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A Well Armed Populace
Sunday, March 28th, 2010 11:27 pmGun advocates often suggest that society would be safer if everyone carried[1] a gun, because would-be attackers would think twice about going after an armed target. I was thinking about this, and it seems like the past three hundred years or so featured plenty of countries who started a war, even though the other side had a bunch of guns.
On a similar subject, a national army is really a form of socialized insurance with an opportunity for high risk investments. If the Nazis invade, it's really not efficient to have each citizen expend the resources for self defense; the collective power of a large organization pooling resources from individual contributors is the way to go. So while the Tea Partiers are on the Electric Kool-Aid Antacid Trip across the country complaining bitterly about the government collecting money to provide services to the general populace, perhaps they should take a department that provides lots of cheap health care[2] and education[3].
[1] And knew how to properly use…
[2] The VA's budget is close to $90 billion
[3] Of course, many recipients must first survive a death panel: A room full of guys at the Pentagon who decide which divisions to send to combat zones.
On a similar subject, a national army is really a form of socialized insurance with an opportunity for high risk investments. If the Nazis invade, it's really not efficient to have each citizen expend the resources for self defense; the collective power of a large organization pooling resources from individual contributors is the way to go. So while the Tea Partiers are on the Electric Kool-Aid Antacid Trip across the country complaining bitterly about the government collecting money to provide services to the general populace, perhaps they should take a department that provides lots of cheap health care[2] and education[3].
[1] And knew how to properly use…
[2] The VA's budget is close to $90 billion
[3] Of course, many recipients must first survive a death panel: A room full of guys at the Pentagon who decide which divisions to send to combat zones.
