"We have our "stupid" laws, but it still beats the alternatives."
You know, it's interesting, almost everyone in the USA will agree (to some extent at least) that the laws and political situation here are very messed up these days, but then they go on to say that there is nothing any better in the world. I have to admit that I thought that exact same way for many years, but the older I get and the better educated I become about how other countries operate in the rest of the world (thanks greatly to speaking to people from all around the world on the internet), I've begun to change my views on things a bit.
To begin with, even if you are living under the poverty level in the US (according to the government's own definition), you will likely pay over 50% of every dollar you earn to the government in one form or another. First the Federal government steals (yes I did say steal. When was the last time that you were asked if you wanted to pay money to the betterment of society?) a high percentage of your paycheck through income tax and social security before you even get the money yourself!!! Then almost all States now have a state income tax and they confiscate their "share" of your check. Then when you get to actually spend your pittance of a hard earned pay check, the government absconds with about another 10% right then and there!
Now stop a moment and ask yourself what do you actually get for throwing, at a bare minimum, half of your paycheck to the Mafia (er, that's supposed to be government). I certainly wouldn't want to compare our "free" government to a Mafia but there is definitely one big similarity. If you don't pay your "protection money" they will both come after you.
Well, first of all, I suppose there is that nifty benefit of not being carted off to jail for tax evasion (if you want to call THAT a benefit). I suppose that there is the benefit of having a Policeman when you need one (yeah right!). Personally, I laugh in the face of that so called "benefit" because I live so far in the middle of nowhere that if I actually needed a cop, it would take close to a half hour to get one out here (That's if they could actually find my house!). That's one of many reasons why I keep guns everywhere. BTW, that's how people used to see to the safety of their families before the wimpification (some politically incorrect people, such as myself, call it the feminization) of America. Now people seem content to wimpily put that danger and burden on the shoulders of another and pay much more in taxes for the benefit.
There is also the "benefit" of having a fireman come and put out a fire in your home should you ever have the misfortune of having a house-fire. Again, if you like me, live in the middle of nowhere, then this benefit is also a joke. If my house catches fire and I can't put it out myself, then I'd better just get ready to roast hotdogs and fill out insurance forms.
Then there is the so called benefit of having the largest, most advanced army on the entire planet. Now let's examine that. We have thousands of troops "guarding" a myriad of countries that don't even want our protection in the first place. The government tells us that we need such a large army incase of a war in order to protect our own country. What the heck!!?? I thought this country was being protected by an enormous number of intercontinental ballistic missiles. If things ever got to the point of it becoming a troop war, China would have the population necessary to take over the entire planet and there would be absolutely nothing that we, or anyone else for that matter, could do about it even if every citizen of this country was part of the Army! I personally believe that the only reason that we keep such an enormous standing army is for the sole purpose of meddling in other, weaker, countries affairs. Thank you very much Uncle Sam, but I'd rather depend on all of our superior nuclear weapons to protect me and just give me back my share of wasted tax dollars. If we want to keep an army large enough to police the world, that's OK to, but why should Americans bear the total cost of policing the world? If we provide the military to police the entire world then there should be a worldwide tax to help pay for this "benefit" instead of Americans paying the total cost. Besides, I thought this is why the UN exist anyway. To police the world. So why do our politicians think it is up to us to do it?
Then there is the "benefit" of having jails to house, feed and guard the scum of the earth. I thought we were supposed to have a death penalty in this country to deal with the worst of the worst. So why don't we start using it? I can tell you why. The judges and lawyers want an endless number of appeals so that they will never have to worry about running out of a job. If you don't believe me just look at who makes the laws the way they are to begin with. You got it, judges and lawyers. Sure politicians make the laws in the first place but then look at who gets to interpret the laws and in the process, twist them to their own liking. Correct again, the judges and lawyers. Sure many will say that enforcing the death penalty on anyone that commits first degree murder won't get rid of jail overcrowding, but it would make a HUGE impact on the problem. Did you know that it cost tax payers over $50,000 per prisoner to house, feed and guard each one each year and those are older figures, so it is sure to be much more than that by now! That scumbag that is sitting on death row for 20 years has cost the tax payers over one Million Dollars!!! And that isn't even counting legal fees! Oh yes, legal fees. Those make this room and board figure seem inconsequential. They run into the millions over that period of years. All of this and I'm not even taking into account all of the prisoners that escape during that amount of time and kill others and even worse, the prisoners that get a slick lawyer and get off on a technicality during all of those years and go on to murder more innocents. Anyone who says that they are against the death penalty has yet to have someone murdered that is close to them. Just imagine if it was your mother, wife, children or anyone else that you are very close to, murdered and then tell me you wouldn't be for the death penalty!
There is also the "benefit" of being forced to go to school until around 16-18 years old whether you or your parents want you to or not. Sorry, but I don't count a compelled benefit as being a benefit at all. It's like being drafted into the Army and then being told that you had the privilege to serve in the Army for your country. If people still had a choice (and they once did) in the matter then I might be willing to call it a benefit, but until that day, I refuse to call it such.
Then there are the benefits that go to all the lazy people in this country that "play the welfare system" for all it's worth costing this county Billions every year. They got so sick of this in Wisconsin that they almost cut welfare altogether! LOL, if they tried that in my home state they would have riots in the streets because of all the welfare leeches we have sucking up everyone's tax dollars here! Transfer payments is the economics technical term for these types of payments. Again, thank you very much Uncle Sam, but I'd rather keep my money in the first place then I won't have to beg you for any of it back later when I'm too poor to buy food! Oh, I almost forgot to mention, for all of those people playing the system, we have an almost innumerable number of bureaucrats hired in this country to see to all of the transfer payments. Now I would like to clarify at this point that I have absolutely nothing against the use of my tax dollars going to help those that, for whatever reason, aren't able to earn themselves a living due to mental or physical disabilities. That is something that I would freely pay my tax dollars to, but often the dollars don't get to the people who truly need it because of all of the lowlifes that abuse the system.
I suppose that I'd better leave it at that for the time being because this post is getting so long that I fear that people won't take the time to read it (I could, and someday might, write a book on this), but if you would care to read more about the downfall of our freedoms and morality in this country then I would very much recommend reading
this speech by Charlton Heston. Charlton Heston has worked tirelessly for many years now to try to keep as many of our traditional freedoms safe in this country as possible. He is probably best know as the President of the NRA in which capacity he has worked for years to keep the government from robbing us of our freedom to bear arms and protect ourselves. I just wish a great man like Charlton Heston would run for President of the US because he would surely get my vote!
