What really riles me is conservatives who are against "socialism" but are themselves beneficiaries

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7. i'll draw a distinction between hypocrisy and living within a system to which one objects.

i don't really have a problem with warren buffett actually paying taxes at a lower rate than his secretary while publicly advocating higher taxes for himself. i don't think it's up to the (comparatively) decent people to cover for the waltons and the kochs and so on. the higher taxes should be for all the rich people, and i don't really have a problem with buffett taking advantage of the current tax structure in the meanwhile. he's be a real saint if he volunteered to pay more than current law required, but i won't hold it against him if he doesn't.

similarly, i don't have a huge problem with people thinking the government shouldn't provide farm subsidies and then taking them when they qualify for them. if they're paying taxes into the system, they can take benefits out, even if they'd prefer not to have either these government programs or the taxes that support them.


where the hypocrisy comes in is when they rail on those who accept benefits as "takers" or "leeches" or otherwise unworthy of assistance; or when they advocate fiercely for the specific government programs from which they benefit and rail against all the others.

of course, personally, i'm a huge advocate of most government support programs, so i disagree with anyone who objects to the programs, but on the merits of the program, not because they might participate in it themselves. i don't have a problem with people taking social security after having paid into the system all their working lives, even while they say the wish the entire arrangement didn't exist. i'll call them cold and heartless and selfish, but not hypocritical.