Government

A word that taking on an increasingly negative connotation by the day, across the world. A word for which we will consult the Dictionary, nay Wiki..

Obviously Wiki tells you the meaning as understood by the lay internet person, ergo the LCM of this blogs readers..

"A government is the organization,
that is the governing authority of a political unit,
the ruling power in a political society,
and the apparatus through which a governing body functions and exercises authority.

Government,

with the authority to make laws,
to adjudicate disputes,
and to issue administrative decisions,
and with a monopoly of authorized force where it fails to persuade,
is an indispensable means, proximately, to the peace of communal life.

A compulsory territorial monopolist of protection and jurisdiction equipped with the power to tax without unanimous consent.
Statist theorists maintain that the necessity of government derives from the fact that the people need to live in communities, yet personal autonomy must be constrained in these communities.

Thank you Wiki for the definition !!

If you look at the ground reality

We work hard
We pay taxes (no choice there!)
The taxes go to the government
That tax money gets redistributed to things that the majority of the governed would not approve of
The folks who do the redistibuting get compensated for doing this and

the redistribution of tax money has the following effect

a. we work more
b. we get paid less for working more
c. we pay more taxes on the smaller amount we make while working more

Sometimes I wonder if the last eight years in the USA were under "government" or some kind of dictatorship.

These days it is hard to find a few people with a clean tax record to run the country!

Bah!

As a dude who has always worked his butt off and paid his taxes, maybe I should go for a government position?

Then again, will the government corrupt me? If yes, then it is better to stick to my day job, no?

San asked me innocently "I don't like how our tax money is being given to people who make lousy cars, fraudulent banks etc. How can I make sure my tax is used properly?!"

Gave the longest Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh I could remember. My innocent lovely wife, if only we could control how our tax money was spent!!!

Maybe just like they ask us in the IRS 1040 EZ in the

Presidential Election Campaign section:

"Check here if you, or your spouse if a joint return, want $3 to go to this fund" You (check box) | Spouse (check box)

they would also ask

"Check here if you, or your spouse if a joint return, want 15% to go to the Lenders bailout" You (check box) | Spouse (check box)

"Check here if you, or your spouse if a joint return, want 10% to go to the Insurance Bailout" You (check box) | Spouse (check box)

"Check here if you, or your spouse if a joint return, want 10% to go to the Bank Bailout" You (check box) | Spouse (check box)

"Check here if you, or your spouse if a joint return, want %5 to go to the Big3 auto Industry Bailout" You (check box) | Spouse (check box)

"Check here if you, or your spouse if a joint return, want 1% to go to the Porn Industry Bailout" You (check box) | Spouse (check box)

etc.

etc.

That would be some day!

.

SSDP an update..

Same Shit Different Place : An update from the previous post.

I was reading the links provided by the anonymous commenter on the area that is the center of the controversy over the new Chennai airport location. I also got an update on the situation of the immigration protests on a followup news item on NPR today!

This is Deja vu of SSDP in slow motion. You wouldnt believe the similarity of the way people are treated by governments across the globe and how people treat the government !! Maybe most of you readers are worldly wise to know this. But I can write about this because I am just growing up!!

Why the comparison ?

Apparently the people in Chennai in that area were encouraged by the local politicians and MMDA (Madras Metropolitan Development Authority) to put their life savings and build houses in that governmnent owned land! How could people build houses with their life savings in a land where they do not own "patta's" a.k.a "title deeds". Maybe I should find some spot in Madras and start building!! I thought it was the poor people erecting tatched huts (something that can be done in a day or two), but NO! There are brick and mortar buildings that would take months to construct. How could someone be so naive and build a house in land that they couldnt possibly own? And if they have been given some certificate by the government or its agency, they should be able to defend themselves legally against any attempts to evict them. But I am really torn because,
a. Today, the bad guys seem to be able to manipulate gullible folks with effortless ease!
b. These guys could have been led on by the same local politicians who are tryiing to make it look like they are protecting these people today!

Anyways, the links were informative. Next time please put your name when you comment.

Now back to San Francisco :

Apparently the IRS has set up a website, hotline so that the "illegal aliens" like a commenter pointed out, can PAY THEIR TAXES !! We dont want these guys in the US but we want their money!! These folks are paying their taxes to show that they are "law abiding" and they do it to win some brownie points with the INS in case they are legalized later! They actually played a piece from the automated IRS (Internal Revenue Service) which says "if you are unable to get a TAX ID number because you are here as a ....., do ....". The article also interviewed some dude who spoke in Spanish and said "no American wants to do what I do here. I have been working here for 10 years because of that". Then the reporter went on to say that if only these people could be legally brought into the US to do these jobs ("sheetrocking, painting, washing dishes in restaurants, etc.), there would be no issue!

I thought we get our news from the media. Looks like they will take alternate sides every other day on issues like this!! One day they will do an expose on the poor folk. The very next day on the government!

I will toss a coin for tomorrows news updates. In the meantime the lesson from this for me is "Governments will be governments, and gullible people will stay gullible! The poor (including the lower middle class today), will always get the shaft!".

I think I have finally figured out why I still have these takes on these "isssooos"! All said and done I have "lower middle class values", something that was pointed out a few years ago by a friend in the USA!! Now that will be a post for another day, when I am fully awake and in a good mood and can proofread before I hit the publish button!!