LH: It is a fact that the Welfare State theory would provide
more control over its citizens more than that provided by
the practice of the U.S. form of government.
Isn't this more of an end-user question? If the end-user of
government is more like Mike, who perhaps would like to
spend more time writing and visiting with his grandchildren,
then the question of the degree of control is unimportant.
If the end-user seeks to avoid government regulations and
pursue an ambitious scheme to develop wind farms or
hydroculture, then the degree of control is important.
In other words, isn't liberty defined by what the end-user
wants? Similarly, doesn't government control mean different
things to a business owner and an academic?
Yesterday I wanted to cash a check at a local bank where I
am vacationing. I went to their drive-through window, the
bank having just closed. The woman at the window told me
that she could not cash my check because I wasn't in a car.
In other words, if I had rented a car, driven to the window,
she could cash the check. But for insurance/legal reasons,
the fact that I was on foot prevented her from honoring the
transaction.
As a pedestrian end-user I wanted the liberty to cash a
check, but instead had to deal with the control regulations
imposed by past litigation. If I were a car-owning end-user,
I'd have the liberty of getting pocket change, and the
control imposed on pedestrians would have been invisible to me.
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