4 ms·

> The alternative is for the company to eat the cost of payment enforcement, and raise the price of everyone's service a little bit Seems moral to me. As a com

by tomrod 5y ago

> The alternative is for the company to eat the cost of payment enforcement, and raise the price of everyone's service a little bit Seems moral to me. As a community member, I'm happy to play a bit to ensure those unable to pay don't freeze in the winter Signed, -Texan who was without power during a major cold snap and wonders why the "independent" electric grid isn't an active priority

slibhb 5y ago
No one's stopping you from emptying your savings account and giving all your money to people who would derive orders of magnitude more utility from it than you.
- giraffe_lady 5y ago
  "We have a necessary resource in sufficient quantity to allocate it to everyone who needs it, how can we do that with the current allocate-to-almost-everyone system that already exists?" "HA TRICK QUESTION! that's unnecessary because individuals can simply choose to partially and temporarily alleviate this issue in a very limited way!" ??? This is how you think?
  - mikestew 5y ago
    A lot of people think that way. Try a conversation about taxes, specifically what one might consider a "fair share". Inevitably some jackass waltzes in with "well, nothing is stopping you from paying extra", and sometimes even handily posts a link to the IRS site, as if that's a clever argument. "Nothing stopping you..." is all-too-often another way of saying, "I will make no attempt at making a good-faith argument".
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - tomrod 5y ago
      Aye. Its this type of folks that also suggest leaving a community when they hear another's complaints. In short, trolls.
- tomrod 5y ago
  Right, and my point was that the system should charge you and I, as consumers, to also cover the safety net need for utilities. I'd be happy to reiterate my point if it was unclear and you thought I was suggesting we run a voluntary social safety net.
- worik 5y ago
  > No one's stopping you from emptying your savings account and giving all your money to people who would derive orders of magnitude more utility from it than you. That is an unhelpful comment and an antisocial position. (And as another commentator put it "a tax on empathy") Humans are social creatures, we cannot survive on our own. We are also monkeys with enormous brains, we can do better
googlryas 5y ago
That's nice of you. Presumably you aren't living hand to mouth. How much extra per billing cycle should someone in exactly the same financial situation as the lady in the article pay?
- tomrod 5y ago
  > That's nice of you Nah, that's being a human. We put clawbacks and riders in utility rates all the time, even breaks to operating companies. This isn't out-there policy and charitable help programs for utilities are common. Were I still living hand to mouth I'd continue supporting social safety net policies.
  - googlryas 5y ago
    No, that's not being human, unless your argument is that poor people who can't afford to pay into social safety nets are not human. > This isn't out-there policy and charitable help programs for utilities are common. Yes, in fact, that is what the first lady in the article utilized - an assistance program provided by the utility itself where they zeroed out her outstanding balance.

by tomrod 5y ago

slibhb 5y ago

No one's stopping you from emptying your savings account and giving all your money to people who would derive orders of magnitude more utility from it than you.

giraffe_lady 5y ago
"We have a necessary resource in sufficient quantity to allocate it to everyone who needs it, how can we do that with the current allocate-to-almost-everyone system that already exists?" "HA TRICK QUESTION! that's unnecessary because individuals can simply choose to partially and temporarily alleviate this issue in a very limited way!" ??? This is how you think?
- mikestew 5y ago
  A lot of people think that way. Try a conversation about taxes, specifically what one might consider a "fair share". Inevitably some jackass waltzes in with "well, nothing is stopping you from paying extra", and sometimes even handily posts a link to the IRS site, as if that's a clever argument. "Nothing stopping you..." is all-too-often another way of saying, "I will make no attempt at making a good-faith argument".
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - tomrod 5y ago
    Aye. Its this type of folks that also suggest leaving a community when they hear another's complaints. In short, trolls.
tomrod 5y ago
Right, and my point was that the system should charge you and I, as consumers, to also cover the safety net need for utilities. I'd be happy to reiterate my point if it was unclear and you thought I was suggesting we run a voluntary social safety net.
worik 5y ago
> No one's stopping you from emptying your savings account and giving all your money to people who would derive orders of magnitude more utility from it than you. That is an unhelpful comment and an antisocial position. (And as another commentator put it "a tax on empathy") Humans are social creatures, we cannot survive on our own. We are also monkeys with enormous brains, we can do better

googlryas 5y ago

That's nice of you. Presumably you aren't living hand to mouth. How much extra per billing cycle should someone in exactly the same financial situation as the lady in the article pay?

tomrod 5y ago
> That's nice of you Nah, that's being a human. We put clawbacks and riders in utility rates all the time, even breaks to operating companies. This isn't out-there policy and charitable help programs for utilities are common. Were I still living hand to mouth I'd continue supporting social safety net policies.
- googlryas 5y ago
  No, that's not being human, unless your argument is that poor people who can't afford to pay into social safety nets are not human. > This isn't out-there policy and charitable help programs for utilities are common. Yes, in fact, that is what the first lady in the article utilized - an assistance program provided by the utility itself where they zeroed out her outstanding balance.