hmichellerose on nostr

“Everyone wants to live at the expense of the state. They forget that the state lives at the expense of everyone.” – Frederic Bastiat

There is some truth to this, but it is built on a misunderstanding of humanity. Humans are communal creatures. We want, and need, to live with the support of our community.

So where is the line between “at the expense of” and “with the support of”?

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Chris Krause · 2d

The one is voluntary support; the other is expropriation enforced by coercion in order to redistribute the money according to a planned-economy model (and to keep a portion of it for oneself without having to engage in any productive activity).

The Beave · 2d

The misconception lies in the necessity of their breeding to be a state. If you can work and support yourself and others, you should. If you cannot, then your community should help. If you can but refuse, you should be allowed to starve.

FeynStructure · 2d

This isn't a very well fleshed out idea in my mind yet, but perhaps the line is analogous to the line that separates "the state" and "the community." To push the idea a bit further, communism works just fine in small groups; individual families or tribes, for example. But on a sufficiently large sc...

purrs_for_Her · 2d

one word: consent

Johnny · 2d

Yes communal is the right word, but there is a limit in size. If you don't know everyone personally, your behavior might change and become tribal. Socialism works, but it does not scale!