| Neither Luxury nor Necessity Broadband internet access in your home is not a necessity. But maybe in the school and the local library, it is. But those institutions can get broadband speeds almost anywhere in the US at a reasonable price, even if it is only a T1 or T3 from the telco.
But broadband for the home is definitely in the luxury category. It is available almost to everyone(satellite), but not always at a price they want to pay. In my mind, that is the very definition of a luxury.
If someone in government decides that broadband is a necessity , then that means it just becomes another thing that the welfare drones will demand be added to their monthly support checks. And they already have enough covered by those monthly checks and food stamps and child health care, etc.
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 bokambaChengdu RocksPremium
join:2002-04-05
Falls Church, VA | Amen. Do people think they "deserve" electrical power, just because they have a house? Probably they do think that. But they don't deserve it for any reason. |
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| Kind of a stretch to compare broadband to electricity, don't you think? |
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| reply to fAcEtIOUs
said by fAcEtIOUs:Broadband internet access in your home is not a necessity. But maybe in the school and the local library, it is. But those institutions can get broadband speeds almost anywhere in the US at a reasonable price, even if it is only a T1 or T3 from the telco. If it's a necessity in schools, how do home schools fit in? |
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| said by imanogre:If it's a necessity in schools, how do home schools fit in? They don't. Home schooling is for the Amish and misfits or religious nuts. They are on their own to pay for broadband.
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 bear73Metnav... Fly The Unfriendly SkiesPremium
join:2001-06-09
Grand Forks Afb, ND | reply to fAcEtIOUs
I must disagree. Do you think that telephone (POTS) is a luxury? how about power? or water? It should be a public utility/public service. You can get by with an outhouse and an artesian well with a hand pump, and candles and oil lamps. But it's not condusive to modern life. Internet is the same way. it's a resource that enables folks to better themselves. Just take schooling. Not everyone is in an area that public school is a good option, or even a viable option. Look at the high plains states, or Alaska. Then there's post secondary (college). On-line distance learning is booming and allowing folks schooling that they otherwise would not be able to get it. You don't need a phone, but boy does it make life reasonable. Dialup at 14.4-28.8 is unreasonable for just about anything these days. And there's alot of the remote locations that are lucky to get slow dialup.
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@qwest.net | reply to fAcEtIOUs
HOW MANY PEOPLE READING THIS TOPIC USE BROADBAND BOTH AT HOME AND/OR AT THEIR WORK? YOU CAN ANSWER BY SAYING "me" |
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bokambaChengdu RocksPremium
join:2002-04-05
Falls Church, VA | reply to bear73
You are operating under the presumption that people deserve electricity and running water just because they are human beings. Not only that, you're suggesting the government should coerce companies to provide these things even when it's unreasonable. I don't think ISPs "owe" Alaskans faster Internet service. |
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| reply to bear73
None of what you are saying means broadband is necessary. How is having a toilet in the house, or running water in the house as opposed to an outhouse or a well compare to the internet and bettering yourself??!! This is sooooooo absurd. If you take that route, then an education should also be a necessity and therefore paid for by the government, which seems to be what you are suggesting. How about owning a car? Can you walk everywhere you go? Sure. But using your argument, it's not conducive to everyday modern living. So now a car should be a "utility". How stupid does that sound? |
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| reply to fAcEtIOUs
said by fAcEtIOUs:Home schooling is for the Amish and misfits or religious nuts. Whoa. Better back up on that comment. Not all home schoolers fall into your narrow view. The government recognizes home schooling as a valid form of education and is regulated as such if you want your child to have any accredited diploma.
Personally I don't want home schooling for my kid, but I know people who home school their kids. The kids are mainly high school aged training in high level gymnastics that take up more time during the day than normal. It's just one example of where home schooling is not just for fundamentalist loonies. |
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 KoolMoeAw ManPremium
join:2001-02-14
Annapolis, MD | reply to fAcEtIOUs
My father-in-law is retired Navy (Captain) and homeschooled some of his kids. Amish? Nah. Misfit? Maybe. Religious nut? Getting there perhaps.
But overall, he's a typical American who dedicated the past 20 years of his life (more or less) to the service of this country.
Damn the stereotypes! Er, torpedo the sterotypes! Something like that...
KM
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| reply to fAcEtIOUs
You are absolutely right, any kind of Internet access in the home is a luxury (even dialup). The way I see it is that only utilities that keep people alive and healthy are necessities. This includes food, water, sewer, gas (but only to power a furnace in the winter), and electricity (again only to power a furnace in the winter) that’s it. Telephone service is only a utility if you get the most basic plan without long-distance. Everything else is a luxury and if you don’t have the money then you SHOULD NOT HAVE IT. I am sick and tired of people on welfare using my tax money buying crap they don’t need like cable TV. This country is socialist and I don’t want it becoming a communist so people like me need to draw a line in the sand. |
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 9143930615,000 Watts of Bass Power
join:2002-10-16
New Milford, CT | reply to bokamba
said by bokamba:Amen. Do people think they "deserve" electrical power, just because they have a house? Probably they do think that. But they don't deserve it for any reason. From where I live, the town will condemn your house if you don't have electricity--it's considered a health hazard when you can't wash up and flush your toilet.
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9143930615,000 Watts of Bass Power
join:2002-10-16
New Milford, CT | reply to bear73
Why does "modern lifestyle" always somehow get confused for "better lifestyle"?
All I see are headaches, stress, cancer, pollution and poisoned foods.
Back in time 120 years, we ate food from our own gardens, didn't have to worry if government-funded thugs were going to break down our doors, and we got a good physical workout harvesting our food.
Today most of us sit at desks, in front of radiation sources, breathing polluted air, consuming synthetic substances that are mistakenly called "food" and in debt to doctors for a long string of drugs we now require to lead a 'normal' life, because we are so fundamentally stressed out and bitter on a subconsious level because we are taken advantage of by our government, and we repress it and tow the party line, but in fact it's killing us, giving us sickness like cancers and you say that this is better?
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KoolMoeAw ManPremium
join:2001-02-14
Annapolis, MD | Mark, I usually find your posts to be a bit more extreme than I align myself with...but I could have written your post just as easily. I agree with it, almost, 100%.
(I think most people are "bitter on a subconscious level" due to the rampant materialism in this culture as opposed to specifically being taken advantage of by our gov't - though that certainly has an impact too).
KM
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| reply to Jamuka
said by Jamuka:None of what you are saying means broadband is necessary. How is having a toilet in the house, or running water in the house as opposed to an outhouse or a well compare to the internet and bettering yourself??!! This is sooooooo absurd. If you take that route, then an education should also be a necessity and therefore paid for by the government, which seems to be what you are suggesting. How about owning a car? Can you walk everywhere you go? Sure. But using your argument, it's not conducive to everyday modern living. So now a car should be a "utility". How stupid does that sound? "This is sooooooo absurd. If you take that route, then an education should also be a necessity and therefore paid for by the government, which seems to be what you are suggesting."
Umm... the government does pay for education, it's called public schools, and does consider it a necessity. Ever try not sending your kid, if you have kids that is, to school and not have a truency officer at your door? Children are required to attend at least 180 days of school in this country, barring being sick and the like of course. Hell, no matter how much you make it seems that an education is so much of a neccessity that you can get some sort of student loan to go to college. So yes, educations is deemed a necessity and is paid for by the government as well as our tax dollars. I think it's taxes well spent when it goes towards the education of our youth. |
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9143930615,000 Watts of Bass Power
join:2002-10-16
New Milford, CT | reply to KoolMoe
Yes, I think a percentage of the population feels bitter, and that bitterness often manifests itself as illnesses, such as cancers. I think the nation's health would improve on the whole if the government harrassment of individuals over inane tax laws and other encroachments of property rights were stopped.
As for children and school, a number of people home school their kids. I was home-schooled, although I did attend public school at the same time. But when my parents saw that I wasn't learning anything, they bought their own text books at tutored me on subjects where I was weak. And, they taught me phonetics, which, I understand, some decades later, was banned by law for about ten years and then the ban was lifted. But it was a powerful reading tool.
Now I just wish they could have taught me how not to go blind. Every year I need the type bigger and bigger...
But I have maintained an ingrained, to my very core, commitment to morality. Anything that violates individual rights, such as taxation, military draft, eminent domain, etc., I find an abomination and anyone who doesn't militantly and actively fight against these evil laws is a worthless sheep in my opinion.
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Take care,
Mark & Mary Ann Weiss
Hear my Kurzweil Creations at: »www.dv-clips.com/theater.htm
'»www.mwcomms.com/auctions.htm
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| said by 91439306: I think the nation's health would improve on the whole if the government harrassment of individuals over inane tax laws and other encroachments of property rights were stopped. Just another post pushing your "real estate tax" is illegal agenda, no matter how off topic it is. Don't you ever get tired of saying the same thing over and over in all your posts?
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9143930615,000 Watts of Bass Power
join:2002-10-16
New Milford, CT | DOes the government ever get tired of stealing more and more of YOUR hard-earned money? |
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| Okay. Lets go 'round this bend again. What alternative do you have to pay for public schools instead of estate taxes? Because the money has to come from somewhere and as much as I hate the taxation of your home I at least understand it's necessary. Unless you have a better idea all the complaining in the world isn't going to silence that fact. |
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