Tuesday, April 14, 2009

THIS ARTICLE in the New York Times saying that it's good to pay taxes because birds do it, bees doint, even educated fleas do it, is stunningly stupid. All the examples the author gives are of species that help their fellow members. But it's one thing that there's a sense of solidarity among a species, and that the collective frowns upon one of their members bailing out, and another very different one is forced solidarity enforced by an elite, chosen or not. What the article presents should be compared, say, with voluntary help and philantropy which, particularly in the US, is virtually a must.