The thing I noticed first about Christine's letter to the editor is the total absence of name-calling. This alone makes it a noteworthy letter, since she makes her points with the substance of her arguments, not on pejorative language. Well done on that level, Christine.
However, the substance of her arguments must be based on the substance of my column. Does she refute things I actually addressed? And does she accurately represent them? Well, no. It seems that these simple criteria would not be unreasonable to expect of an English teacher at Bozeman High School.
Christine writes: "Unlike Rich, I have recently discovered that total self-reliance is impossible in today’s modern world." Unfortunately for her, I made no statement regarding "total self-reliance." The fact of the matter is that I do not believe that total self reliance is desirable, even if it were possible. True, there are some who make an effort to live "off the grid," but even they will rely on others at times. Nevertheless, there is little advantage in discussing a position that is not mine.
Christine continues: "Bill Anderson’s excellent essay titled “The Myth of Self-Reliance” made me question the viability of libertarianism today since, like it or not, we are interconnected as a society." So, Christine did not get the idea of "total self-reliance" from my column, she got it from Bill Anderson: http://www.thefreemanonline.org/columns/the-myth-of-self-reliance/
I note for the record that Mr. Anderson never used the word "libertarian." His article references a magazine article, which he describes as advocating self sufficiency. He quotes a paragraph from it to establish his thesis that total self-reliance is not possible: "Before 1776 we were less than free as a country, but Americans were independent in a personal sense. Most people then built their own homes, grew their own food, made their furniture and clothes, and even bred their own horses for transportation. True, life was much harder than now. But the support systems were within reach of almost everyone, and were subject to individual control. People ‘paid’ for much of what they used with their own effort. Almost all the raw materials were renewable. Our material culture was sustainable, and America could be cut off from the rest of the world without the creation of much suffering or hardship... What can be done about our growing dependence in these modern times?"
Maybe I'm not seeing it, but there doesn't appear to be any advocacy of "total self-reliance" contained in the paragraph he quoted. Quite the contrary, this statement, "...but the support systems were within reach of almost everyone..." suggests just the opposite, that people did depend on each other. Hmm, maybe it's just me.
Beyond that, libertarians do not advocate total self-reliance. Perhaps a small few of them do, but it certainly is not a defining tenet of libertarianism. Libertarians do want to bring government down to its constitutional limits, they do want government out of their pockets and personal lives, and they do believe that they are better equipped to make decisions about their own lives. But libertarians are not anarchists or isolationists (except isolation from undue government interference).
Let's continue on to Christine's next point: "What are the long-term effects of “opting out” of local taxes as Rich suggests?" Actually, I did not suggest that we should have the ability to opt out. The point I made is that progressives are in favor of certain targeted taxes, like impact fees, but opposed to the idea of allowing other targeted taxes, based on nothing but political preferences. They like impact fees because these taxes target a villan, and also because they don't have to pay them. Conversely, they like general taxes like property taxes because property taxes support public schools, and they like public schools.
She asks, "What if we chopped down Bozeman’s trees to make more room for 'wonderful creations,' the office buildings Rich celebrates?" Well, people chop down trees all the time for a variety of reasons. But I did not advocate cutting down trees to build condos. All I did was question the tree maintenance tax, which I suppose is sufficent to make me anti-tree.
She continues: "What happens to property values and quality of life in a hardscape town of 'beautiful, useful' office condominiums?" So now I want ALL the trees cut down and office condos built everywhere! Do you see how this is escalating from my simple questioning of a tax? But let's run with the idea. Assume the Gallatin Valley was covered with forests. Eeevil capitalist developers came in and cut down a bunch of trees and built ugly office condos. Did the quality of life change? Yes, upwards. The reason those offices were built is because businesses need a place to operate from, and those businesses sell products and employ people and allow a better quality of life.
Trees, on the other hand, employ no one. They just sit there looking pretty. I would certainly agree that we need pretty things to look at to soften the hardscape, but I would suggest that the two are not mutually exclusive. In any event, since I am not anti-tree or pro-condo, it makes little sense to discuss the point any more.
Christine then pursues another non-sequitur: "What happens to our educated, literate workforce and local businesses when public education quality declines due to lack of funding?" Well, my column made no statement about the level of funding for public schools. We do know, however, that the worst schools in the country (largely located in progressive strongholds like Detroit and D.C.) are among the highest funded. So, there is no real "...correlation among literacy skills, education and criminal activity versus civic responsibility..." with school funding.
Once again, since I questioned a tax, in this case property taxes, it apparently makes me anti-education. This is a typical M.O. of the political left. Opposing or criticizing a tax or a government program is synonymous with opposing the goal of the tax or program. Therefore, suggesting tax reform is the same as being anti-education, hating blacks, tossing the poor out into the streets, starving our seniors, and misogyny.
It seems pretty obvious that she is drawing conclusions based on suppositions that are derived from the progressive template. It's not that I think she's dishonest, I think she's reflexively responding based on where she is immersed. She assumes they're true because she surrounds herself with like-minded people, and as a result generally restricts her exposure to contrary ideas. I believe she has rarely had a sit down with someone who has a different political point of view, or if she has, she doesn't like it when it happens.
I must say, however, I am glad that she wrote. Responding to something other than mindless invective was a pleasure for me. She did demonstrate that it is possible to engage in civil dialogue. I hope a few progressives take the hint.
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