MatthewlovesAyn Loc: Ohio

I really am tired of being defined as racist, xenophobic, sexist and misogynistic, just because I don't agree that money taken from me at the point of a gun (taxes) should be given to every ne'er do well with his hand out and 50% plus one in the voting booth. Today's gripe may come as a shock to even the right wingiest among you, but I'm going to make the case against libraries. The library is my town is beautiful. It is probably a $750,000 building in a town of 7,000 people. There are maybe 6 full time employees making $30,000 plus a year. There is probably $10,000 in computers and $1,000,000 in books. People walk into the voting booth and see a 2 mil levy for the library and say, "That's a noble cause and will only cost me $180 a year. I'm voting for that!". Now, I certainly have nothing against reading and I know there are poor people out there that can't afford books. The question is: Is a tax payer supported library the answer? I don't think so.

Here are some of the bad things a library does (other than take my money without my permission). First, it steals from the author of books! If a book is loaned out free to 25 people during it's (lifetime?), that is 25 books the author doesn't sell. The library supports authors that don't deserve to be supported. How many books would Hillary Clinton sell without the support of libraries? Go in and try to find one of Rush Limbaugh's kiddie books at your local library. If they did carry them, they not only would most likely be loaned out, but there would be left-wing thugs outside, protesting the fact the library was carrying them at all. Remember, librarians are sucking on the government teat. They have no interest in supporting authors who disagree with the government being the be-all and end-all. AND they are the ones that order the books! You should also ask yourself why the government (and it's entities like libraries) are competing with businesses that must serve the public well to survive. No such thing restricts the library. Only gullible voters. The same goes for government run parks. There is one not far from me that has a bar and restaurant right on the beach. I certainly couldn't afford to build that restaurant. Why should my tax dollars subsidized this crony-capitalist adventure. You KNOW someone's campaign-contributing buddy is kicking back to get the franchise. If I owned a K.O.A., I would be pissed. Same for bookstore owners, publishing houses, printers, ink and paper sellers, foresters, shippers, and on and on.

Now all of the librarians I have met could not be nicer, smarter, more capable people. They all believe they are doing a public service at an un-gratifying salary. If they were doing the same amount of work in the private sector, they would be right. But they aren't. They have no idea they are thugs, stealing from 50% minus one of the voters, at the behest of 50% plus one of the voters. I'm here to point that out. There is only one thing I can think of in the public sector that would not be performed better in the private, and that is military defense. They can kill people and break things better than any business person, because the private sector doesn't buy into the "broken window" theory. The private business owner sees no interest in nation building either, preferring equal trade in the belief it is the most conducive to his betterment and the betterment of mankind. Poor people don't buy things, and the answer to that is make them productive so they can afford to buy stuff from you. They won't buy your products if you bomb the hell out of them, whereas the government can steal my money, make bombs (or libraries), blow stuff up, and then print more money to fix the country it just blew up. Senseless.

Most everything the government does is senseless. There should be no National Endowment for the Arts. No U.S. Chamber of Commerce (that's what a PR department is for!). The Department of Education is perhaps the penultimate group of thugs, right behind the D.E.A.. Hard to pinpoint the most thuggish though, with so many choices. D.E.A., N.S.A., F.B.I., I.R.S., etc.. Can anyone really argue they are all legitimate functions of government? I am not saying they are all illegitimate either. I do like that the E.P.A. was instrumental in cleaning up the Great Lakes and other areas. Today, however, much of their actions are thuggish to say the least. I like the fact there hasn't been another major terrorists attack, but we have sacrificed liberty for safety in the process. I have known about Muslims penchant for killing heretics since I was 11 years old, but if you think they are coming over and martyring themselves for that reason only, you're drinking the blue soup. They are screwing with us and the E.U. because we have been invading the M.E. for decades. Don't give me the Crusades stuff either. I know we invaded back then in retaliation, but at some point this all has to stop. We have to stop stealing from taxpayers and stop printing money to build schools in Afghanistan (that they just blow up anyway).

Now that I have vented about what I think is wrong, you may be asking if I have a solution. I do. Your vote. Never, never, never vote for an incumbent. They are all poisoned after one term. There may be 5 exceptions in all of Congress. I don't care. Vote them out too. If SCOTUS members aren't following the Constitution, call on your Congressperson to impeach, and your Senator to convict. Never elect a President to a second term. They are useless. Golf and vacations are all they are good for. I'm outta here.

mcmlx

I agree 100% about the poisoned/poisonous incumbents.
About the libraries, you make an excellent argument, however, there are many more county employees making much more money than librarians who could not give a rat's behind about public service.
My favorite day of the week is the day I go to my public library. And the difference between the one two miles up the road and the one two miles down is like night and day. Population here is 489,000, or thereabouts.
I've found myself frequenting the used book store which sells books for $2.00 to $5.00, and buys them back also.