 openbox9Premium join:2004-01-26 japan kudos:2 | reply to BF69
Re: No Duh Department "We" shouldn't pay for it, but "we" should enable and encourage private businesses to do so. DaveRickmers already pointed out why we have an interstate system sprawling our country. I'll further his point that we already have an "interstate system" for the Internet. It's the backbone. Neither the interstate, nor the Internet backbone, connect directly to my house. A combination of federal, state, county, municipality, and privately owned roads make up the roadway system in our country. A major portion of the funding for roadways is derived from fees paid by those that actually use the roads and a "consumption" tax on fuel. Perhaps network infrastructure should be handled in a similar manner. |
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 BF69Premium join:2004-07-28 Camden, TN | said by openbox9:"We" shouldn't pay for it, but "we" should enable and encourage private businesses to do so. Well they aren't. We paid for electrification, WE paid for telephone service for all. WE paid for the interstate highway system. Those all seemed to have a pretty big payoff. It's called "big picture" I suggest you learn to see it. |
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 openbox9Premium join:2004-01-26 japan kudos:2 | We paid for them by taxing everyone more and then providing subsidies, tax breaks, grants, loans, and facilitating/protecting monopolies. When do we stop paying more taxes for these various government programs? I'm not suggesting that we shouldn't do something, just that reality makes it prudent to consider all options. BTW, we aren't really encouraging or enabling private industry to build out this infrastructure. We haphazardly throw money and words at the problem and tell everyone that we're making things better. Seeing the big picture is one thing, understanding it is another. |
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 | What does it matter? If the people want to be taxed 100% for the rest of their life, it's their prerogative. Just add the tax to one's internet bill. |
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 openbox9Premium join:2004-01-26 japan kudos:2 | The problem is that some people don't want the responsibility of paying for their access to the Internet. Many people want to socialize that cost...something that tragically is becoming more popular in our nation. |
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