Don’t force taxpayers to fund misinformation from NPR and PBS

Spokesmen at the National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting System are forever asking people to donate money to support themselves and their programs. “Viewers just like you” do so, we are told, and we are exhorted to follow in their footsteps.

What are we who love our country to say about such goings on? From a superficial perspective, this seems unproblematic. After all, they are asking for voluntary contributions, and voluntarism is practically the middle name of our political philosophy.

But a moment’s reflection can give pause to this conclusion. For one thing, we must be cautious about just how far voluntarism can go in justifying this pitch for funds. If A asks B to murder C, all might be thought to be alright in this regard between A and B, no coercion there, but certainly not between either A or B on the one hand, and C on the other.