potato_head (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
potato_head) wrote2011-09-21 06:36 pm
potato_head) wrote2011-09-21 06:36 pm
Entry tags:
TUTORING SUCCESS
I HAVE GAINED A STUDENT
Some guy in macro ec approached me today (after the first quiz) and was just like I THINK I FAILED EVERYTHING. I was like COME WITH ME TO THE MAGICAL LAND OF MY OFFICE
WHICH IS ACTUALLY THE BEAR'S DEN CAFETERIA OMNOMNOM
And I tutored his ass
I also just success'd on another script, the NPC asking a yes/no question :D I am steadily filling Palette Town up with NPCs saying inane things lolol
And now for a short rant on the subject of TAXES. Note that this is only about the situation in America. I do not claim to know anything about taxation in...most other countries. Maybe a bit about France and other heavily socialist democracies.
ALSO NOTE THERE IS A LOT OF SWEARING I get kind of testy about this subject. So there is also a more flippant attitude than I usually have towards things. As a result, no links to back up my claims, although I don't think I said anything outrageous enough to require a link to back it up, it should all be common knowledge?
I am so so so sick of hearing Americans complain about taxes. "Taxes are unfair!" "EXTORTION!!!!" "Taking MY MONEY!!" "Taking MY MONEY!! AND GIVING IT TO THOSE LAZY POOR PEOPLE!!!!!"
OMG STFU
Okay, let's try this hypothetical scenario. Say you performed a service for someone. Like...building something for them to use.
Or you run a security company and they hire your men to patrol their property.
Or they use some sort of system you've set up. An organizational system, a computer system, whatever.
Would you expect this person to pay you for these services?
THEN WHY THE HELL DON'T YOU EXPECT TO PAY FOR THESE SERVICES WHEN THE GOVERNMENT PROVIDES THEM.
Like any other organization, the government NEEDS MONEY TO FUNCTION. I'm sure if a government could be run off of smiles and hugs, there would be several out there that did. But they can't. So they need you to PAY THEM FOR THE MANY THINGS THEY PROVIDE YOU. It doesn't fucking matter WHERE the money goes once you have it. It is not your money any more because you PAID IT IN EXCHANGE FOR SERVICES.
"But but but," you say.
"But I don't use any of these things the government makes. Like welfare and public schools and all that. Because I am reasonably well-off. And they tax me even more! For these things I do not use!"
Okay. Here is a VERY ABBREVIATED list of things that I guarantee you that you, as a well-off person, get from the government.
-Fucking roads you ignorant fuck, if you are rich enough to have a car YOU BETTER BELIEVE YOU USE THE GOVERNMENT'S ROADS
-$$$$$. Who the fuck do you think prints money? The money fairy?
-I find it highly unlikely that you haven't heard about this one before. Don't keep more than $250,000 in one bank, right? Do you know WHY? Because the US government INSURES YOU UP TO THAT AMOUNT AS A DEPOSITOR IN AN FDIC INSURED BANK.
-Take a second to imagine what this country would be like without law enforcement agencies and jails. And no, gun-nuts, vigilantism would not be a better option; if it were, then that is what we would have.
Now let's take a look at those things that don't do YOU, PERSONALLY any good.
Public schools, right? Okay, so you can afford a private school for your kid. Awesome. Public schools are no concern of yours, issit?
Our public school system is not the best in the world, but it does provide education to those who cannot afford it. And I do not care what you THINK about whether or not people of lower incomes DESERVE to get their children educated; the FACT is that a more educated populace is better for the ENTIRE COUNTRY. More education = more skilled workers = a higher GDP.
Alright. Well, schools don't cost that much to the government anyways (unfortunately). But what about welfare? I wouldn't dare to suggest that you might ever fall on hard times and need assistance yourself. I am sure you would bootstrap yourself right through that obstacle, right?
Most crime is committed by people below the poverty line or who were born below the poverty line. Yeah, this is correlation, so we cannot say FOR SURE that having less money makes one more likely to become a criminal. But there is also a direct correlation between LESS PEOPLE IN POVERTY and LESS CRIME. What conclusion would you draw here?
I'm not even going to talk about the healthcare plan, because if you REALLY think letting any part of our society continue to be a breeding grounds for various diseases is a GOOD IDEA then you may need to re-evaluate your priority list. Because for most people, 'staying alive' should be somewhere around the top of that list. And no, keeping away from people who cannot afford healthcare will not actually help you when plague inevitably strikes.
A few final points:
Most of your tax dollars do not go towards welfare, public schools, etc. etc. Where do most of them go? To the US military. By a HUGE margin. And even if you don't agree with the war we're currently in or war at all, the fact is that the USA's huge military is one of the few things keeping us afloat in the international forum these days. You may not like that; hell, I don't like that. But the fact is, it is still doing a LOT for you.
And finally, I KNOW there are some major differences between paying a private company and paying the government for a service. You don't have choice about governments like you do about private companies. It is not EASY to just up and move to another country whose services you prefer. But the government isn't just stealing your goddamn money. Christ.
Some guy in macro ec approached me today (after the first quiz) and was just like I THINK I FAILED EVERYTHING. I was like COME WITH ME TO THE MAGICAL LAND OF MY OFFICE
WHICH IS ACTUALLY THE BEAR'S DEN CAFETERIA OMNOMNOM
And I tutored his ass
I also just success'd on another script, the NPC asking a yes/no question :D I am steadily filling Palette Town up with NPCs saying inane things lolol
And now for a short rant on the subject of TAXES. Note that this is only about the situation in America. I do not claim to know anything about taxation in...most other countries. Maybe a bit about France and other heavily socialist democracies.
ALSO NOTE THERE IS A LOT OF SWEARING I get kind of testy about this subject. So there is also a more flippant attitude than I usually have towards things. As a result, no links to back up my claims, although I don't think I said anything outrageous enough to require a link to back it up, it should all be common knowledge?
I am so so so sick of hearing Americans complain about taxes. "Taxes are unfair!" "EXTORTION!!!!" "Taking MY MONEY!!" "Taking MY MONEY!! AND GIVING IT TO THOSE LAZY POOR PEOPLE!!!!!"
OMG STFU
Okay, let's try this hypothetical scenario. Say you performed a service for someone. Like...building something for them to use.
Or you run a security company and they hire your men to patrol their property.
Or they use some sort of system you've set up. An organizational system, a computer system, whatever.
Would you expect this person to pay you for these services?
THEN WHY THE HELL DON'T YOU EXPECT TO PAY FOR THESE SERVICES WHEN THE GOVERNMENT PROVIDES THEM.
Like any other organization, the government NEEDS MONEY TO FUNCTION. I'm sure if a government could be run off of smiles and hugs, there would be several out there that did. But they can't. So they need you to PAY THEM FOR THE MANY THINGS THEY PROVIDE YOU. It doesn't fucking matter WHERE the money goes once you have it. It is not your money any more because you PAID IT IN EXCHANGE FOR SERVICES.
"But but but," you say.
"But I don't use any of these things the government makes. Like welfare and public schools and all that. Because I am reasonably well-off. And they tax me even more! For these things I do not use!"
Okay. Here is a VERY ABBREVIATED list of things that I guarantee you that you, as a well-off person, get from the government.
-Fucking roads you ignorant fuck, if you are rich enough to have a car YOU BETTER BELIEVE YOU USE THE GOVERNMENT'S ROADS
-$$$$$. Who the fuck do you think prints money? The money fairy?
-I find it highly unlikely that you haven't heard about this one before. Don't keep more than $250,000 in one bank, right? Do you know WHY? Because the US government INSURES YOU UP TO THAT AMOUNT AS A DEPOSITOR IN AN FDIC INSURED BANK.
-Take a second to imagine what this country would be like without law enforcement agencies and jails. And no, gun-nuts, vigilantism would not be a better option; if it were, then that is what we would have.
Now let's take a look at those things that don't do YOU, PERSONALLY any good.
Public schools, right? Okay, so you can afford a private school for your kid. Awesome. Public schools are no concern of yours, issit?
Our public school system is not the best in the world, but it does provide education to those who cannot afford it. And I do not care what you THINK about whether or not people of lower incomes DESERVE to get their children educated; the FACT is that a more educated populace is better for the ENTIRE COUNTRY. More education = more skilled workers = a higher GDP.
Alright. Well, schools don't cost that much to the government anyways (unfortunately). But what about welfare? I wouldn't dare to suggest that you might ever fall on hard times and need assistance yourself. I am sure you would bootstrap yourself right through that obstacle, right?
Most crime is committed by people below the poverty line or who were born below the poverty line. Yeah, this is correlation, so we cannot say FOR SURE that having less money makes one more likely to become a criminal. But there is also a direct correlation between LESS PEOPLE IN POVERTY and LESS CRIME. What conclusion would you draw here?
I'm not even going to talk about the healthcare plan, because if you REALLY think letting any part of our society continue to be a breeding grounds for various diseases is a GOOD IDEA then you may need to re-evaluate your priority list. Because for most people, 'staying alive' should be somewhere around the top of that list. And no, keeping away from people who cannot afford healthcare will not actually help you when plague inevitably strikes.
A few final points:
Most of your tax dollars do not go towards welfare, public schools, etc. etc. Where do most of them go? To the US military. By a HUGE margin. And even if you don't agree with the war we're currently in or war at all, the fact is that the USA's huge military is one of the few things keeping us afloat in the international forum these days. You may not like that; hell, I don't like that. But the fact is, it is still doing a LOT for you.
And finally, I KNOW there are some major differences between paying a private company and paying the government for a service. You don't have choice about governments like you do about private companies. It is not EASY to just up and move to another country whose services you prefer. But the government isn't just stealing your goddamn money. Christ.
no subject
no subject
no subject
AT LEAST I GOT THE 2 PART RIGHT?
no subject
And pretty much all of this as to the taxes stuff. Seriously, how is this not intuitive to people... *facepalm* Ah well, I guess if one is the type to go out holding signs of the "Get your government hands off my Medicare" variety, they wouldn't consider any of these things. :\
no subject
And yeah.. you get that even here and the difference between the wealthy and poor is not as.. dramatic as over there. Personally I really like the systems the Scandinavians have in place, their min. wage reflects the fact that 40-50% goes on tax and everyone is entitled to go get absolutely whatever they need (education/further education/healthcare/etc) and everyone seems pretty happy with that system. Even here, taxes are kept lower but it means then a bunch of stuff isn't covered on the NHS, the waiting times for things is -horrendous- and so forth.
I am a secret communist, I think a system where everyone is willing to work towards helping everyone else is the best possible system.
no subject
My parents bought into a communal farm this year c: although it isn't a PROPER communal farm where you actually work the land, you just contribute money for the labor etc.