Oh. Oh, now I see. That's a very interesting take on it, one that I was vaguely aware of, but haven't really considered.
To me, such programs are transactional in the same way a work order is. You, as a citizen pay taxes to subscribe to the benefits of the state, and in turn, contribute to the state with tax money, or in the case of the armed services, with your life, time, and capacity to wage war on the state's enemies.
The problem is that whether you want to be involved in such a transaction or not, if you've enjoyed secure borders, public education, public transport, or any of the million other state-run services, you've already gotten yourself involved. In this case, I wouldn't consider the assistance as a debt owed, rather a transaction made with a price both sides agreed on (indeed, you would have more of a choice here than in other citizen-state transactions). Your service would pay for the care your mother would receive.
Not making an argument against their being truly despicable people in the world who won't stop being evil no matter how much you ask nicely, it's just that you said joining a war would be more interesting; I was responding to that thrust specifically.
Joining a war would be more interesting. You get to experience all sorts of different emotions and make much more meaningful, deeper, long lasting connections with others by experiencing life and death with them. You experience both happiness and sadness, despair and joy. Compared to the shallow state of society in first world countries where everything is a clock work process with only efficiency in mind, it’s a rollercoaster.
Life is all about experiencing and living through those ups and downs. They’re what make people feel fulfilled and feel as if they lived a life with substance to it.
As for stuff like income taxes for example, you do realize before the world war they weren’t even a thing, right? They were originally supposed to be a measure to help pull the country out of debt after the world war but they ended up sticking around.
It stuck around because people fell down that slippery slope and now it’s just taxes galore everywhere you look. Just look at that debt now, it’s through the bloody roof despite all of the different taxes that exist and it’s surely never going to be paid off. There’s a tax for just about anything and everything yet society is still straddled with this crippling unsustainable debt that’s spiralling out of control.
Society could have functioned just fine without all those taxes. The money would have been used much more efficiently too. Now you’ve got governments just throwing money at whatever they want wasting it. We don’t pay taxes willingly, we pay taxes because we’re forced to or else the government will come for us. So no, it’s not transactional, taxes are held over our heads as a means to ensure we are obedient and can be controlled.
If we stick our head up and refuse to pay those taxes, the government will make an example out of us to scare others from doing the same.
Personally I hardly even use roads and I haven’t used healthcare even once in my life. I’d rather die before using healthcare too. I’m fine with dying and have no qualms about it. If it’s my time to die, then so be in. Rather than living life crippled or disabled, I’d rather accept my death. So no, I’m not going to be thankful for the services the governments provide because I don’t want them. A difficult life wrought with hardships is a more fulfilling one as far as I’m concerned. I’d rather grow my own shit on a farm, raise animals, etc.
Personally I hardly even use roads and I haven’t used healthcare even once in my life. I wouldn’t mind just walking to places since I’d stay fit and in shape that way in a natural fashion. I’d rather die before using healthcare too. I’m fine with dying and have no qualms about it. If it’s my time to die, then so be in. Rather than living life crippled or disabled, I’d rather accept my death. So no, I’m not going to be thankful for the services the government provide because I don’t want them. A difficult life wrought with hardships is a more fulfilling one as far as I’m concerned. I’d rather grow my own shit on a farm, raise animals, hunt/forage for food, sterilize water myself, etc.
It sounds primitive, but you’d live at your own pace and always have something productive to do with your time.
As for the internet, I think I’d be happier without it. I don’t even play video games these days and honestly there’s nothing online that I really care about.
