What we do in the welfare state is we decide collectively that we do not want those less fortunate to live in squalor, and hence we help them.
And with less fortunate I do not mean those who are born in poor families, but those who become less fortunate, no matter in which social class they began (as we have decided that class mobility is a good thing and have state funded education, free of charge for students).
We Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.
I was advocating the equitable sharing of the fruits of "the Commons". And I have yet to see a convincing refutation of that as a principle.
Private "ownership" of land, knowledge and other Commons are privileges, and those in receipt of these privileges should not keep all the benefits.
Whether such pre-distribution will be enough for a generally acceptable standard of living for the un-privileged depends on how developed a country is, I guess. "Any economic unit can emit money. The serious problem is to get it accepted" Hyman Minsky
The issue is that "liberals" don't believe in the right to an outcome, they believe in the right to "fair rules". Bush is a symptom, not the disease.
I hate vowel length. Bush is a symptom, not the disease.
