Don’t get me wrong. It a beautiful idea. However, in the real world application all that ends up happening is violent theft from the achievers and amplification of the worst traits of the underachievers. I consider myself a refugee from an equity system. I escaped California because I was tired of paying 30% to the state. 30% of a substantial income I worked my fingers to the bone for 25 years to develop and I couldn’t go the the beach because it was packed with aggressive panhandlers.
A statistic that quickly got buried was a study done a couple years ago which discovered 80% of the homeless in Southern California were intentionally homeless! The attitude was “The government takes care of my basic needs. Food stamps, medical, etc. Why would I go to work when I can sit on the beach and be high all day.”
IDK, maybe someday humanity will evolve to a point where the practical application of an equity system will work. But human nature can not be legislated. It’s kind of like communism. Communism is a beautiful idea. Communism works well in small applications such as a kibbutz or an intentional community. I know because I lived in an intentional community and remember it fondly. But when communism is applied to a nation state the greedy and power hungry rise to the top and the lazy leach off the working class.
I used to think like you. I donated my time working with homeless veterans. I voted to raise my own taxes so the homeless could be housed and the poor could have medical care. It’s partially my fault California is in its sad condition. When I admitted my mistakes on this matter I was shouted down and called the most vile names.
At the end of the day, after all of my experiences I have come to the conclusion that freedom is the only way. Freedom in the form of the smallest possible government and lowest possible taxes. There are many ways one can support a community without being directed to by government. After all, isn’t the desire to control others actions unethical?
BTW, thank you for the intelligent debate. Its refreshing to disagree with someone and not have it devolve into an argument or name calling.
