(Glasgow, probably, if it's named after the city in Scotland.)
> electricity for the entire city. Basically, if they make a few hundred
> thousand a month from the Internet business, that goes to paying yours
> and my electric bills. While that may generally sound nice and all...I
> have one question for you. How many languages can you say "socialist"
> in?
Only two or three, but I don't necessarily think it's a dirty word as
you seem to. Europe has socialized telecom systems and look how much
easier their ISDN is to deal with than ours. Much of Europe has
socialized mass transportation and medical care. Oddly enough, those
same parts of Europe tend to have higher standards of living than we
do here in the United States of Declining Civilization.
On the other hand, there are some government-type services which would
IMO work better if privatized. Space exploration, for one.
Ironically, the government used to do a bang-up job at this, but then
they bogged down.
Where Internet access lies, I'm not entirely sure. I know I make my
living because of it, so it may be foolish of me to say it, but I've
always been ambivalent about whether everybody and his dog getting on
the Net would be a Good Thing.
> even pave roads much less handle anything even remotely high-tech.
The government can't pave roads? Goodness, where -did- that gigantic
Interstate Highway System come from? You know, the most extensive and
efficient highway network in the world? The Highway Fairy didn't
bring it, you know.
As far as high-tech equipment goes, may I suggest you have a look
at... oh... the command center of an aircraft carrier?
> Second, where in the constitution does it say government should "render
> services"? Anybody read 1984?
The people who hold that view probably figure it's part of the
"... promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty
for ourselves and our posterity" bit.
Egad! This doesn't have the first thing to do with PortMasters.
Well, I've put so much effort into it I'll post it now, but that's
the last I'm going to say on the subject. If I carry it much farther,
Dale will yell at me and I don't think I can handle that kind of
rejection.
:)
--G.
-- Benjamin D. Hutchins - gryphon@livingston.com - Texaport Minion Livingston Enterprises, Inc. WWW: http://www.livingston.com/ BellNet: 800 458-9966 - 510 426-0770 -><- FAX: 510 426-8951 Support requests: support@livingston.com Spectrum is Green