| | | Koan wrote: My entire argument is based on my knowledge of politics and social science and what allows societies to function best for the good of all.
What about the many hate groups who want to bring harm to you and those who share your political views? What is your perception about your taxes going to help them to function at their peak efficiency in our society and helping them to further their hate-filled views, beliefs, and goals?
Koan wrote: Do you not understand that democracy requires everybody to give up a little freedom? You don't have the freedom to go through a red light, or stop sign. Does that bother you? When you build a house you have to obey the building codes? Does that bother you? You have to pay a monthly fee for water and sewer and taxes to have a local government so they can hire firemen, policemen and schoolteachers. Does that bother you?
Let me address those examples one at a time. Red lights, stops signs, policemen, and firemen have functions that protect me and my family. I don't mind paying taxes to fund those shared instruments, personnel, and functions. A school teacher? No. I think that all education should be privatized. Public education has nothing more than indoctrination into group-think that many don't share.
Indeed, there is a very, very lengthy list of ideas taught in public schools that have nothing to do with core curriculum like mathematics, the sciences, and the English language. To that end, I think that the Department of Education should be abolished. Moreover, the concept of having schools that teach mathematics, the sciences, and English is outmoded, outdated, and extremely inefficient. I would be happy to share a far better concept with you at a later time, if you are interested in hearing about it. Feel free to ask.
There are many other things that I resent paying taxes for such as the health care of someone else, the retirement of someone else, and the medicine for someone else. The fact is that our taxes pay for many, many things that I find very offensive and/or useless to me. I would also wager that homeowners/property/auto insurance costs are far higher today because of (a) illegal immigration, and (b) citizens who pose far higher risks than the average person.
Koan wrote: The way democracy is set up, and there is no better system that I know of, is that people get together and elect representatives who figure out what sorts of rules and regulations they want to have so that their community can function well. Most cities have a city government and a city Council. Can you imagine any large city functioning without a city government?
I don't question the instrumentality of the process, I question and challenge the scope of its application. Simply put, government is far too large. The idea of having federal, state, county, and city/town levels of government is one thing, but the scope of each level is far too large.
Let me ask you this: Will you feel fairly represented at the national level by Trump, a Republican-majority congress (both chambers), and a Republican-appointed majority on the SCOTUS after Friday, January 20, 2017? How will you feel about seeing your taxes go toward funding President Trump's agenda that he has laid out? How will you feel knowing that your taxes are funding the arrest and deportation of illegal aliens? Will you like it and feel well-represented by the process when that happens?
Koan wrote: I don't know what sort of government you have in mind, but I never studied it, nor have I heard of it in all my years at the University or working in government and in politics.
The kind of government that I have in mind is a much smaller government, at all levels, with a far smaller footprint into our daily lives, personal affairs, and private conversations/communications.
I also think that pyramid/ponzi schemes such as social security, medicare, and medicaid, as well as taxes on all personal labor, should be phased out over time so as not to punish (rob) those who were forced to pay into the system over time, and not to burden the younger generation with paying for the erasure of those failed programs. It's something that can and should be done.
President-Elect Trump has strongly advocated reducing the size of the government, eliminating inefficiencies, redundancies, and useless or burdensome components. I strongly approve of that idea. Do you? |
|
