Paying Our Lives Away

It’s expensive to live in this nation. More than just Californians pay through the nose for the right to live in the land of the not so free. This has resulted in a nation controlled by corporate greed that shoves a lifestyle designed to keep 95% of the nation in debt, enslaved to jobs they dread, believing their problems are the results of fringe groups. The only fringe group destroying this nation are the wealthiest of the wealthy.

Let’s look at what we are being sold.

Driving an electric car is good for the environment because it doesn’t burn fuel. Where does the electricity come from? Why are there free charging stations at a time when electricity rates are skyrocketing? If we can recharge car batteries for free, why can’t we refill our gas tanks for zip? What happens to the batteries in electric cars after they need replacing? Where do they go? Do you think they just vanish? Have you checked out the price of a Tesla and compared it to most other gas burners? My truck can be filled with at least another ten thousand dollars of gas before I have paid what a used Tesla costs. If an employer has to provide employees with free charging stations, where do they cut costs for doing so? And you wonder why you are overworked and underpaid.

Glass and plastic bottles are an environmental problem, so we get charged extra to purchase products that companies are allowed to package beer, wine, and other drinks in. Shouldn’t the companies be the ones who pay that cost? If I am paying the cost at the checkout stand, why are waste management companies getting money back when they pull them from the trash cans we went to the trouble to recycling them in? If drinks in bottles and plastic containers are charged a fee, why isn’t my peanut butter or jelly charged?

I pay an extra fee for a green waste garbage can so the city can take what I place in it, turn it into mulch, and then reuse it. At the same time, I can place piles of leaves on the side of my street for the city to pick up for free to do the same with.

Where is my discount for bagging my groceries? Why am I not paid for the shopping cart I return? Where’s my savings for helping put someone out of work when I use self-checkout? It’s not as if all these savings for companies are resulting in lower prices at the grocery store. But then a society raised to think they really need two or three eight dollar coffees containing more sugar than a kid’s Halloween sack each day is easily fooled.

We are told we have to have health insurance only to end up having to pay out of pocket costs. Why are we paying a premium on top of those out-of-pocket costs? Why are people on Medicare told they must purchase a supplemental plan after we have been paying taxes all our lives just so we have health coverage when we are older? Why can’t hard working Americans afford decent health care but our government can afford to pick up the tab for those who do not work?

Why is it our government can’t provide affordable healthcare like scores of other nations do, but can outspend all of Europe combined on our military budget? Why are we able to fund two trillion-dollar post-9/11 wars but can’t provide parents with affordable baby food or diapers? Why do we label ourselves a nation of peace when for 70% of our history we have asked taxpayers to pay for all the wars we fight?

Home insurance is no better. Most of us might use it once every 10 or 15 years. The moment we do, our insurer either drops our coverage or increases our rates because suddenly we are a high risk client. You can add the same for auto coverage.

Every election cycle, we are sold on the idea of supporting ballot propositions that increase our local taxes to continue providing services our normal taxes used to provide. Why are we expected to pay the bills run up by elected officials who can’t do what we elected them to accomplish? Why are voters expected to balance their budget, but elected officials are not? Unless you enjoy higher taxes than you already pay, vote no on all of these measures.

I just called a local chiropractor to see if they take new patients. The woman I spoke with kindly said they do but that they do not bill insurance. I am pretty sure there is no discount provided to patients who take on that task. It’s just more profit for the doctor because he gets to employ fewer people by removing one of their time consuming tasks.

The other day, I drove my gas using truck to Lowes to buy a few products. Before doing so, I went online and made sure the items were carried by the store rather than having to order them and wait. Of course, not one of the items was in their store when I got there but they offered to help me order them (I may be helpless, but I am not that helpless yet). I then had the choice of picking up the items when they arrived or for an additional fee, I could have them delivered to my home. I reminded the guy “helping” me that I came to the store to pick up what they said was already in stock and I did not appreciate my time and gas money being wasted. He apologized but certainly didn’t offer to make it up by reimbursing me any money (A quarter of a gallon of gas plus one hour of my wasted time comes to $51.00). He informed me he was not allowed to do that to which Before leaving I reminded him Amazon will deliver what I need for free.

How come drug dealers are evil for getting people hooked on street drugs but it’s alright for pharmaceutical companies to get us hooked on narcotics and countless other drugs that have horrific side effects? Why is it legal to become addicted to alcohol, cigarettes, and sugar, but a crime to want cocaine or heroin? How come Pharmaceutical companies are allowed a monopoly on a new drug and jack up their price for it when we are sold the idea that competition is the cornerstone of capitalism? And how come once their patent ends for their prescription drug, it suddenly becomes available over the counter for a cheap price to customers?

Besides creating new drugs to shove down our throats at five to ten times the cost as in Europe, another great way to become wealthy is to start a non-profit. Nonprofits are just a great way for rich people to award themselves incredible bonuses every year while selling the public on the idea they care about us.  They care about ways to sidestep tax laws so they can make more money while the rest of us pay extra for the taxes they do not pay.

Back to the checkout line. Why should I be asked if I want to donate money to a nonprofit after receiving lousy service and paying high prices?  Who is getting the tax break on my donation because I sure do not see clerks providing me with proof of my charitable donation.

At the rate we are going, I expect my mail carrier to charge me extra for delivering my mail and more to take my bills, birthday cards, and handwritten letters to the post office for mailing. Emails will be next. So will text messages. There will be no end to what we pay extra for the courtesy to live in this crumbling nation. Average citizens will be taxed to no end by an administration run by billionaires hell bent on deregulation in the name of greater profits. And when this group eventually gets run out, who do you suppose will pay the bill to clean up their messes?

Last, but not least, why is it that after a lifetime of paying endless taxes on what little earnings I have, my family will have the honor to pay additional taxes on what they inherit when I die? Add in the cost of all the bullshit we are sold by for profit death businesses, my kids will rue how much my death sets them back. But then, I will be busy looking for cooling blankets and fire retardant suits to buy for my eternal life thanks to churches selling us on the idea that heaven awaits all who tithe and hell is left over for guys like me who said no to a religious nonprofit seeking what little I have left after paying taxes .

From the film Jurassic Park (Warner Brothers), when the assembled discuss the viability and cost for the park, the “blood-sucking lawyer” (Martin Ferrero) suggests a “coupon day” for people who can’t afford $10k to visit the park.