Theft at the Public Till
went down in flames saying the project was ahead of its time and could not work unless the airlines voluntarily said they wanted it. The political forces did not like that approach. The airport was to be built no matter what, and if the airlines wanted the “privilege” of flying to Denver, well they had better get on board. They did and we are all paying. In fact we are paying for many such things. Each time we pay for some pedestrian good or service we are also paying for a host of government bene- fits for all sorts of people. Some of these benefits we might choose to pay for, some we might not. But, we are not given that choice to make. For example, a policy of amiable tolerance toward smoking, despite widespread reports of its harmfulness, was until quite recently the norm. Our laissez-faire moral- ity dictated the nonabrasive attitude that it was, after all, the smoker’s life. Eventually, we came to understand that smokers not only jeopardize their own health, but also the health of everyone else. For many years we not only tolerated smoking, but we subsidized it. Even today, tobacco growers get money from every taxpayer. We subsidize a noxious and expensive habit. Smokers pollute indoor air, making it unpleasant and, I believe, hazardous for nonsmokers; smokers increase Medicare and Medicaid costs; smokers use scarce hospital beds when treated for smoking-related diseases; and smokers often die young, leaving dependents for the rest of us to support. In short, smokers shift their smoking-related costs to the rest of us whether we want them or not. Over the past decade we have been buying things like higher unem- ployment compensation benefits, greater health coverage, bigger workers’ compensation awards, four-lane highways, better school buildings, and even bigger jury awards in product liability and automobile accident suits without anyone ever asking if we wanted them -never mind if we wanted to pay for them. Does it make sense for you and I to pay good money in higher gasoline and oil prices so that 34,000 Alaskans can benefit to the tune of $150,000 each in punitive damages for the Exxon Valdez oil spill? Keep in mind this $150,000 is extra money over and above full compensation for losses. And just think, a few law firms also got hundreds of millions. For what? And at our expense. Every oil company now adds to its costs the funding of a reserve
9
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online