Sarcasm
Whoaccio, I trust the fact I had my tongue planted in my cheek was rather obvious.
Notwithstanding that, you would do well not to suggest people who poke fun at, or holes through your ideological positions are stupid. This is most particularly true when your position is subjective and can't be substantiated.
Though my tongue was in cheek; I would venture to point out that there is no reason 'National' Defense can't be a private service or contracted out service.
After all, Canada doesn't make its own tanks or combat aircraft; We BUY them, from the private sector, including foreign corporations whose interest in selling us equipment or maintaining or servicing it is solely that of profit.
Why can't you do the same with soldiers?
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While I would venture to say, in all seriousness that one could hardly deprive someone of the benefit of National Defense, I might add that directly or indirectly this is true of roads, and transit. Can I really block you into your home if you don't pay the toll for your side street?
And even if you don't pay the user fee for public transit, wouldn't you derive the benefit of your neighbours not clogging the road or spewing air pollution?
My point was not to suggest that we ACTUALLY contact out Defense, but rather to suggest that privatized transit is no less silly an idea.
After all, public transit solely on the merits of its system does not turn a profit anywhere on earth. The Hong Kong system does, some years, but only due to its vast real estate holdings, and not as a direct by-product of its transit operations.
Further, we're people to be billed the real cost of transit, no one would take it. This would in turn lead to grossly overcrowded roads and sidewalks etc.
And if the real cost of roads we're billed to users (that is land-value, capital cost, routine operations (line painting, snow plowing etc.) and the cost of servicing car accidents with police, fire, healthcare etc.) very few could afford the cost of travel on roads either.
There is a roll for the state sometimes, that doesn't mean the state couldn't manage certain enterprises or infrastructure better; nor that there is no roll for the private sector; its just that blind and myopic ideology will not create any new, real or better solutions; its pragmatic realism that will.
Now SMILE, take a deep breath and enjoy the debate.