Not Yours to Give

[SwissMercenary]

There are some unfortunate cases, but the majority of parents seem to have compassion for their own children.

I'll leave that to Doc and the teachers here to respond to.

I think if something, like this road, is over consumed it would be helpful for you to make it available for those who will pay for its support.

The rec area that it leads to is used by people from all over the Lower Mainland, although used more often by the people closer to it. Either way, setting up a toll booth will have further reprecussions.

I think it is fine to set a lower threshold. If you make at of less than 20 apples, then you get to keep all your apples. 10% or less would be more appropriate, and everyone could participate in supporting the government at a rate that is fair for everyone.

I'm not sure I understand you, here. For that to happen, you'd have to completely gut government services - many of which have little to do with Welfare.

Take education for instance. I know you'd love to see people pay for the schooling of their own children, but if that were to happen, then just like with my road, there would be consequences down the road. Some people would simply choose not to send their kids to school, then. Twenty years down the road, we'll have a generation of illiterates (Worse then the state of education now), and then we will be paying the cost. A bucket of slop a day starts adding up when half of the country can't count beyond "One, two, three, many"

If taxation is harm, then we should endeavor to minimize it.

It's harm... With a benefit following it. The two are tied. The question is "How much harm and to whom, and how much benefit, and to whom."

Socialism is a compromise position when moving from capitalism towards communism or vice versa. It is not an end state, but only a transitory state. I want there to be a government pie which is as small as possible to cover the narrow mandate needed to maintain a federation of states.

Can't agree less. Look at the USSR, or China. You can't call that socialism. And likewise, for the other direction, it seems to be a pretty damn long 'transitory' state. There's no "Party," here. When it dwelves into Really Stupid Ideas, it's the fault of the voters.