What life is like in a state where firefighters are paid voluntarily

Post by tptacek » Thu, Oct 07, 2010, 6:50 PM UTC

Semiapies wrote: post #111

tptacek wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be surprised to hear that Patrick McKenzie believes in a strong public school system with centralized control, protection for labor unions, or single-payer health care.

I'd be very surprised if the Republican party and its voting base were made up of Patrick McKenzie - or even people who agreed with him on every issue. The blunt fact is that both parties are, in American terms, very, very centrist . If the supporters of either party significantly resembled the outliers that supporters of the other party use as stereotypes, American politics would be wildly different from what it act…

Post by tptacek » Thu, Oct 07, 2010, 6:53 PM UTC

Semiapies wrote: post #113

tptacek wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My point is that absent some actual meaningful obligation, perhaps the fire department didn't have a particularly strong moral reason to engage with this fire. Even in the city, the department might let, say, a garage burn to the ground.

A garage is not usually a place people live in, making it a qualitatively different thing. You're suggesting a "moral" difference between expensive homes and inexpensive homes. People generally live in double-wide trailers because they can't afford nicer houses . If someone's trailer burns down, that person is out of a house just as much as some guy in a McMansion would be if it burned down. Someone whose double-wide…

Post by tptacek » Thu, Oct 07, 2010, 7:02 PM UTC

Semiapies wrote: post #115

tptacek wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The self-identified Republicans I am acquainted with are not looking to meet in the middle on these three issues. They believe in private schools, a free market for labor with no protection for unions, and a system of private and deregulated health insurance. I don't think these are inherently bad ideas, either; I just don't agree with them. (For what it's worth, I believe in a strong social safety net, and I don't b…

Think about that for a second: if roughly half of this country actually felt the same way on all those issues, how could Bush have run on spending more on public schools and placing them under greater federal control, how would we have the many thousands of labor-protection laws we have, and why would we still have things like Medicare and Medicaid, just to start with? They don't. Your acquaintances are rather staunc…

Post by Semiapies » Thu, Oct 07, 2010, 7:07 PM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #116

Semiapies wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Think about that for a second: if roughly half of this country actually felt the same way on all those issues, how could Bush have run on spending more on public schools and placing them under greater federal control, how would we have the many thousands of labor-protection laws we have, and why would we still have things like Medicare and Medicaid, just to start with? They don't. Your acquaintances are rather staunc…

I seriously don't care about this horse-race analysis (well, I do, in the same sense as my dad cares about the Bears season). It has nothing to do with what I said.

Post by anamax » Thu, Oct 07, 2010, 7:12 PM UTC

TheAmazingIdiot wrote: post #31

wccrawford wrote: post #3

"But it had to be done. Because if people knew that the firemen would save them free of charge, then nobody would pay. And if people knew that you could avoid paying the firemen up until the moment that first spark hit your curtain, well, again, nobody would pay." Exactly. Nobody wants someone stranger's house to burn down, but part of the rules of living there was that you'd pay your portion if you wanted protection…

Then try watching the interview with the victim on MSNBC. They can waive the fees, as they have done before. And both him and his neighbor said "we'll pay however much you say". Their responser: burn it to the ground.