18th April 2009, 12:36 AM
Well in Texas' defense, they aren't French.
Though, I do think everyone in that state should have this as required reading:
http://www.apa.org/journals/features/psp7761121.pdf
It explains how people who are incompetant are rarely aware of it, because to be aware of their incompetance they need some familiarity of the topic at hand. For example, someone just learning English is rarely aware of their own grammar mistakes because if they had the knowledge of what that mistake was in order to recognize it, they would know better than to make it in the first place.
Basically, think Peggy Hill.
As an example, people are currently shouting "no taxation without representation". It would help if they understood they HAVE representation, and that representation decided to tax them. Sure THEIR representatives didn't do it, but that's kinda how congress is DESIGNED. Do they want a system where unanimous agreement across all congressmen must be done to get anything passed? You'd have a true "do nothing congress" if that happened. Granted, there is such a thing as "tyranny of the majority", but this isn't really a good example of that, and there's a system in place to DEAL with such situations, called the courts. That's where so called "activist judges" come in when they say this or that is unconstitutional. Unless someone can find grounds to conclude the recently passed spending bill is unconstitutional, they've got nothing.
Then of course there's the Ayn Rand followers who go on about how taxation is theft. I hardly need to address that do I? Heck if they love Ayn Rand so much just think of society as a large company which requires payment to render it's services to you. I mean the fact is a market, any market, is an infrastructure that must be created. Heck it had to be invented, it's not the natural state of things, and it does not encompass the totality of human interactions.
Though, I do think everyone in that state should have this as required reading:
http://www.apa.org/journals/features/psp7761121.pdf
It explains how people who are incompetant are rarely aware of it, because to be aware of their incompetance they need some familiarity of the topic at hand. For example, someone just learning English is rarely aware of their own grammar mistakes because if they had the knowledge of what that mistake was in order to recognize it, they would know better than to make it in the first place.
Basically, think Peggy Hill.
As an example, people are currently shouting "no taxation without representation". It would help if they understood they HAVE representation, and that representation decided to tax them. Sure THEIR representatives didn't do it, but that's kinda how congress is DESIGNED. Do they want a system where unanimous agreement across all congressmen must be done to get anything passed? You'd have a true "do nothing congress" if that happened. Granted, there is such a thing as "tyranny of the majority", but this isn't really a good example of that, and there's a system in place to DEAL with such situations, called the courts. That's where so called "activist judges" come in when they say this or that is unconstitutional. Unless someone can find grounds to conclude the recently passed spending bill is unconstitutional, they've got nothing.
Then of course there's the Ayn Rand followers who go on about how taxation is theft. I hardly need to address that do I? Heck if they love Ayn Rand so much just think of society as a large company which requires payment to render it's services to you. I mean the fact is a market, any market, is an infrastructure that must be created. Heck it had to be invented, it's not the natural state of things, and it does not encompass the totality of human interactions.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)