They might be, I'm just saying that those are the only able bodied citizens that the phones should be available to.
They might be, I'm just saying that those are the only able bodied citizens that the phones should be available to.
Maybe so. It's been many years since I've lived in an urban environment. Maybe it's just easier for me to imagine that it could be a good thing because I'm not watching the reality every day. Helping people, Lord forgive me, always "sounds" like a good idea. I'm not being sarcastic by the way.
Or maybe many American actually DO NOT want the government to keep giving certain services away period. Maybe some people actually still believe in the private sector and the principles that our country was founded on and that people are the master of their own destiny. The more people rely on government for anything, the less benefit they are producing for themselves or society at large. The more people get from the government, they more they want. So while I can agree that landline phones are outdated and smartphones are better, etc., the real issue is whether or not you believe in a government that should provide them or not. I tend to think not. If you wont work, but you want to talk on the phone, then you have to make a personal decision about your wants and needs, not see how you can get someone who did choose to work to pay for your phone.
Let me ask you this, if someone is getting all the benefits of working for free, what is their motivation to get a job?
Well, in many cases they would have no motivation at all. Obviously. I'm really not trying to be argumentative.... at least, not exactly.
I am beginning to think most Americans are cheap bastards who want government services but don't want to help pay for them. Or maybe we really do want to cut medicare, social security, medicaid, police, fire, etc. etc. etc. We can move to the woods and live off the land. Yeah, that's the ticket . . .
(a quote from a post that got deleted)
Actually its not that bad of a gig. If my wife weren't such a wuss, I would live off the land more than we do. We bought a 1/4 beef two years ago and have some left. We prefer elk, deer, fish, pheasant, etc. We can veggie's/fruits, that taste one hell of a lot better than the store bought crap full of sugar and salt. Freeze/preserve all we can.
Unfortunatly 99.99% of folks can't do that even if they wanted to. Its amazing how many actually want to go that direction if they have a choice. Urban gardens are a huge hit in the metro areas. A Church in Ponca had an empty lot next door to their facility, and they turned it into a community garden. All over the US when that has happened, people line up to do put in their little place of heaven.
Unfortunatly folks that live in the metro areas are forced to live by the mandates of government. Sometimes people vote, and don't really understand what they are voting for.
(a quote from a post that got deleted)
Actually its not that bad of a gig. If my wife weren't such a wuss, I would live off the land more than we do. We bought a 1/4 beef two years ago and have some left. We prefer elk, deer, fish, pheasant, etc. We can veggie's/fruits, that taste one hell of a lot better than the store bought crap full of sugar and salt. Freeze/preserve all we can.
Unfortunatly 99.99% of folks can't do that even if they wanted to. Its amazing how many actually want to go that direction if they have a choice. Urban gardens are a huge hit in the metro areas. A Church in Ponca had an empty lot next door to their facility, and they turned it into a community garden. All over the US when that has happened, people line up to do put in their little place of heaven.
Unfortunatly folks that live in the metro areas are forced to live by the mandates of government. Sometimes people vote, and don't really understand what they are voting for.
The reality is certain people and their kids couldnt live with a meaningless wal-mart or McDonalds job.
Until the rules and laws change we must support them. Things are a little more complicated than "just get a job".
Relegating a huge workforce to a bunch of part timers, making minimum wage, is a huge burden for the middle class.
Then again, maybe youre wrong. Maybe America does want to offer services to the poor. Maybe some Americans can see that every once in a while we need to rethink our support of big business when the gap between rich and poor gets to wide.
Maybe we need to institute a minimum wage law that automaticly rises with inflation. Maybe we need a law that says, if your business depends on importing goods for resale we tax the shi+ out of you. Or you can pay your employees 5$ per hr over minimum wage.
Or we can be happy with giving out a few phones.
There is some truth to this. Working at a fast food joint for minimum wage is not going to give a family enough money to pay for rent and child care/food/utilities.
There is a way around this, and the Hispanic familys know how its done.
I had a rental house for several years. We rented to a hispanic couple with two kids. Rent payments were always on time, and payed in cash. Before it was all said and done, that 1000 sf house had 11 people living in it. I had to raise their rent as they usage of the rental went up twice, but they never argue'd.
They have it figured out. Its kind of like a mini comune from the 60's. One group takes care of the kids, others cook/clean, and the rest work for wages.
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