What government programs have you benefited from?

[Soggy in NOLA]

I recall one or two libertarians...or conservatives (one won't admit to being either one) admitting they took government subsidized student loans, admitting they got back more tax money than they paid in, admitted that as kids they lived off of disability social security from a parents death, admitted they got free lunch because they qualified for it...and various other benefits and it got me wondering.

What government programs have you benefited from?

Here's my list, as far as I recall.

6 years of public school.
Clean water.
Uncontaminated food.
4 years publicly funded school buses.
Military protection.
Clear roads.
$250 from FEMA for hurricane damage.
Federally underwritten flood insurance.
4 years of publicly funded school for each of two kids.
1 year of bus services for 1 kid.
Scholarship for 1 kid underwritten by the state.

Me, Tricare (14.95 a month), GI bill, Tuition assistance when I was in, Scholarship for my daughter, disability retirement pay from the gov't, retirement pay, good roads...blah blah blah...there are a lot of things. A lot.

Another mooch chimes in.

 

[Luissa]

You know what the funny part is, out here we learn about Lewis and Clark all through school, I worked at a Imax that played the Lewis and Clark movie, I have known the dated of the expedition since I was probably 10. Last year during my final in American History, I couldn't remember the dates to save my life.

That's what you get for watching all that MTV and TMZ.

Should have paid a little more attention in grammar class as well.

I am too busy watching someone like you get a trash can thrown over their head, while crying for their mommy!

 

[Modbert]

I still got an A on the test, I made up for my brain fart in the essay part of the test.

I found my Western Civilization Final to be extremely easy.

 

[Soggy in NOLA]

Nothing that I can think of.. went to private schools, paid my own college tution and I basically support myself and have since I was 18. God forbid. And as for the notion that I enjoy well maintained roads and military protection, the former is arguable and the latter, I would hope so, given the taxes I pay.

Still waiting on thank you note from all the people I work to support so they don't have to work. Sounds like there are quite a few on these boards!

 

[Soggy in NOLA]

That's what you get for watching all that MTV and TMZ.

Should have paid a little more attention in grammar class as well.

I am too busy watching someone like you get a trash can thrown over their head, while crying for their mommy!

You couldn't put a trash can on your own head dumbass. Fuck off.

 

[☭proletarian☭]

When rail tied the nation together (before the interstate) they had competition (sort of), the phone lines, the airlines, package deliveries, food sellers, power suppliers etc. they all have competition why would the interstate have a monopoly?

WTF???? What fucking timeline do you have?? LOL!!!!!!!!!!

And people wonder why I always talk shit about our school systems

 

[Modbert]

Nothing that I can think of.. went to private schools, paid my own college tution and I basically support myself and have since I was 18. God forbid. And as for the notion that I enjoy well maintained roads and military protection, the former is arguable and the latter, I would hope so, given the taxes I pay.

Still waiting on thank you note from all the people I work to support so they don't have to work. Sounds like there are quite a few on these boards!

You pay taxes, but at the same time you receive military protection and maintained roads because of those taxes. Both Government Programs, therefore you benefit.

 

[Modbert]

And people wonder why I always talk shit about our school systems

Soggy here went to a private school. La de da.

 

[froggy]

oh yeah, and if your parents don't have to live with you after they retire, you can thank social security and medicaid for their autonomy...and your privacy.

Both parents passed away before they could get any ssi or medi.

 

[Modbert]

You couldn't put a trash can on your own head dumbass. Fuck off.

What's your problem? Did she turn down your advances making you bitter?

 

[Father Time]

When rail tied the nation together (before the interstate) they had competition (sort of), the phone lines, the airlines, package deliveries, food sellers, power suppliers etc. they all have competition why would the interstate have a monopoly?

I agree with that principle I'm just not sure it applies to the Interstate.

Um... dude... when rail tied the nation together, there weren't airlines. Those came later.

[FONT=Tahoma,Verdana,Trebuchet MS,Trebuchet,Geneva,Helvetica,Arial,sans][SIZE=-1]The greatest historical event in transportation on the continent occurred at Promontory, Utah, on May 10, 1869, as the Union Pacific tracks joined those of the Central Pacific Railroad. [/SIZE][/FONT]

Transcontinental Railroad - Driving the Last Spike - 1869

The brothers flew the glider only a few days in the early autumn of 1900 at Kitty Hawk

Wright brothers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Package Couriers wer not going to ride across the country, food sellers got goods that couldn't be grown locally because of the rail, and you YOU CAN'T SEND PALLETS OF ANYTHING THROUGH THE PHONE LINE, YOU FUCKING MORON
[FONT=Tahoma,Verdana,Trebuchet MS,Trebuchet,Geneva,Helvetica,Arial,sans][SIZE=-1][/SIZE][/FONT]

I know, I'm saying when rail was huge it was not a monopoly, then I pointed to all those modern businesses that are essential and still not monopolies.

 

[Misty]

The government gets it's money from ME in the form of taxes. I pay for everything the government does so therefore the government gives me nothing

I give the government everything.

 

[AkronGuy]

I recall one or two libertarians...or conservatives (one won't admit to being either one) admitting they took government subsidized student loans, admitting they got back more tax money than they paid in, admitted that as kids they lived off of disability social security from a parents death, admitted they got free lunch because they qualified for it...and various other benefits and it got me wondering.

What government programs have you benefited from?

Here's my list, as far as I recall.

6 years of public school.
Clean water.
Uncontaminated food.
4 years publicly funded school buses.
Military protection.
Clear roads.
$250 from FEMA for hurricane damage.
Federally underwritten flood insurance.
4 years of publicly funded school for each of two kids.
1 year of bus services for 1 kid.
Scholarship for 1 kid underwritten by the state.

13 years of public schools.

Cleanish water.

Uncontaminated food.

Food stamps.

Medicaid.

Welfare.

SSI for my brother.

College loans.

And so what if they're conservative or libertarian ? They're paying their taxes and're entitled to what they're eligible for, or are only liberals allowed to benefit from their tax dollars ?

 

[Skull Pilot]

Nothing that I can think of.. went to private schools, paid my own college tution and I basically support myself and have since I was 18. God forbid. And as for the notion that I enjoy well maintained roads and military protection, the former is arguable and the latter, I would hope so, given the taxes I pay.

Still waiting on thank you note from all the people I work to support so they don't have to work. Sounds like there are quite a few on these boards!

You pay taxes, but at the same time you receive military protection and maintained roads because of those taxes. Both Government Programs, therefore you benefit.

paying for something makes it a benefit?

I prefer to call it fee for service and poor service at that

 

[JakeStarkey]

All of us, if we have grown up in America, were benefitted by government programs: schools, fire protection, law enforcement, sanitation, clean water, city utilities, and dozens of other programs. I benefitted from school loans, which I paid back, and earned two graduate degrees with the help of the GI Bill.

 

[Ravi]

Me too. I've had friends build electric power grids, interstate highways systems, Chesapeake bay bridge tunnels, power plants, even Brooklyn bridges. And in their spare time and on weekends they defend the nation against the bad guys. Oh the magic of the individual when they set their mind to it.

Seriously, I think libertarian thinking so ridiculous, and yet so pernicious, when it come to the social commons, it is scary.

Why I Am Not a Libertarian
Why is libertarianism wrong?
Critiques Of Libertarianism: So You Want To Discuss Libertarianism....
The American Conservative -- Marxism of the Right

This is no surprise, as libertarianism is basically the Marxism of the Right. If Marxism is the delusion that one can run society purely on altruism and collectivism, then libertarianism is the mirror-image delusion that one can run it purely on selfishness and individualism.

I think you have it confused with objectivism.

The quote wasn't mine, but you do have a point. Perhaps the objectivists are those I find to be clowns, not the libertarians.

 

[Article 15]

Gotta love all the booty strappy talk about a mystical land where if there were if there were just no taxes everyone would do the right thing with their money and all of things we collectively handle now would be magically taken care of.

It's pretty easy to stand on the sidelines and just talk shit.

What y'all don't realize is that the system is in place and that in order for things to be the way y'all wish it would be the system has to be completely dismantled. The problem is that systems and governments aren't dismantled without a lot of bloodshed and a dark age transition period after. You are willing to risk they lives and safety of our entire population for a PIPE DREAM based on the rosy way you look at the way things used to be before you were even born. And there isn't a guarantee that it would even work.

 

[Cecilie1200]

Nothing that I can think of.. went to private schools, paid my own college tution and I basically support myself and have since I was 18. God forbid. And as for the notion that I enjoy well maintained roads and military protection, the former is arguable and the latter, I would hope so, given the taxes I pay.

Still waiting on thank you note from all the people I work to support so they don't have to work. Sounds like there are quite a few on these boards!

You pay taxes, but at the same time you receive military protection and maintained roads because of those taxes. Both Government Programs, therefore you benefit.

While it is true that everyone benefits from the interstate highway system, given that the vast majority of products sold in the United States are transported thereon, I should like to point out that anyone who has spent time on those highways is well aware of the utterly deplorable state many of them are in. So yeah, the government provides roads, but as is usual for the government, they do a shitty job of it.

 

[Ravi]

Gotta love all the booty strappy talk about how a mystical land where if there were if there were just no taxes everyone would do the right thing with their money and all of things we collectively handle now would be magically taken care of.

It's pretty easy to stand on the sidelines and just talk shit.

What y'all don't realize is that the system is in place and that in order for things to be the way y'all wish it would be the system has to be completely dismantled. The problem is that systems and governments aren't dismantled without a lot of bloodshed and a dark age transition period after. You are willing to risk they lives and safety of our entire population for a PIPE DREAM based on the rosy way you look at the way things used to be before you were even born. And there isn't a guarantee that it would even work.

Has it ever?

 

[Ravi]

Nothing that I can think of.. went to private schools, paid my own college tution and I basically support myself and have since I was 18. God forbid. And as for the notion that I enjoy well maintained roads and military protection, the former is arguable and the latter, I would hope so, given the taxes I pay.

Still waiting on thank you note from all the people I work to support so they don't have to work. Sounds like there are quite a few on these boards!

You pay taxes, but at the same time you receive military protection and maintained roads because of those taxes. Both Government Programs, therefore you benefit.

While it is true that everyone benefits from the interstate highway system, given that the vast majority of products sold in the United States are transported thereon, I should like to point out that anyone who has spent time on those highways is well aware of the utterly deplorable state many of them are in. So yeah, the government provides roads, but as is usual for the government, they do a shitty job of it.

How so? I can drive anywhere in the country with only minor problems on rare occasions. And somehow FEDEX and UPS always get through.