Like only prosecuting poor people for breaking them?
The two existential crises of the 21st century
- Thread starter Bristol-Cruiser
- Start date
Ease the sheet.
ignoring stupid people is easy
- 21,015
- 2,672
You say that like it's a feature, not a bug...
Blue Crab
benthivore
No he didn't. I'd urge you to go back to the OP and read the thread over again. You've got about a dozen posts in here ... almost all negative AF ... all opinions pronounced by you as Black Letter Law, when they're just your opines backed by nothing.
Ease the sheet.
ignoring stupid people is easy
- 21,015
- 2,672
Personally, I really like the way social security is structured, both in principle and practice.
Taxes are collected based on salaries up to some limit. Benefits are returned based on those taxes up to some limit. It’s balanced. You pay in, you get out, minimal bureaucracy, minimal manipulation. Mostly math. I TRULY don’t care that Bill Gates gets social security benefits. He paid in, he gets out. I think that’s one of the reasons why it’s so successfully – everyone is equal.
But .. Inevitably.. The arguments about ‘need’ start to seep in which, ultimately, always morph into ‘deserve’ and we’re back into the meritocracy trap. Every time. We will then pretend we can devise Pinocchio tests, set up reviews, expand the ‘trust but verify’ network of whack-a-mole public servants, and then all bemoan how taxes keep going up but problems don’t go away, while we whack off (metaphor intended). We do this to ourselves. We can’t resists it. And we won’t resist this time. Social security is going to get backdoor means tested – I’ve already talked about how I think it’ll go down on other posts.
On the upside, jobs are jobs, and whacking moles is a pretty universal skill, so again – equality. People need something to do. Even if its soul-crushing.
Relative to pollution, my focus has always been on efficiency. Want less carbon emissions, then use less energy in the first place - energy is fungible but costs a bit more every time you funge it. I’d much rather the government subsidize insulation in old houses than subsidize solar panels with bad siting. I’m even conceptually ok with cash for clunker concepts. Banning gas appliances is eye-rolling stupid and is up there with ‘latinx’ and invading Iraq in the category of "Foolish hubris of the 21st century."
Capitalism is really bad at improving the commons and isn’t the tool for the job. Government is the right tool for that job, but we need to be clear about what and why we’re doing so that the collective sees value – if they don’t, then we’re back to "deserve" and SIGH…..
Taxes are collected based on salaries up to some limit. Benefits are returned based on those taxes up to some limit. It’s balanced. You pay in, you get out, minimal bureaucracy, minimal manipulation. Mostly math. I TRULY don’t care that Bill Gates gets social security benefits. He paid in, he gets out. I think that’s one of the reasons why it’s so successfully – everyone is equal.
But .. Inevitably.. The arguments about ‘need’ start to seep in which, ultimately, always morph into ‘deserve’ and we’re back into the meritocracy trap. Every time. We will then pretend we can devise Pinocchio tests, set up reviews, expand the ‘trust but verify’ network of whack-a-mole public servants, and then all bemoan how taxes keep going up but problems don’t go away, while we whack off (metaphor intended). We do this to ourselves. We can’t resists it. And we won’t resist this time. Social security is going to get backdoor means tested – I’ve already talked about how I think it’ll go down on other posts.
On the upside, jobs are jobs, and whacking moles is a pretty universal skill, so again – equality. People need something to do. Even if its soul-crushing.
Relative to pollution, my focus has always been on efficiency. Want less carbon emissions, then use less energy in the first place - energy is fungible but costs a bit more every time you funge it. I’d much rather the government subsidize insulation in old houses than subsidize solar panels with bad siting. I’m even conceptually ok with cash for clunker concepts. Banning gas appliances is eye-rolling stupid and is up there with ‘latinx’ and invading Iraq in the category of "Foolish hubris of the 21st century."
Capitalism is really bad at improving the commons and isn’t the tool for the job. Government is the right tool for that job, but we need to be clear about what and why we’re doing so that the collective sees value – if they don’t, then we’re back to "deserve" and SIGH…..
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Blue Crab
benthivore
Maybe so but my reading print skills are absolutely spot on. Meanwhile, let's listen to the folks who do know what they're talking about.
Ukuri
Member
We already know what we need to do
