Re: People Without Meaningful Lives Seek Power Over Others

On 1/25/2025 9:01 AM, AMuzi wrote:

On 1/24/2025 9:05 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:

On 1/24/2025 7:52 PM, AMuzi wrote:

On 1/24/2025 6:26 PM, John B. wrote:

On Fri, 24 Jan 2025 11:01:48 -0600, AMuzi <am@yellowjersey.org> wrote:
>

On 1/24/2025 10:19 AM, Frank Krygowski wrote:

On 1/24/2025 9:57 AM, John B. wrote:

On Fri, 24 Jan 2025 08:01:28 -0600, AMuzi
<am@yellowjersey.org> wrote:
>

On 1/23/2025 9:10 PM, John B. wrote:

On Thu, 23 Jan 2025 19:40:08 -0600, AMuzi
<am@yellowjersey.org> wrote:
>

On 1/23/2025 7:32 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:

On 1/23/2025 6:26 PM, AMuzi wrote:

On 1/23/2025 2:53 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:

On 1/23/2025 2:38 PM, AMuzi wrote:

On 1/23/2025 12:10 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:

On 1/23/2025 6:23 AM, zen cycle wrote:

On 1/22/2025 10:03 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:

>
In fact, I think if we could do so, road taxes
should
all be on such a per-mile-driven system, maybe
modified additionally for the weight of the
vehicle.

>
Texas tried it
>
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/
investigations/2024/10/23/ a-look- at- texas-
private-
toll-roads/
>
at least in one case, it didn't go so well:
>
https://www.texasobserver.org/texas- tollway-288-
steep-
price/
>
"Since the tollway opened in November 2020, toll
rates
have increased by more than 160 percent, going from
$11 for the full 20- mile round trip during peak
hours
to $29 dollars now. "

>
That looks like an astonishingly bad agreement
between
the government and BTG corporation. But note that BTG
paid only a third of the cost of construction, so
even
that "private" toll road was heavily subsidized by
taxpayers. I'm pointing this out to those who say
rail
transport should cover all its expenses via fares,
with
zero subsidies.
>
To try for a broader overview of road taxes: There
are
people who never drive, and people who drive far more
than others. Since the vast majority of road- related
expenses are _not_ covered by gasoline taxes, why
should a non-driver pay the same road taxes as a
mega-
driver?
>
Why not tie those taxes the amount of roadway used by
each driver, since that (as well as vehicle
weight) is
a main determinant of roadway expenses? After all,
train fares are strongly affected by the the rider's
travel distance - IOW the amount of track used.
>
To allay the fears of the paranoid: The government
wouldn't need to track your movements. You'd simply
need to submit evidence of your odometer total
once per
year.
>
Seems to me the crew that says "Let the market
decide"
should be all in favor of this idea.
>
And please note, I'm not making this argument for my
own benefit. Quite the opposite! As I've said, my
life
situation has changed in a way that makes me
driver far
more annual miles than I ever did before, and I'm
doing
it in an EV. I'm pretty sure I'm paying less than "my
share" of roadway expenses.
>

>
Many (I included) would sharply resist such government
motoring of my auto use. That's a political
barrier, not
a technical issue.

>
Of course you, and many others, would dislike such a
scheme! So yes, like many things, it's a political
issue.
Everybody wants better services but they don't want to
pay for them. (Our classic example here is better law
enforcement and more prisons, magically paid for by "No
new taxes!")
>

Also, people who do not own or use motor vehicles
still
consume myriad products all of which are
transported by
motor freight (even air & rail have 'last mile' truck
delivery). They pay road tax with every purchase,
plus a
markup.

>
Of course. And they'd still pay that way, through
normal
sales tax and purchase price, as they do now. But in
principle, their total tax burden should be less, since
those who made private use of the roads would be
paying a
bit closer to their fair share.
>
It seems downright socialistic to charge non- drivers
the
same as drivers for roads whose potholes and other wear
the non-drivers never generate.
>
>

>
The principle is sound, that we all bear the cost of
shared infrastructure.

>
But I'm saying those who "share" it less should pay less.
>
Non-drivers get less for their tax money.
>

>
In practice, many people are rubbed the wrong way by
being
taxed for things which never get finished, never meet
goals, never benefit the citizenry.
>
Such as Chicago property taxes, which are relatively
high
for US cities, pretending to 'graduate' illiterates at
$30,000 each per year. We all have our own egregious
examples I'm sure from potholes to bicycle paths.

>
OK, I'll stop complaining unfair road taxes on non-
drivers
if you stop complaining about Chicago student
performance.
Deal?   ;-)
>
>

>
It's merely an example with which I am very familiar.
>
No different from Baltimore (arguably the worst public
school system in USA) or Hartford:
>
https://ctmirror.org/2024/09/29/cant-read-high- school-
ct-hartford/

>
When I was in the Air Force I had a guy that was much
the same - he
could read but didn't understand what it meant.
>
He was getting along well until I sent him off to take
his "skill
level"  test and he failed it.
>
Now like most supervisors I had, by asking my people who
took the
skill tests to sit down and write down  as many of the
questions as
they could remember as soon as they got back from taking
the test,
accumulated most all of the test questions, which I had
covered during
my training, so this seem unusual, to say the least.
>
So, after "training him some more - asking him to answer
the test
question - over and over, I sent him off to retake the
test... and he
failed it again.
>
I don't know what made me think of it but I asked the
test department
if he could tale the test orally and they agreed. He
took it again and
got every question correct.

>
https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/2018-update-
prisoner-recidivism-9-year-follow-period-2005-2014
>
Eighty-two percent of prisoners arrested during the 9- year
period were
arrested within the first 3 years.
>
Almost half (47%) of prisoners who did not have an arrest
within 3
years of release were arrested during years 4 through 9.
>
Forty-four percent of released prisoners were arrested
during the
first year following release, while 24% were arrested
during year-9.
>
>
>

>
Well the government schools' failure has broader societal
effect:
>
https://www.literacymidsouth.org/news/the- relationship-
between-incarceration-and-low-literacy/
>
For which Prison Fellowship makes an effort:
https://www.prisonfellowship.org/wp-content/
uploads/2018/01/Literacy-Programs-for-Prisoners-
article-2017.pdf

>
>
>
>

Noting that as Frederick Douglass observed:
>
https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/ frederick_douglass_201574
>
And as other failures, the revenue disappears, the problem
grows because as always in government, "once you solve the
problem, the money stops."

>
I only replied to one of your references as  going further
would just
be gilding the Lilly.

>
As usual with these sociological topics, I read many more
complaints here than solutions.
>
I'm sure that inability to read greatly hampers one's job
prospects. I'm also sure that men who can't get jobs are
more likely than others to turn to crime.
>
I'm sure that stressors at home (as one of the citations
notes); or as in the case of the illiterate girl, having
parents who speak no English, hamper a child's learning
while at home. And I'm sure that the home environment is
critical for learning. If a kid's home life is desperately
bad, I doubt any school will be able to repair its effects.
>
So what should be done? Yelling at the teachers won't help.
>

>
Taxing the citizenry heavily for abject failure hasn't
helped much so far either.

>
>
More gilded lilies :-)
>
My nephew speaks/reads/writes very good English although growing up in
a home where no one spoke, or understood, English.

>
Many such examples as well, both classic and modern.
>
My parents and their many siblings grew up speaking Italian at home and throughout their neighborhoods (in their respective cities) and learned English when starting school.
>
But a quick perusal of a property tax bill shows that the education racket dwarfs all other local budget items combined.  Results diminish as the expenditures rise.
>
>
But some prefer actual numbers rather than anecdote, a priori argument or opinion:
>
Expenditure trend:
>
https://www.statista.com/statistics/185135/average- expenditures-per- pupil-in-public-schools/
>
$2272 (1980 value) NPV would be $3068 in 2024:
>
https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

>
I'd like to see some detail on the breakdown of expenses.
>
In 1980 there was no need for metal detectors, bulletproof glass, armed security guards...
>

>
Trend:
>
"enrollment at CPS dropped by 31,905 students between the 2019-2020 school year and the 2023-2024 school year.
>
Meanwhile, reports on CPS employee rosters show employment in CPS has increased by 5,472 full-time staff members between December of the 2019-2020 school year and December of the current 2023-2024 school year. That’s a 15% increase in full-time staff members amidst a 9% decrease in enrollment."
>
https://www.illinoispolicy.org/chicago-public-schools- employs-5500-more- staff-members-for-32000-fewer-students- during-past-four-years/
>
Exemplar, #1 example:
>
"Only 35 students enrolled in Douglass Academy High School for the 2023-2024 school year, but the building can hold over 900 students.
>
Logic would say it should be closed, but the Chicago Teachers Union prohibits closing it and other underused schools. In fact, CTU sees the 23 staffers at Douglass as inadequate.
>
CTU’s new contract demands would put at least eight additional staff members in the school. That would mean 31 staff members for 35 students.
>
Douglass already spends over $68,000 per student. All that money and all that potential staff attention, yet it failed to produce even a single student who was proficient in either reading or math on a recent SAT."
>
https://www.illinoispolicy.org/chicago-teachers-union- fails-to-turn-68k- per-student-into-even-1-academic-win/

 I agree, that sounds bad. But that situation must be unusual. It can't be enough to account for the huge increase shown in your Statista site.
 FWIW, although it's a somewhat separate issue, I firmly believe that university administration size has grown out of control. But locally I'm not seeing the same thing for public schools.
 And I'll note that locally, charter schools have shown worse results than public schools, last I looked. For a while that was a big scandal in Ohio, especially since the state's funding schemes effectively charge public schools for each student who changes to a charter school.