On 15 May 96 at 15:03, Jim McCoy wrote:

US decided (via it's legislative system, regardless of whether or not it was the "smart" thing to do) a long time ago that it was a worthwhile goal to give everyone, regardless of where they lived, equal access to certain parts of the national infrastructure.

The US decided that the end justifies any means, and thus decided to

Actually they would put your money where your mouth is. If such subsidies were not given then rural dwellers (those people who grow all the food that keeps you alive...) would just add the cost to food production and therefore add to the cost of what you eat.

They are free to charge more. Oh, I forgot, prices are regulated... When grand'pa came to Canada in 1912 with his parents and his 11 brothers and sisters, he and they did not have a penny, nor did they speak the language nor had access to any socialistic programs. When he and his sister and brothers died, most of them were wealthy. And all they did all their life was to grow vegetables. They had very good reputations and I do not know any story of any one of them being con men. `

It is rather amazing how this posting has drawn all of the militant > libertarians out of the closet.

Why assume that I hid in some closet? I did not militate either. I do not endorse libertarian ideas. I've never read any "libertarian" litterature. I only read a bit of Ayn Rand, and the regular Objectivists will tell you that they are *not* libertarians. Actually they object to the libertarian doctrine. And again, I am no objectivist. Many of them refuse to talk to me.

...

If there was such a perceived advantage, they would make it their priority. Parents would be willing to buy the necessary hardware and then, put the little extra that is required to connect. Remember, the costliest part of the internet is the hardware to run Netscape.

From a consumer standpoint, it is. Unless I am wrong. Can you bring up figures?

You have obviously never had anything to do with connecting people to the internet, have you? After spending the last four years prior to my current job bulding one of the largest ISPs in Texas I can promise you that getting the dedicated line from one location across a LATA into another where connectivity is a non-metered local phone call from your subscribers is a very costly affair (the line charges are per-mile, and here in the US you may have to run your wire 100-250 miles to get to the next LATA)

Why don't you just use a microwave link? Oh, I forget, the FCC might not permit it... And then, why don't you just get together all the bunch of peoples and decide to obtain a right of way for a community cable that would carry data? And while you are at it, maybe you can try a fiberoptic company to subsidize you, tax-deductible from their income... It's worth a shot! Oh, but again, the FCC and half a dozen other ministry might object. You don't find enough donations? No problems, simply sell your project, aided by your reputation, to every neighboor. Simply issue shares to raise money... Oh, again, I forgot, the SEC would object... How does a data link cost compare (long term and short term) to the initial expense of purchasing a computer? Like, since you mentionned it, how much did your project cost per user?

You seem to be falling into the same line of thinking which most annoys me about Libertarians,

You are too sensitive... :-)

you ignore the cost of building and maintaining the infrastructure in the first place

Not at all. We only realize that the cost of building infrastructures in *this* statist world is almost not affordable. Why don't you read about railroad history and come back later? JFA DePompadour, Societe d'Importation Ltee Limoges porcelain, Silverware and mouth blown crystal glasses JFA Technologies, R&D consultants. Physists, technologists and engineers. PGP keys at: http://w3.citenet.net/users/jf_avon ID# C58ADD0D : 529645E8205A8A5E F87CC86FAEFEF891 Unsollicited commercial e-mail will be proofread at US165 $/h Any sender of such material will be considered as to have ac- cepted the above mentionned terms.