From: utzoo!decvax!genradbo!stuart Newsgroups: net.politics Title: When My Life Is Not My Own Article-I.D.: genradbo.1734 Posted: Tue Mar 8 15:02:46 1983 Received: Wed Mar 9 05:06:47 1983 "Under socialism, my life is not my own." Of course, I'm serious. I trade the results of my efforts for things which are the results of other people's efforts. Whether I offer a service or some material product, I spend my time --- I expend part of my life --- in performing that service or making that product. When I trade that service or product, I trade my time and effort. Take away what I traded for, and you effectively take away part of my life. Continue to take from me at will, and you take more of my time, more of my energy --- more of my life. Claim that you may do this when you wish, despite my objections, and you claim my life. You need not take all of my life to demonstrate that I'm not the owner; what fragments you may leave behind is your choice, not mine. "You" may be one person or "you" may be millions of people. "You" may be subject to similar expropriations, too, but that doesn't return the time you stole from me. This point can be approached from another, more revealing angle: How do people provide for their material needs? By re-working available materials (and probably trading some of the results). By separating, mixing, shaping, refining, assembling, or performing any of countless other operations on raw materials. All these operations required, at some point, the application of mental effort, either in discovery or in organizing or coordinating them. With few exceptions, the raw materials are virtually useless without being processed in some way. Consider the wide range of products that you yourself use daily. Consider their material composition, their physical structure, and their function. Think of the human effort involved --- the mental and physical work required for their production. Did anything other than human effort produce them? Machines? And who produced the machines? People. Now you know the real meaning of that sinister phrase, "owning the means of production." -- Stuart Hollander (ucbvax!decvax!genradbolton!stuart)