said by satellite68 :

So, you are, independently, at your expense:

-picking up your own garbage and disposing of it properly
-plowing/salting your own streets - all of them that you use on a regular basis
-assessing your property for market value
-policing your city for crime
-ensuring your neighbors don't open a chicken coop, meth lab, community open toilet, prostitution ring, heavy metal concert venue, etc. next to your property
-etc.

said by satellite68 :

Having worked for a municipal government for years, I can say with authority the private citizen, whom we serve, is either very grateful for the services their taxes provide, or as illustrated above, ridiculously living in some kind of bizarro world of make believe that just doesn't understand what it takes to keep civilized society civilized. I'd love to see individuals like moonpuppy start collecting their own trash, policing their streets, etc. - and paying for it out of their own pockets. He'd soon realize what a pittance we pay in taxes in this country (compared to say, Sweden or Canada)

said by satellite68 :

In essence, they do pay with their taxes - however, the strength and power of government is that they can do all of those things at a deeply discounted rate, as opposed to an individual trying to do it alone.

said by satellite68 :

And to echo majormarco, those who usually gripe the loudest about "big government" are usually the ones who turn a blind eye to the protections he listed above, not to mention the fact that they voted the Bush admin in twice, who are overseeing the biggest government spending spree we've ever seen. Want smaller government? Maybe you should have thought twice before voting the "fiscal conservatives" in for two bloody terms.

said by satellite68 :

If Obama is 10% better than Bush as a president, he'll go down in history as being a savior.