One of the reasons Razib objects to the wide sweep approach of Child Support agencies seeking "deadbeat dads" - under which arbitrarily identified targets are apparently presumed fathers unless proven otherwise - is that..
..in the process it destroys the trust that individuals have in our government as an accountable and responsible organ of the public good rather than an capricious and arbitrary machine that mechanically exists to extract & redistribute public goods & services.
Perhaps that should be modified to read: "the trust that some deluded invididuals still have".
Maybe I'm too cynical but I would have thought that if the contrasting public perceptions ever squared off for a fight, "capricious and arbitrary machine" beats "accountable and responsible organ" nine times out of ten.
after spending 2 weeks in bangladesh i realized the difference between *unnecessary evil* and *necessary evil*....
Posted by: razib | July 15, 2004 at 09:49 PM