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You are mistaken about what you use and what you don't. You only really consider what you personally, directly use, but seem to be ignoring all of your indirec
by bena 8y ago
You are mistaken about what you use and what you don't.
You only really consider what you personally, directly use, but seem to be ignoring all of your indirect use.
Those other miles of highway are used by the transportation to deliver goods to your town. That benefits you. Those airports are also used in such a manner.
There's also the twice removed use. In order for your community to function, you need a certain population density. Providing service to just you is cost prohibitive for any utility. The last mile is a bitch when it's really the last 100 miles. So, all of those other people in the nearby towns also need to be able to subsist in the area. In order to provide you with service, in order to make it cost effective to run shops, etc.
The way I've begun to see it, the government is like a buffet or club and taxes are what we pay for access.
Sure, you may not like crab legs, but some portion of what you paid is going to those crab legs. Or maybe you use the pool at the club every day, but Joe can't swim so he never uses it. But the same percentage of your dues go to paying for it. It all comes down to the fact that in order to make the things you want accessible and affordable, you will have to kind of pay for things you don't want.
Taxes are the dues you pay to be in the club that is the U.S.A. (or whatever country you're in, but it rhymes with U.S.A.).
- mmirate 8y agoWhat if the store I frequent happens to use one highway, but its competitor across the street uses another? I'd rather pay the "true" price of whatever goods I actually buy - transportation included - than be forced to subsidize the competitors' transportation too.
- bena 8y agoIf 'if' was a skiff, we'd all take a boat ride. Everything would have to use those separate streets. All of the customers couldn't use the "competing" store's highway. The two distribution centers have to use only the highways "owned" by the respective store. It gets to the point of the absurd. There must be some property shared by the two stores and the community surrounding them. They couldn't sell the same products because there would be no way to isolate all of that. At some point, there will be a convergence. If you want to pay the "true" price of your goods, you can't use anything that uses a common good for any part of the supply chain. Which is basically everything. And you aren't really subsidizing anything. You are getting a deep discount by virtue of leveraging economies of scale. This is a case where cooperation makes things better for all involved. It's not a zero-sum game. Sometimes trying to be cheap costs you more.