 Tujunga CA 91042 Tel: 818 352-4141 -- Fax: 818 353-2242 http://haledward.home.comcast.net ******************************************** -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, December 04, 2003 5:16 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [Futurework] The Politics of Foodbanks (or lack thereof) (was Re: Slightly extended) Chris, I think you and Harry might just have something in common with this idea. Your plan assumes some degree of social cohesion (that there are "relatives" that there is a "local community".) Assumptions aside, I like the idea. So count me in with you and, perhaps, Harry. arthur -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, December 04, 2003 5:57 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Futurework] The Politics of Foodbanks (or lack thereof) (was Re: Slightly extended) Arthur Cordell wrote: > We can end poverty. There can be a basic income. Who is supposed to pay a general BI ? It would be just fighting symptoms anyway, worsening the causes. There's a better system: Have an education system that minimizes the number of people who can't make ends meet. For the few remaining ones, help them to get as good a job as they can handle, and/or have their relatives pay for their basic needs. For the _very_ few remaining ones then, have their local community pay their basic needs (rent&food) until they are "restored" to earn money again. Result: No foodbanks, and no starvation either (and low crime rate too). Yet, low taxes. Guess which country this is? Harry may rant about "protectionism" as much as he wants, but there _are_ upsides to it! Chris ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ SpamWall: Mail to this addy is deleted unread unless it contains the keyword "igve". --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.548 / Virus Database: 341 - Release Date: 12/5/2003 _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework