I love trains and I love riding them when I can which is not that often. To do so, I am forced to ride Amtrak, a pseudo-public corporation that survives largely on the Government dole. I know that, on those times that I’ve ridden one of those fabulous long-distance routes that they have managed not to screw up, I’m being subsidized by taxpayers who may have no interest in riding trains at all.
I also love public (or, as we used to call it, educational) television. That means watching PBS, another pseudo-public corporation that survives largely on the Government dole. I know that I’m watching programming partly subsidized by taxpayers who have no interest in watching it at all.
As a libertarian, does that mean I should never ride the train or watch PBS? Some might say that I shouldn’t. I disagree. These may be very public and political examples of government subsidies but almost everything we do is either taxed or subsidized by government and, in some cases, both. Unless I live in a cave, I can’t avoid traveling on public roads and using government services. Airlines are far more subsidized than Amtrak has ever been but no one ever mentions them. Hell, it is impossible to travel at all without patronizing some government subsidized venture. I suppose I could avoid watching PBS but I don’t want to and I see no reason that I should do so. Education at all levels is infested with government but I went to school so I think I can watch Nova if I want.
So would Amtrak and PBS exist without government? Probably not but that doesn’t mean train travel and public television wouldn’t. The reality is that we just don’t know what would happen if we simply took government completely out of the transportation and education business but the fact that I’m more than willing to find out, even if I can’t take a train across the Rockies or watch America’s Test Kitchen, leaves my conscience clear.
