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Just came across a libertarian thread on here discussing how parents shouldn't have to pay taxes for public schools if their kids aren't able to physically attend school or they choose to put them in private school, and ... I have a lot of thoughts.
First and foremost, do you know how many of us childless heathens have no personal stake in public education and yet our taxes still pay to send your kids to school?
Secondly, your taxes pay for a lot of things that you either don't "use" or hopefully never will, but your neighbors do. Fire departments, 911 call centers, senior recreation programs, etc. And maintenance for roads that you may or may not ever drive on. The obvious stuff.
But just like well-funded public schools, all of those things you pay for may not directly benefit you or your kids, but they indirectly improve the quality of your city or town, which makes your community better for you to live in and more attractive to others.
It's the same selfish mentality that keeps us from making access to health care a public good. "I don't want to pay for others to have a thing if it doesn't directly benefit me." Again, a healthier community DOES benefit you. But that shouldn't even be a reason!
It's unfathomable to me that people are fine paying into corporate-run, for-profit insurance plans that are more likely to benefit others, but when you propose they pay the same premiums as a "tax" so everyone can be covered, only then does it become a problem.
