"Richard Hertz" no one@no one.com wrote in message
et...

"AES/newspost" wrote in message
...
In article t,
"Mike Rapoport" wrote:

....snip...

My impression is that in Europe auto insurance coverage goes with the
car, not the driver. If so, good idea.

Our governor just vetoed drivers license for undocumented immigrants on
grounds of inadequate insurance provisions: also a good idea,
independent of views on whether undocumented immigrants should be given
drivers licenses at all.

Yeah, that's what we need, more government intervention. They do such a
good job when they interfere with the market.

What you are saying makes sense to me - insure everything. Europe is
great - I can't wait for the government in the US to finally convert
totally
to socialism. It will be such a huge step forward for us.



If insurance is such a "socialist" concept, why do we use it at all?

There are many brands of "socialism", some within dictatorships..... but
many within democracies, something that seems to escape a lot of us.

The definitions range everything from:
"The set of beliefs which states that all people are equal...." which I am
sure you would not dispute, to:
"the...[economy]...is owned collectively or by a centralized government that
plans and controls it...."

Under some of the definitions, "of the people, by the people, for the
people", can sound like a pretty "socialist" concept, especially when I have
to assume that the constitution did not intend to leave anyone out, did
it??... and the real interpretation must be: "of ALL the people, by ALL the
people, for ALL the people".


It means that citizens help other citizens, sharing their skill and good
fortune with the less able (ie: "the people"). In most civilized circles
that is considered a "good" thing.

Perhaps a return to those concepts WOULD be "a huge step forward".

The pure "market" is not so perfect, either, producting its own set of
problems. It continues to concentrate wealth, and spread the gap between
rich and poor.... If that continues, (and right now there is no indication
that it will not), the ultimate result will be civil revolution... just a
matter of whether it is reached in fifteen years, or a hundred and fifteen.

Unless, of course, the "government" clamps down on the revolutionaries with
military might, in which case we have something akin to feudalism or
dictatorship, as in any number of countries you could point at recently, or
even today.

The founding Fathers wrote in some stuff to prevent that. I hope it is
still holding up???

--
*** A great civilization is not conquered from without until it
has destroyed itself from within. ***
- Ariel Durant 1898-1981