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Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!floyd!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!tektronix!tekmdp!jonw
From: jonw@tekmdp.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: Re: State Run Enterprises
Message-ID: <2046@tekmdp.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 22-Jun-83 18:02:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: tekmdp.2046
Posted: Wed Jun 22 18:02:00 1983
Date-Received: Mon, 27-Jun-83 21:25:50 EDT
Lines: 37


Apparently our site has not been getting all the news lately, so I'm not sure
what to make of this:

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   In regards to tty3b!mjk's comment on Jon White's comparison between highways
   and railroads.

      "This is NOT an argument against government subsidy.  I'm just pointing
       out that subsidies exist everywhere, so it's ridiculous to argue
       that railroads should die if they `can't survive in the marketplace.'"

   Jon White's comment may not have been a definitive argument against subsidy,
   but that doesn't imply that there isn't one.  

   ...I would still claim (like Jon White did) that the railroads (and all 
   other forms of transportation) should die if they can't survive in the 
   marketplace.  
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Just for the record, I was not claiming in my original article that all
government subsidy is wrong, or that the railroads should die if they can't
survive in the current marketplace.  All I was saying is that there are 
subsidies everywhere (hidden or otherwise), so we might as well support those 
institutions that best accommodate society's long-range goals.  (Of course, I
would like to see an end to those subsidies that do not benefit society.)  

For example, commercial nuclear power has been subsidized to the hilt from the 
very beginning.  I think this has been a disaster because nuclear power does 
not serve the public good for a variety of reasons.  However, if we had spent 
all that money developing and promoting solar technology and conservation, our 
country would be much more energy-independent and have less pollution to deal 
with.

							Jon White
							Tektronix
							Aloha, Ore