X-Spam-Status: No, score=-2.6 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=unavailable version=3.2.2 Sender: -2.6 (spamval) -- NONE Return-Path: Received: from newman.eecs.umich.edu (newman.eecs.umich.edu [141.213.4.11]) by boston.eecs.umich.edu (8.12.10/8.13.0) with ESMTP id l7V6geux022221 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA bits=256 verify=FAIL) for ; Fri, 31 Aug 2007 02:42:40 -0400 Received: from anniehall.mr.itd.umich.edu (mx.umich.edu [141.211.176.130]) by newman.eecs.umich.edu (8.14.1/8.14.1) with ESMTP id l7V6gEBY007379 for ; Fri, 31 Aug 2007 02:42:16 -0400 Received: FROM newman.eecs.umich.edu (newman.eecs.umich.edu [141.213.4.11]) BY anniehall.mr.itd.umich.edu ID 46D7B84A.90E17.16172 ; 31 Aug 2007 02:42:18 -0400 Received: from boston.eecs.umich.edu (boston.eecs.umich.edu [141.213.4.61]) by newman.eecs.umich.edu (8.14.1/8.14.1) with ESMTP id l7V6ftZi007358 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA bits=256 verify=FAIL); Fri, 31 Aug 2007 02:41:55 -0400 Received: from boston.eecs.umich.edu (localhost.eecs.umich.edu [127.0.0.1]) by boston.eecs.umich.edu (8.12.10/8.13.0) with ESMTP id l7V6gFux022213 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA bits=256 verify=NO); Fri, 31 Aug 2007 02:42:16 -0400 Received: from localhost (dreeves Æ localhost) by boston.eecs.umich.edu (8.12.10/8.12.9/Submit) with ESMTP id l7V6gFDa022210; Fri, 31 Aug 2007 02:42:15 -0400 X-Authentication-Warning: boston.eecs.umich.edu: dreeves owned process doing -bs X-X-Sender: dreeves Æ boston.eecs.umich.edu In-Reply-To: Message-ID: References: <4CE28F9E-2B6E-4834-B3FA-1C3FBF2E7341 Æ umich.edu> <02548635-1F0E-4244-847D-8FA54DACAD4B Æ umich.edu> <1acf35a70708221835o75734aa2waa72f00b69632a18 Æ mail.gmail.com> <78195003-0498-4DB5-A1CE-CAA5605DE533 Æ umich.edu> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.2.2 (2007-07-23) on newman.eecs.umich.edu X-Virus-Scanned: ClamAV version 0.91.2, clamav-milter version 0.91.2 on newman.eecs.umich.edu X-Virus-Scanned: ClamAV version 0.91.2, clamav-milter version 0.91.2 on newman.eecs.umich.edu X-Virus-Status: Clean Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2007 02:42:14 -0400 (EDT) To: Dave Morris cc: improvetheworld Æ umich.edu, Steven Reeves , reeves-hayos Æ umich.edu, reeves-kalkman Æ umich.edu From: Daniel Reeves Subject: Re: mind the gap Ok, one more, from the bottom: [PS: Kevin, beat me to this, but from a different (complementary) perspective] > 6. How, in a purely free-market system, does anyone decide it's a good > idea to have a mental hospital for the poor? If I wanted to be a purist about it I'd say this is in the domain of private charity, which we'd have more of without the government sucking up nearly half the wealth we all generate. (Yes, some of that gets put to perfectly good use, but the Bush administration especially is so out of control.) In fact, if you think of the sheer magnitude of philanthropic spending in this country (Carnegie, Gates, Buffet) and how much more there would be if society didn't turn first to the government for these needs (which, notice, just means charity that everyone is forced to contribute to) then I really think that would improve, as we say, the world. (Hmm, I started out ready to concede this one! I'm becoming more of a purist the more we debate this. :) PS: Another project at Yahoo involves clever incentive schemes for getting people to donate to charities. I'll probably try them on you all at some point. There's huge untapped potential here. Dave would say people care about helping others, status, prestige, etc more than money -- I would translate that to: people have high value for helping others, status, prestige, etc. (See, our differences are largely semantic!) -- http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/dreeves - - search://"Daniel Reeves" "It's really annoying not to have email working. What if Jesus emails me? He'll think I'm ignoring him." -- Kevin Lochner, 2005-06-14