Reply To: Atlas Shrugged and the Torah

4. I think we’re not speaking to each other then. The part that is bothering me is that the decision is not being made for the common good–it is being made for the voter’s personal good, and it consists of taking from the other and keeping it. I don’t understand how you can compare that to a joint public decision on how to spend funds that are evenly taken.

5 & 6. Well, my point is that it should not depend on the context. My point is that when you decide to take something from me for your personal gain–there can never be a justification for it. That the theory of democratic government fails when it ceases to be a government of the majority for the common good and becomes a government of the majority for personal good.

I’ll answer your question: It depends on the voting. If the people are all voting to extract value from the other for themselves, then it is immoral. I don’t care what the breakdown is–I just care what the underlying theory is.

7. I still don’t know why you think it matters if they are building palaces or cardboard box houses. You are taking from me.

And the notion that I somehow owe it to you because the police protection helps me earn it, is insulting and wrong. I’ve already paid for the police protection, I’ve already paid for the roads, and the army, and the SEC, and the whole government. So now all that is still left is really mine. And now I’ve also got to pay for your heating?