Yes. It's called the Social Contract [wikipedia.org]. We give up some liberty and treasure to society, so that the society we live in can be enhanced *for all of us*. Those young, healthy people will one day be old and infirm. Or are you unable to grasp the cycle of life?
Whatever happened to the young saving and planning for retirement and health needs in their future for when they were old, like many of us still do?
Get the govt out of the way and get rid of the bean counters, and make it easier for people to save (HSA's for instance) their money pre-tax for routine health care, and affordable major medical insurance for catastrophic needs....
You save for your housing, utilities and food needs right? Why should you also not save for your medical needs?
I sure hope you're right. Single payer is so obviously the right way to go. It's a shame that so many of you are either brainwashed or collared and leashed by those who feather their nests by ripping you off.
Not really....it is just that I'm capable of saving for my health needs just like I plan and save for my housing needs, food needs, utility needs...etc.
I wish the Govt would expand (instead of shrink) the tools that allow me to do this better, like HSA's..where I can sock back money pre-tax for my routine needs, and have higher deductible insurance (major medical) only to be used in catastrophic needs.
Let me use my medical dollars to shop around for my best Dr. / deal......and get the govt and bean counters out of the way as middle man taking up useless space and sucking money out with no benefit to the patient.
Permanency does have its benefits that outweigh any increases in pay(which are undone by costs related to being a single person vs a respectably sized company).
What do you mean permanency?
The days of 'job for life' have been over since at least the early 80's.
Companies are not loyal to employees, you are disposable. And, if you are a regular W2 eimployee, you too better be prepared to jump jobs every 3-4 years or so, if you want to increase your $$ and position.
My thoughts are...if you have the job security of a contractor, you might as well earn the $$$$ and get the tax benefits of being a contractor.
It isn't that hard, or that difficult. Sure, it requires a bit of paperwork and business thought and planning, getting a cpa is needed, but you figure all that into your BILL RATE.
If you're billing $65-$120 which is easily reasonable, you can sock money way for your routine health care (HSA which is not use or lose like FSA)...you can write off most anything under the sun related to your work, and if you do things smart, like form a "S" corp, you can save money by not having to pay employment taxes (SS, Medicare) on every dollar you bill for.
And you can still easily net $100K take home a year which isn't bad at all....
Depending on your field of expertise you can readily make much more than that.
This is especially true if you can get into Govt. contracting...you get the contractor pay, and you get the LONG term job...many of those run a decade or more.
But seriously, don't kid yourself that a normal W2 job today has any permanence.
I feel true pity there - I've never owned a car, but it means I live close enough to work, grocery stores, and parks that I have the freedom to walk, bike, or bus. I never have to worry about the price of gas or where to park.
I take it that means you somehow have never changed jobs which often involves moving to a different city/state?
Or have you been lucky enough every time you change jobs and move to get that close to work again?
I mean...pretty much the only way one moves up in salary and position (if working the usual W2 job) is to change jobs every 3 or so years....is this maybe your first job out of school you're talking about?
Seriously, just curious...it sounds like you've not moved about a lot.
Ok.....NYC...Chicago, and maybe a couple of other US cities, but other than those..the majority of major US cities don't have any really viable, reliable mass transit that the masses can use.
Most of the rest of us out here, own and use cars as our primary means of transportation anywhere.
It removes difficulty in communicating with those who do use it: scientists and the rest of the world. By isolating yourselves from these things, you are impeding your ability to understand and share ideas with them. Isolationism is a bad objective of only circumstantial value.
Valid points, and largely I agree with you, however, that argument likely isn't going to be very persuasive to the avg US citizen.
The avg American rarely if ever deals with a scientists on any level other than maybe accidentally bumping into them in the streets, and by the geography of our country, we very rarely if ever (for the avg American) have any interactions with those outside the US, unless it is basic communication over the Internet, and this is really a recent thing, only a bit more than a couple decades.
So...just saying...to the average American, no one is putting forth a compelling argument for us to change for the avg American, who will never really need it for outside communication, and yet is going to be asked to cause a bit of prolonged upheaval in their lives, with not much of a perceptible gain.
Don't live in a city, do you? Work in the farther 'burbs?
I live in New Orleans...I guess that qualifies as a city. I've pretty much always lived in a city....but the only people that ride the buses regularly are the bums and lowlifes that can't afford a car.
I mean...why would I want to spend 2+ hours on a bus with some smelly hobos, changing busses a number of times to get to work, carrying my lunch, my backpack, and possibly my gym clothes (close to work), and my work laptop, when I can jump in my car and get there directly in about 10 min or less (I tend to drive VERY fast).
Sure, some cities have mass transit that everyone can use and works, but most cities I've lived in, either you have to ride with the less than desirables....or it is so inconvenient to have to switch buses numerous times, etc, that it just isn't worth the effort for the perceived reward (saving some gas money?).
During rainy season (which is a LONG time here in NOLA, along with the high heat and humidity), I'd not want to be changing busses and running around all the way to work....I'd definitely not very professional coming into work rained on and sweat soaked from my many bus trips to get here.
b) Almost every country on the planet converted from some other system to SI. Every other country decided it was worth the effort to convert, simply so that citizens could use more logical units, and so that science was accessible. The situation in the US isn't special; you're just lazier and more stubborn. Your excuses are bad and you should feel bad.
But that still doesn't answer the questions I asked.
My life is just fine today with the units I and other Americans use. I have never found myself impeded or discomforted by using them.
Changing would mean a lot of trouble for me...so, what is the benefit for me to change, other than being like everyone else in the world, which has never been a United States primary objective on any subject..?
I've not seen yet and argument to the average US citizen what the cost benefits to them and their every day lives would be by putting up with the discomfort and inconvenience that would last for years to change to the metric system.
I would say 80% of our companies call center takes public transit, and at least 25% of the rest of the employees. During summer that number only goes up.
I'm guessing you live outside the US?
Anywhere I've ever worked.....I didn't know anyone that took public transport to/from work. Only recently where I'm currently at, do I see some of the custodians taking the bus that runs near here. But, they are likely only doing that because they can't afford a car.
Also, In temperatures, 0'C is Freezing point of water, 100'C is boiling point.
Not that easy.
For instance, I know perfectly well how I need to dress if the morning weather report says it is about 50F.
I have no idea how to dress for 50C.
For everyday life for a US citizen...how would switching to metric benefits us, vs being a pain in the ass to have to stop and think to convert everything in our daily lives to? Cook? I know TBSP and cups....but no clue how to do things in ml or liters without stopping, and taking more time doing conversions than actual cooking.
How will the change make the every day Joe Sixpack American's life easier than it is now with our current units of measurement that we all are quite comfortable with?
I think the major impediment to the US adopting the metric system for 'everything'...is most of us wonder how this would benefit us at all in the every day life of the common citizen?
At this point...it would be more of a PITA than it would be something that would enhance our daily lives.
It isn't like most US citizens interact with someone outside the country in a manner in which measurements are a problem.
Everyone here has the concepts of how much a gallon of gas is....miles per hour, and how you should dress if it is 40F outside.
I have no fucking clue what I need to dress like if it is 40C out....and it would be very inconvenient for quite a long time if I had to do that conversion in my head every day after watching or listening to the morning weather reports.
How would changing be anything but an inconvenience for me?
And most everything done scientifically is in metric already, and in that area, it is cool and already there...but most ordinary citizens don't have any interactions in that manner.
But to go slightly off-topic, if someone says that black runners seem to have a significant advantage in high-performance sprinting due to physiology, and whites are generally weak in this area but are better at swimming, would that be considered racist...?
"Oh nobody's categorically better, but I think whites generally have better cognitive skills and blacks are generally weak in this area but better at manual labor. NOT RACIST! ^_^ "
Err...there are different levels of abilities, in general that seem to go with race too, just like with sex.
Trouble is, we're becoming too politically correct these days to speak any truths, if they even hint at being based on race or sex.
It is one thing to discriminate based on sex or race, but entirely another to discuss inherit capabilities, strengths or weaknesses that do seem associated with with sex or race. Sadly, even bring up the possibility and you get shot down immediately for sexism or racism....those terms have become blanket methods for stifling even basic discussions on subjects that should be looked into and be able to be freely discussed.
A lot of this discrepancy we see, is likely due to the huge push a few years back, to push girls more in school, not only in academic but the athletic parts too (section 9?)....
While it was a decent idea, the trouble is, they went wholeheartedly with the effort for pushing women up, but they dropped the ball severely on boys/men, and it is showing NOW in a large fashion.
Trouble is, it isn't politically correct to take male sides on issues (especially if they are Caucasian), and increase funding and programs to push our young men like we have the young women for the past decade or two...
So don't make the fee based on usage. Add a flat fee to the annual vehicle registration. Want to be registered in the state of Oregon? Help to pay your part for their road maintenance.
Then, you'd get what a lot of people in LA do....register their cars in MS where taxes are cheaper on vehicles. Just use a friends address just across the border, etc....
There's always ways around things....and people will find the cheapest way out.
It could be done with RFID tags similar to the kind they use for toll-road "Good-To-Go" passes, but there will be those that object to this type of tracking as well.
Yeah...that's getting close to the electronic equivalent of "Papers Please" when traveling interstate.
I've had toll roads I've had to deal with some....I don't ever buy the toll tag things, I just pay the little extra in cash, I'd rather have my travels be as anonymous as possible.
If you drive a car which is "older" enough to be worth driving then it probably gets pretty good mileage. My 1960 Dodge Dart (19.5' long and 6.5' wide... this is the 2-door!) got over 20 mpg on the freeway, say 25 or so. Of course, this was on premium plus octane booster, as it had 12:1 compression... I couldn't afford to drive it today:p
Sounds great!! Do you still have it today?
I'm still saving and planning to buy a '73 - '76 Pontiac Trans Am, 455 4-speed soon. I'll likely do some mods since those late years the insurance and govt were killing muscle cars.
I plan to put an agressive cam in it, maybe bore the engine out, make it less air restricted, and see if I can squeeze out about 400-450 HP at the rear wheels.
Sure, it will likely get maybe 10mpg, but that's a lot of fun per gallon. And it can be my daily driver as that I only live about 7-10 minutes from work.
I've been to car shows that had cars with exquisite custom paint jobs and other modifications that clearly made them first and foremost a work of art. Yes, they were still cars. Yes, the government still required license plates. But the only "driving" use was to get them on and off of the tow vehicle at car shows and at their storage facility, maybe some driving in parades and the like, plus maybe a few miles a month just to keep the mechanical parts working.
You know...with cars, I just don't understand the "Garage Queen" concept.
If I get a cool, fun car....it will be driven.
What fun is buying a car...especially if it is really neat looking, powerful, etc...and keeping it under cover in a garage or warehouse somewhere, never to be used?
I'd leave out the tuuner too. The tuner in the TV is what maked hooking up an AV system so much harder than an audio only system. Audio systems would be a mess too if speakers included a tuner.
Err...you know, they do sell large format, HD monitors out there, with no tuner, etc.
Unfortunately, most everything I've seen is LCD or LED LCD, and I prefer Plasma for my main television type device in the living room, and bedrooms....more of a cinematic look that I prefer.
It isn't so much that I'm going out of my way to harm the earth, but why should I go out of my way to preserve the earth for future people that I don't know, nor will know who I am....if it means any discomfort or the putting out of effort on my part?
I mean, I'm only on earth for a short time, I'm gonna do what I want (within the law) to enjoy my life to the fullest while I'm here.
I'm not going out of my way to add to global warming or pollution, but then again, if it isn't convenient to me, I'm not going out of my way for that either.
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Whatever happened to the young saving and planning for retirement and health needs in their future for when they were old, like many of us still do?
Get the govt out of the way and get rid of the bean counters, and make it easier for people to save (HSA's for instance) their money pre-tax for routine health care, and affordable major medical insurance for catastrophic needs....
You save for your housing, utilities and food needs right? Why should you also not save for your medical needs?
Not really....it is just that I'm capable of saving for my health needs just like I plan and save for my housing needs, food needs, utility needs...etc.
I wish the Govt would expand (instead of shrink) the tools that allow me to do this better, like HSA's..where I can sock back money pre-tax for my routine needs, and have higher deductible insurance (major medical) only to be used in catastrophic needs.
Let me use my medical dollars to shop around for my best Dr. / deal......and get the govt and bean counters out of the way as middle man taking up useless space and sucking money out with no benefit to the patient.
What do you mean permanency?
The days of 'job for life' have been over since at least the early 80's.
Companies are not loyal to employees, you are disposable. And, if you are a regular W2 eimployee, you too better be prepared to jump jobs every 3-4 years or so, if you want to increase your $$ and position.
My thoughts are...if you have the job security of a contractor, you might as well earn the $$$$ and get the tax benefits of being a contractor.
It isn't that hard, or that difficult. Sure, it requires a bit of paperwork and business thought and planning, getting a cpa is needed, but you figure all that into your BILL RATE.
If you're billing $65-$120 which is easily reasonable, you can sock money way for your routine health care (HSA which is not use or lose like FSA)...you can write off most anything under the sun related to your work, and if you do things smart, like form a "S" corp, you can save money by not having to pay employment taxes (SS, Medicare) on every dollar you bill for.
And you can still easily net $100K take home a year which isn't bad at all....
Depending on your field of expertise you can readily make much more than that.
This is especially true if you can get into Govt. contracting...you get the contractor pay, and you get the LONG term job...many of those run a decade or more.
But seriously, don't kid yourself that a normal W2 job today has any permanence.
I take it that means you somehow have never changed jobs which often involves moving to a different city/state?
Or have you been lucky enough every time you change jobs and move to get that close to work again?
I mean...pretty much the only way one moves up in salary and position (if working the usual W2 job) is to change jobs every 3 or so years....is this maybe your first job out of school you're talking about?
Seriously, just curious...it sounds like you've not moved about a lot.
Ok.....NYC...Chicago, and maybe a couple of other US cities, but other than those..the majority of major US cities don't have any really viable, reliable mass transit that the masses can use.
Most of the rest of us out here, own and use cars as our primary means of transportation anywhere.
Valid points, and largely I agree with you, however, that argument likely isn't going to be very persuasive to the avg US citizen.
The avg American rarely if ever deals with a scientists on any level other than maybe accidentally bumping into them in the streets, and by the geography of our country, we very rarely if ever (for the avg American) have any interactions with those outside the US, unless it is basic communication over the Internet, and this is really a recent thing, only a bit more than a couple decades.
So...just saying...to the average American, no one is putting forth a compelling argument for us to change for the avg American, who will never really need it for outside communication, and yet is going to be asked to cause a bit of prolonged upheaval in their lives, with not much of a perceptible gain.
I live in New Orleans...I guess that qualifies as a city. I've pretty much always lived in a city....but the only people that ride the buses regularly are the bums and lowlifes that can't afford a car.
I mean...why would I want to spend 2+ hours on a bus with some smelly hobos, changing busses a number of times to get to work, carrying my lunch, my backpack, and possibly my gym clothes (close to work), and my work laptop, when I can jump in my car and get there directly in about 10 min or less (I tend to drive VERY fast).
Sure, some cities have mass transit that everyone can use and works, but most cities I've lived in, either you have to ride with the less than desirables....or it is so inconvenient to have to switch buses numerous times, etc, that it just isn't worth the effort for the perceived reward (saving some gas money?).
During rainy season (which is a LONG time here in NOLA, along with the high heat and humidity), I'd not want to be changing busses and running around all the way to work....I'd definitely not very professional coming into work rained on and sweat soaked from my many bus trips to get here.
But that still doesn't answer the questions I asked.
My life is just fine today with the units I and other Americans use. I have never found myself impeded or discomforted by using them.
Changing would mean a lot of trouble for me...so, what is the benefit for me to change, other than being like everyone else in the world, which has never been a United States primary objective on any subject..?
I've not seen yet and argument to the average US citizen what the cost benefits to them and their every day lives would be by putting up with the discomfort and inconvenience that would last for years to change to the metric system.
I'm guessing you live outside the US?
Anywhere I've ever worked.....I didn't know anyone that took public transport to/from work. Only recently where I'm currently at, do I see some of the custodians taking the bus that runs near here. But, they are likely only doing that because they can't afford a car.
At the front desk with the guard/greeter for the building?
I'm sure the company would happily set something up for people to check their phones in/out.
Well, for the 3-4 people in the US that actually do that....I'll be happy to loan them my cell phone when we walk out to the parking lot.
Not that easy.
For instance, I know perfectly well how I need to dress if the morning weather report says it is about 50F.
I have no idea how to dress for 50C.
For everyday life for a US citizen...how would switching to metric benefits us, vs being a pain in the ass to have to stop and think to convert everything in our daily lives to? Cook? I know TBSP and cups....but no clue how to do things in ml or liters without stopping, and taking more time doing conversions than actual cooking.
How will the change make the every day Joe Sixpack American's life easier than it is now with our current units of measurement that we all are quite comfortable with?
I think the major impediment to the US adopting the metric system for 'everything'...is most of us wonder how this would benefit us at all in the every day life of the common citizen?
At this point...it would be more of a PITA than it would be something that would enhance our daily lives.
It isn't like most US citizens interact with someone outside the country in a manner in which measurements are a problem.
Everyone here has the concepts of how much a gallon of gas is....miles per hour, and how you should dress if it is 40F outside.
I have no fucking clue what I need to dress like if it is 40C out....and it would be very inconvenient for quite a long time if I had to do that conversion in my head every day after watching or listening to the morning weather reports.
How would changing be anything but an inconvenience for me?
And most everything done scientifically is in metric already, and in that area, it is cool and already there...but most ordinary citizens don't have any interactions in that manner.
Ahh...the good old days!!
Well,with the exception of cooks....most top chefs are Men you know.
But man..the world was simpler and worked a bit more smoothly a few decades back, that's for sure.
Well, sure got Jimmy the Greek fired rather quickly.
These days, you can't even start an intelligent conversation on the difference in the races...without being branded a racist and being shunned.
Err...there are different levels of abilities, in general that seem to go with race too, just like with sex.
Trouble is, we're becoming too politically correct these days to speak any truths, if they even hint at being based on race or sex.
It is one thing to discriminate based on sex or race, but entirely another to discuss inherit capabilities, strengths or weaknesses that do seem associated with with sex or race. Sadly, even bring up the possibility and you get shot down immediately for sexism or racism....those terms have become blanket methods for stifling even basic discussions on subjects that should be looked into and be able to be freely discussed.
While it was a decent idea, the trouble is, they went wholeheartedly with the effort for pushing women up, but they dropped the ball severely on boys/men, and it is showing NOW in a large fashion.
Trouble is, it isn't politically correct to take male sides on issues (especially if they are Caucasian), and increase funding and programs to push our young men like we have the young women for the past decade or two...
Then, you'd get what a lot of people in LA do....register their cars in MS where taxes are cheaper on vehicles. Just use a friends address just across the border, etc....
There's always ways around things....and people will find the cheapest way out.
Yeah...that's getting close to the electronic equivalent of "Papers Please" when traveling interstate.
I've had toll roads I've had to deal with some....I don't ever buy the toll tag things, I just pay the little extra in cash, I'd rather have my travels be as anonymous as possible.
Sounds great!! Do you still have it today?
I'm still saving and planning to buy a '73 - '76 Pontiac Trans Am, 455 4-speed soon. I'll likely do some mods since those late years the insurance and govt were killing muscle cars.
I plan to put an agressive cam in it, maybe bore the engine out, make it less air restricted, and see if I can squeeze out about 400-450 HP at the rear wheels.
Sure, it will likely get maybe 10mpg, but that's a lot of fun per gallon. And it can be my daily driver as that I only live about 7-10 minutes from work.
I don't get what confounds you.
In the US, if you buy something, and it comes out to $11 dollars, you hand them a $10 and a $1 bill and your done.
Disregarding the fact that you're not in the US and it doesn't affect you...what is do difficult to understand about the $1 US?
You know...with cars, I just don't understand the "Garage Queen" concept.
If I get a cool, fun car....it will be driven.
What fun is buying a car...especially if it is really neat looking, powerful, etc...and keeping it under cover in a garage or warehouse somewhere, never to be used?
Err...you know, they do sell large format, HD monitors out there, with no tuner, etc.
Unfortunately, most everything I've seen is LCD or LED LCD, and I prefer Plasma for my main television type device in the living room, and bedrooms....more of a cinematic look that I prefer.
Doesn't matter really what I'm considered...as long as I'm the one left still standing, breathing and able to reproduce (optional).
If it is between my life and ANY other human life on this planet, MY life is always the most important to me.
I mean, I'm only on earth for a short time, I'm gonna do what I want (within the law) to enjoy my life to the fullest while I'm here.
I'm not going out of my way to add to global warming or pollution, but then again, if it isn't convenient to me, I'm not going out of my way for that either.
Why should I?