RE: Democracy?

[Greg Peisert <gpeisert@jamesgregory.com>]

Margaret;

  So, the implication of your undocumented and unsubstantiated statements 
below (I would at least like to see a reference or two, but let us assume 
they are true), is that in the absence of the welfare state, Mr Rogan would 
have perished and never achieved the success he has achieved. That would be 
a "non sequitur"...it "does not follow."

  We live in the world into which we are born, and we make the best of what 
is available to us. Had those social programs not been available, there is 
nothing to suggest that the outcome for Mr Rogan would have been 
significantly different. The opportunities and paths to success are vast in 
number _in spite of_ the burden of a vast and invasive government. I submit 
that if we cast off the shackles of the nanny state, the overwhelming 
evidence from history suggests that those opportunities would be  even 
_more_ plentiful. What is perhaps remarkable about Rogan's story, again 
assuming it is true, is not that he got "help" from the government, but 
that he managed to break free of it.

-- Greg

P.S. I have listened to Mr. Rogan a good deal over the past couple of 
months. He is a marvelous, articulate spokesman for liberty and the rule of 
law. I am beginning to think that it is the "converted liberals" who make 
the best Republicans. They seem to understand the fundamental issues with a 
clarity that others lack.



On Saturday, February 06, 1999 6:54 AM, Margaret Tarbet 
[SMTP:tarbet@swaa.com] wrote:
> Rep. James Rogan's history is both atypical of Republicans and
> right-wing libertarians, and all too typical, on different levels.
>
> "Rogan ... was raised on welfare. He was a high school dropout. He
> was a Democrat who learned politics from his longshoreman
> grandfather.
>
> But Rogan righted himself, completed high school, got a political
> science degree from UC-Berkeley in 1979 and then a law degree at
> UCLA -- and became a Republican. "
>
> His food, clothing, shelter, and medical care during childhood were
> provided at public expense.  He got his primary and secondary
> education at public expense.   He got undergraduate and law degrees
> at publicly-subsidised schools.
>
> And then he became a Republican.
>
> I imagine he thinks of himself as a self-made man, someone who got
> where he got entirely through his own energy, determination, and
> hard work.