Sunday, August 5, 2012

Extreme examples of how the rich and powerful buy personal services

We in America are marking the 150th anniversary of our Civil War (1861-65).  Mid-way thrugh the war, as manpower needs and casulaties increased, and enthusiasm wained, the federal government instituted a draft.  This led to Draft Riots in New York and other northern cities.  The draft allowed for the wealthy to pay poor men to take their place in the ranks.

Today in Communist aka Capitalist China, the wealth are permitted to pay the poor to serve their prisons entences:

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2012/08/china_s_wealthy_and_influential_sometimes_hire_body_doubles_to_serve_their_prison_sentences.single.html

Let me suggest that there are some things money should not be able to buy.  One's personal obligation as a citizen to one's nation ought to be one of those things... whether to serve as a soldier or pay one's debt to society as a convicted criminal.

By the same token, some public functions ought never to be turned over to free enterprise.  These include education, the criminal justice system (policing, incarceration, the courts), and the welfare safety net.


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