"Get your fair share of funding"

Discussion in 'Blogs' started by boisepatriot, Mar 29, 2010.


  1. boisepatriot

    boisepatriot Monkey+

    How does the Government encourage us to fill out our census forms? By using the line "returning your census form is important to getting your fair share of funding." Implicit in this is the message: "Hey, there's only so much money, or anything else, left; get your share before someone else does." The fact that the Government's market research indicated that this line would work is, in my opinion, very frightening. What does it mean to "get my fair share"? Fair share of whose money, and for what purpose? When I was in graduate school studying law and economics, I learned about "the tragedy of the commons." It is a simple principle that economists use to describe what happens to a society when EVERYONE is scrambling to get his or her "fair share" of limited resources before those resources are depleted completely. In mid-evil times, many villages surrounded a common pasture on which all villagers were free to graze their animals. But, of course, one villager would want to get his or her "fair share" by grazing as many animals on the common green as possible before his or her neighbor got the same idea. Before long all the grass was gone, and no one had any food. America is this village. No one grazes as many animals as fast or as furiously as our politicians and the people who pay them - the large companies and bankers. Now that our Supreme Court has ruled that corporations can give as much in "campaign contributions" as they want to as many politicians as they want, this process will accelerate. There is ONE way this process will stop - we, the common, every day, middle-class Americans, have to demand it. We have to keep demanding it, as loudly and furociously as necessary, until our politicians start acting how we want them to act instead of how they are paid to act. But, before that can happen, we have to change ourselves. Each of us has to become willing to remove a few sheep from the common pasture, to stop scrambling for our "fair share" of Governent-controlled resources and to start sharing with each other. As long as we are a people dumb enough to buy the "get your fair share" line, we are doomed. Just my .5 cents worth.
     
  2. dragonfly

    dragonfly Monkey+++

    What I found as beyond my "limited" comprehension, is where it is stated repeatedly on the form that it must be accounted for by April 1st....
    Then as you proceed to read the form it asks about how many lived there on April 1st. Then it goes futher and asks more about the occupants, type of dwelling and such on April 1st. I hate to burst their ballons, but I can't answer the question, as my crystall ball is broken....How can I possibly know how many will be in the home on April the 1st, if I have to return the form, BEFORE April the 1st?
    Now, I know that sounds petty, but consider that my son and his girlfriend may be moving...She just left yesterday!!!
    I dont want to intentionally LIE to "them"!
     
  3. boisepatriot

    boisepatriot Monkey+

    I appreciate that someone took the time to read my heartfelt blog post that I wrote one night late after work. But, I am confused as to whether your comment relates to my post or someone else's. It doesn't really seem to have anything to do with what I wrote, other than it was about the Census, which was not really the topic of my post. Anyway, thanks for reading.
     
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