Reply #99: it's neither [View All]

[fishwax]

The people defending the firemen (on this site, at least) are certainly not libertarian cranks. Nor are they just knee-jerk defending firemen.

We have three elements in play here: first, a system that funds essential services through taxes levied for the protection of the common good--that would be the fire department of South Fulton, Kentucky. Second, a system that believes avoiding taxes is more important than protecting the common good, so has refused to fund a fire department--that would be Obion County, Tennessee. Third, the individual, a member of the latter community who found himself in need of help from the former.

It's worth noting that the very existence of the socially-responsible, publicly-funded system would be threatened were they to regularly expend resources to answer calls in another state for people who are outside their tax base and refuse to contribute (sometimes even after services have been rendered) to the maintenance of the service.

Those on this site who are defending the fire department are doing so because they consider it important to defend the system that funds essential services through taxes levied for the common good. That's a perfectly natural impulse for a progressive to have.

Those posters attacking the fire department are not generally (on this site, at least) opposed to the government providing essential services, either. They're just horrified that this guy has lost his house and apparently his animals. That's also a perfectly natural impulse for a progressive to have.

It's not the case that (all of the) people defending the fire department are heartless, soulless bastards who either embrace the libertarian experiment or who are happy to see the individual "punished" in some way for the libertarian sins of the county. At the same time, it's not the case that (all of the) people attacking the fire department are interested in attacking public services or public servants, or are supportive of those who refuse to contribute to the public good even while expecting someone else to provide them in an emergency. I think the discussions on this issue would benefit greatly if everyone could see those things, and tone down the rhetoric accordingly.

Not that this is likely to happen. And not that I mean to imply that your post was an example of the overheated rhetoric--so perhaps in that sense this post rambled a bit off topic--it's just something I've seen repeatedly for the last 24 hours.