My America

[Hasbinbad]

Why is paying taxes not "serving ones country" ?

Bonus question:
Why is getting paid for services rendered called "serving" ?

edit: ok so upon rereading this, i see the silliness of the semantics in the bonus question.. but seriously people throw around the term "serving my country" as if its some great selfless act to get paid and get medical benefits and all kinds of other bennies for something that is voluntary, and I just think it's cute.

[Alawen Everywhere]

Originally Posted by Hasbinbad [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Why is paying taxes not "serving ones country" ?

Bonus question:
Why is getting paid for services rendered called "serving" ?

edit: ok so upon rereading this, i see the silliness of the semantics in the bonus question.. but seriously people throw around the term "serving my country" as if its some great selfless act to get paid and get medical benefits and all kinds of other bennies for something that is voluntary, and I just think it's cute.

It's nice that you live in a country where you get to have opinions like that and vocalize them in public, isn't it? Here's a 2010 pay chart. Obama just made the GI bill not completely suck again recently, so that compensation is worthwhile again. VA hospitals are still awful.

Now tell me how much I'd have to pay you to put your life on the line.

Edit: Blaine just reminded me that we got taxed on our housing and all our benefits and those are valued way above market so we'd end up with a few hundred bucks a month. The only way you make much is if you're deployed to a war zone.

[Taxi]

Originally Posted by Alawen Everywhere [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Now tell me how much I'd have to pay you to put your life on the line.

When the US army comes up north here on some bogus terror alert to come and steal our water and kill my nephew, thats when ill put my life on the line, and nobody is gonna need to pay me nothing.

[Gorgetrapper]

Originally Posted by Taxi [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

When the US army comes up north here on some bogus terror alert to come and steal our water and kill my nephew, thats when ill put my life on the line, and nobody is gonna need to pay me nothing.

Instead of preventing an issue, you would rather wait until something happens and THEN scream patriotism.

"I don't care about anything else in the world, as long as it doesn't happen to me I don't care!"

"You killed my 'soandso' omg rage i'm going to kill you now"

[Taxi]

Originally Posted by Gorgetrapper [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Instead of preventing an issue, you would rather wait until something happens and THEN scream patriotism.

"I don't care about anything else in the world, as long as it doesn't happen to me I don't care!"

"You killed my 'soandso' omg rage i'm going to kill you now"

Thats what ive been doing in this thread... prevention. Thats what ive been doing for most of my adult life. But deep down i think its a waste of effort, mainstreet america is hopelessly lost in Foxnewsland. The US is draining its water at a crazy rate and when theyll run out of it theyre just gonna come here and take it, like theyre doing now with the oil in the middle east. Its like a blackhole folding on itself and Canada is going to get swallowed alongside it.

This quote from George Orwell illustrates my feelings at this point in time:

Everything one writes now is overshadowed by this ghastly feeling that we are rushing towards a precipice and, though we shan't actually prevent ourselves or anyone else from going over, must put up some sort of fight.

[Gorgetrapper]

Originally Posted by Alawen Everywhere [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

It's nice that you live in a country where you get to have opinions like that and vocalize them in public, isn't it? Here's a 2010 pay chart.
Now tell me how much I'd have to pay you to put your life on the line.

You can't pay any of these ungrateful pricks anything to put their life on the line.

[Hasbinbad]

Originally Posted by Alawen Everywhere [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

It's nice that you live in a country where you get to have opinions like that and vocalize them in public, isn't it?

Don't kid yourself. You can do that in most other countries in the world too. America is not special. Furthermore, the American military hasn't done ANYTHING towards THOSE ENDS since we BEGRUDGINGLY fought in ww2. The VAST majority of the TOTAL funds applied to the US military has gone towards doomsday bombs / deployment, and killing civillians in foreign countries for the protection of monetary interests.

Originally Posted by Alawen Everywhere [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Here's a 2010 pay chart. Obama just made the GI bill not completely suck again recently, so that compensation is worthwhile again. VA hospitals are still awful.

You don't have to tell me about how the benefits are not that great. Ask me why I didn't join. Also, ask me what it's like trying to get my brain-damaged brother admitted to the VA hospital near me.

Originally Posted by Alawen Everywhere [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Now tell me how much I'd have to pay you to put your life on the line.

There is a number, but the US Military isn't willing to pay it. Blackwater.. That's probably another story. However, this is a very shaky argument because of the above debunking of the motives of the US Military, which have nothing to do with "putting your life on the line to protect the state." That is such a laughable premise that I am actually quite surprised you would even begin to stoop to it. It is patently false, and I defy you to support it with ANY form of evidence.

The fact is that YOU TOOK A JOB. You were offered a pay scale and a benefits package, and you TOOK IT. That was a decision on your part. Whether or not you were deluded into thinking that CHOICE was somehow patriotic or not is completely beside the point.

Originally Posted by Alawen Everywhere [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Edit: Blaine just reminded me that we got taxed on our housing and all our benefits and those are valued way above market so we'd end up with a few hundred bucks a month. The only way you make much is if you're deployed to a war zone.

See above. You were offered a job, you did a (probably quick and deluded) estimate, and you signed the contract. Whine somewhere else.

You are not a patriot just because you were brainwashed and are deluded, no matter how many flags you wave or how many bullets you've taken while killing brown children.

[Alawen Everywhere]

Originally Posted by Hasbinbad [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Don't kid yourself. You can do that in most other countries in the world too. America is not special. Furthermore, the American military hasn't done ANYTHING towards THOSE ENDS since we BEGRUDGINGLY fought in ww2. The VAST majority of the TOTAL funds applied to the US military has gone towards doomsday bombs / deployment, and killing civillians in foreign countries for the protection of monetary interests.


You don't have to tell me about how the benefits are not that great. Ask me why I didn't join. Also, ask me what it's like trying to get my brain-damaged brother admitted to the VA hospital near me.


There is a number, but the US Military isn't willing to pay it. Blackwater.. That's probably another story. However, this is a very shaky argument because of the above debunking of the motives of the US Military, which have nothing to do with "putting your life on the line to protect the state." That is such a laughable premise that I am actually quite surprised you would even begin to stoop to it. It is patently false, and I defy you to support it with ANY form of evidence.

The fact is that YOU TOOK A JOB. You were offered a pay scale and a benefits package, and you TOOK IT. That was a decision on your part. Whether or not you were deluded into thinking that CHOICE was somehow patriotic or not is completely beside the point.


See above. You were offered a job, you did a (probably quick and deluded) estimate, and you signed the contract. Whine somewhere else.

You are not a patriot just because you were brainwashed and are deluded, no matter how many flags you wave or how many bullets you've taken while killing brown children.

You're wrong and it is patently absurd for you to tell me what I did and why. Like my father before me and like his father before him, I served my country before I began my career. I would have made more money working at McDonald's.

I am not whining about anything. I love my country and I would serve again if called upon. I am not a mercenary; I am not a whore. One of us seems to think about everything in terms of dollars; I do not.

Your argument style is extremely offensive, insulting and unattractive. In one short post you have managed to suggest that I am not only a whore but a cheap whore, that I am brainwashed, that I am deluded, and that I am a murderer. All this because you do not agree with me that America's problems can be solved and that it is up to us, the American people, to help solve them. I suggest you read your own words carefully and reflect on what they say about you.

[Alawen Everywhere]

You realize that Orwell died 60 years ago, right? Three generations of impending doom!

Have you ever thought that maybe you should stop waiting to die and enjoy your youth?

[Taxi]

Originally Posted by Alawen Everywhere [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

You realize that Orwell died 60 years ago, right? Three generations of impending doom!

Yep, just like watching a car crash in slow motion