Mns wrote:
People have to pay for college and healthcare (things that are covered by the government in most civilized nations, by the way),
One of the reasons that college tuition costs have climbed the way they have in recent years is because it is "covered," by government-guaranteed loans and grants, in
this civilized country. Can't remember all the specifics, but basically anyone who can get into college is likely to be granted access to the funds to pay for it, and because of that, colleges have raised rates faster than the rate of inflation.
Mns wrote:
How's your government-regulated electricity? Or the internet that is guaranteed (for the time being) to be free due to the hand of the government? You like all of your roads and highways
I don't think anyone here is arguing for anarchy. The government has a role to play in the marketplace (preventing fraud), and has duties and obligations to fulfill such as providing for the national defense and post roads (the US Highway system being an extension of that Constitutional mandate).
When the government oversteps the bounds of the role(s) it is supposed to play, it wreaks havoc. When it steps beyond its proper duties, especially in the marketplace, it distorts the markets and has unintended and sometimes terrible consequences...housing bubble, anyone?
Government intervention in the healthcare sector is the primary cause of the costs everyone complains about. Medicare/Medicaid artificially increases prices for those who are insured or paying out-of-pocket, because providers who perform services costing X are getting a payment from the government for those services that amounts to X-Y. Providers make up that loss by adding Y to the cost of services purchased by those who pay out of pocket (a rare breed) and insurers buying for their customers. The mandates the federal government and various states have placed on policies has transformed health insurance from financial protection that covered the cost of calamitous medical events (accidents and terminal/long-term illnesses) to what it is now: go to the doctor for all your little sniffles, it only "costs" you your $10 co-pay. Not only does this inflate the cost for care (because it increases demand), it stresses the healthcare infrastructure because doctors are seeing people every time they sneeze instead of when they seriously need treatment.
Mns wrote:
We can't create a cutoff point because not everyone's as wealthy as you and thus cannot pay for things like health insurance, primary education, and even food (maybe its because the private sector refuses to adjust wages for increased costs, of living, I DON'T KNOW LOL).
Or maybe everyone wouldn't have to be "as wealthy" if we'd stop practices that increase the prices those consumers are paying, like insisting that menopausal women and men (in general) carry pregnancy coverage.
As for that "evil" private sector not raising wages, wages are a business cost. Most businesses are operating in order to generate revenue, not to provide a comfortable standard of living for X number of people. The model of "pay the guy so he can live good" doesn't work. It's one of the reasons we don't have a steel industry in this country anymore. If your steel is priced higher than your competitor's because you're paying your employees $30 an hour, but your competitor is only paying $15, you go out of business. Every job out there pays a wage that the market will bear. Some of those "evil corporations" actually do well by their employees regardless, and as unhappy as I am with the facility I work at, the large corporation I work offsets my healthcare/insurance costs, provides a lot of perks for employees it isn't obligated to provide, and even kept paying performance bonuses during the economic down-turn when a lot of other places cut them.
If mandating that businesses pay a "living wage" is such a good idea, why stop at...what is it now, $6? Make it $15...then watch what happens. The adjustment period won't be fun, as prices fluctuate like crazy while the market adjusts, and in the end the only difference will be that a soda costs $3 instead $1.50, because market prices will inflate to match the artificial increase in wages.
Oh, and if you check, you'll find that vast majority of people who only make the minimum wage are high school and college students. The minimum wage hikes are generally only pushed as a payoff for union support, since a lot of huge union contracts have wage rates based off of the minimum wage.
Mns wrote:
It sure is easy for people who have been handed opportunities in life and have stood on the backs of others to look down and bitch at people who weren't as lucky.
If you live in this country, you don't have opportunities "handed to you," you have them fucking shot at you out of a goddamn cannon regardless of who you are. "Luck" doesn't have jack-shit to do with it. Bad shit happens, you get up, dust yourself off, and get back to it. Bitching that the people who played their cards right, got an education, worked hard, worked long hours, and put off wasteful expenses until they could afford them are somehow "standing on the backs" of the assholes who pissed away their opportunities and expect everything to be handed to them on a fucking platter because they're God's Special Little Creature is the pinnacle of self-righteous skewed-perception bullshit.
Are there assholes out there who have it good despite being useless fucks? Yes (and I'm tired of seeing Lindsay Lohan on the internet).
Are there good and decent people out there who, for one reason or another, get a hose-job and have their life set back because of things beyond their control? You're fucking right there are, been there and done that.
Thing is, Mayo, neither of those groups of people are the majority. In general, you wind up where you're at because of the choices you make. Not everyone wants to make $150,000 a year because they don't want to spend eight years in school, or they don't want the responsibilities, schedule, and stress that comes with the kind of jobs that pay those wages. Hell, some people don't even want to make $30,000 a year, because goddamn it man it's fucked up that my boss expects me to come in Mon-Fri and be there for eight hours. If someone picks that poison, fine, but they need to live with the consequence and stop asking people to support their lazy-ass.
Your Pal,
Jubber
