I have this exact feeling when “discussing” this topic with folks that believe a country should be run as a business. It’s so misguided! People are residents, not employees, and they shouldn’t be able to be fired by the country they are living in. This “firing” does seem to be happening in the US right now, tho 👎
I say accidentally because they were making a different point. They’re focused on hating Americans for supposedly only caring about getting a tax refund when the actual point was that there should be consequences for the government fucking its own people so hard
But what non-dysfunctional government that doesn’t behave like it is a subscription service shuts down regularly?
This forces OP to asking themselves (albeit somewhat jokingly) this kind of question. Why should they be a proud contributing member of a society when the body receiving these contributions does not properly perform their contribution to society? Is it really only an American who might ask themselves such a question?
I’m Canadian and I agree with OP. if any service I was paying for was gone for a month and I was still billed for it, I’d call the company and demand a refund. Of course, I’d have the ability to threaten to cut ties with the company and get service elsewhere. Unfortunately, that isn’t an easy option with government services.
The government isn’t a corporation separate from the people that you contract with. It is the organization OF the people to look after common interests. Ideally, anyway; it just turns out that, like almost any organization, people looking out for their own interests first get attracted to the positions of power.
Backing out of your financial participation means you should lose out of all of its benefits, like roads, schools, firefighters, and subsidized food/whatever prices. Also legal protection of any kind, so it’s the Purge against you, specifically. Have fun!
Yes, people who refuse to pay taxes shouldn’t get the services, but it should work the other way too, if the government refuses to provide services then people shouldn’t have to pay taxes
The government isn’t a subscription service or a company.
I can’t deal with Americans’ ultracapitalist perspective on the res publica. It’s so annoying.
I have this exact feeling when “discussing” this topic with folks that believe a country should be run as a business. It’s so misguided! People are residents, not employees, and they shouldn’t be able to be fired by the country they are living in. This “firing” does seem to be happening in the US right now, tho 👎
You accidentally just explained why it’s incredibly unacceptable for the government to be shut down.
Not accidentally - everyone knows this is stupid it’s just a dumb game congress plays.
I say accidentally because they were making a different point. They’re focused on hating Americans for supposedly only caring about getting a tax refund when the actual point was that there should be consequences for the government fucking its own people so hard
Taxes are a fee for government services. People shouldn’t pat fir services they aren’t getting. They deserve at least a partial refund
But what non-dysfunctional government that doesn’t behave like it is a subscription service shuts down regularly?
This forces OP to asking themselves (albeit somewhat jokingly) this kind of question. Why should they be a proud contributing member of a society when the body receiving these contributions does not properly perform their contribution to society? Is it really only an American who might ask themselves such a question?
A well-functioning government never shuts down, let alone regularly.
That doesn’t mean that the people should forgo their contribution to shared civilization, though.
The current kakistocracy misappropriating funds doesn’t mean that the parts of the government they haven’t ruined doesn’t need tax revenue.
America bad. Sweden perfect. China perfect. Botswana perfect
do you think this post is serious
Given Americans, it wouldn’t surprise me
As an American, while I can’t tell you if this OP is serous, I can tell you there are many here that do feel that way
I’m Canadian and I agree with OP. if any service I was paying for was gone for a month and I was still billed for it, I’d call the company and demand a refund. Of course, I’d have the ability to threaten to cut ties with the company and get service elsewhere. Unfortunately, that isn’t an easy option with government services.
The government isn’t a corporation separate from the people that you contract with. It is the organization OF the people to look after common interests. Ideally, anyway; it just turns out that, like almost any organization, people looking out for their own interests first get attracted to the positions of power.
Backing out of your financial participation means you should lose out of all of its benefits, like roads, schools, firefighters, and subsidized food/whatever prices. Also legal protection of any kind, so it’s the Purge against you, specifically. Have fun!
Yes, people who refuse to pay taxes shouldn’t get the services, but it should work the other way too, if the government refuses to provide services then people shouldn’t have to pay taxes