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From: tonyw@ubvax.UUCP (Tony Wuersch)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: Financing the government of a free society
Message-ID: <227@ubvax.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 21-Jun-85 16:39:48 EDT
Article-I.D.: ubvax.227
Posted: Fri Jun 21 16:39:48 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 26-Jun-85 06:21:32 EDT
References: <3841@alice.UUCP>  <1582@dciem.UUCP>
Organization: Ungermann-Bass, Inc., Santa Clara, CA
Lines: 25

In article <1582@dciem.UUCP>, mmt@dciem.UUCP (Martin Taylor) writes:
> 
> If the government does not allow my neighbours to force me to go to
> church, to have the "right" flowers in my garden, and so forth, my
> freedom is thereby enhanced.  If the government supports my neighbours
> in these things (as local governments so often do in the name of
> democracy), my freedom is reduced.  Government is needed in the name
> of freedom, but government must be distinct from direct democracy.
> I fear social pressure to conformity more than I fear (here and now)
> government controls on my behaviour.
> -- 
> 
> Martin Taylor
> {allegra,linus,ihnp4,floyd,ubc-vision}!utzoo!dciem!mmt
> {uw-beaver,qucis,watmath}!utcsri!dciem!mmt

I agree wholeheartedly with this, and my fears are similar too.  Perhaps
the happy medium is more complex than this, however.  I fear unanimous
social pressure, where government or others gang up on me to force me
to change.  However, a little social pressure to thumb my nose at or
to take as useful advice, as the occasion warrants, seems much better
to me than no social pressure at all.

Tony Wuersch
{amd,amdcad}!cae780!ubvax!tonyw