bizboy1 wrote:
And for the posters claiming I haven't cited anything, well, I haven't. I've posted in a forum about my views on welfare. So far I haven't found the need to cite anything. You can gather the main thesis of my points is that taxation is illegitimate and therefore there should be no welfare. I don't believe in coercion. I believe in a society based on voluntary trade.
A larger evidenced viewpoint:
What you are suggesting would result in a third world economy for the US, as well as third world living conditions.
Close to 60% of the world population lives without social welfare. One already has an opportunity to move to Somalia, or many other countries to experience life the way most people experience it in the world, without the benefit of a mixed economy that provides social welfare.
Taxpayer supported social welfare programs, including Social Security and Medicaid, pump well over 2 trillion dollars into the US economy every year; close to 20% of consumer spending.
This isn't only social welfare benefits for those that need them for subsistence, it is a stimulus of social welfare benefits that provides direct benefits to business, those employed by businesses, and the economy overall that relies on those direct social welfare dollars for continued success.
There are few small businesses that one can start, and maintain, without depending on this guaranteed flow of money into the economy. For the most part this is not discretionary income that may be saved or spent, it is money put directly into the economy.
http://www.usfederalbudget.us/federal_budget_detail_fy12bs12012n_4000102060500102#usgs302The current argument over 85 billion dollars in tax cuts to expire for the "rich" (those couples making over about 340K on average before adjustments on gross income) is part of discretionary income, that is currently part of money saved rather than money spent for many in this tax bracket.
While you may eventually be one of the 10% of individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders evidenced as finding steady employment, the majority of all US citizens require the advantage of social welfare benefits, provided through taxation, at some point in their life.
The total current Bush tax cuts, that in part enable 47% of the country to avoid paying federal income taxes, that amount to estimates anywhere from 300 to 400 billion dollars a year, have not paid been for, and are in effect social welfare benefits as well, that generations in the future will end up paying for.
The roads that allow one to get from point A to point B, would neither exist or be maintained without taxpayer support. That's not even part of the 2 trillion dollars identified specifically in the US budget as social programs, but they are still tax payer funded benefits provided by the government, as well as education and other programs identified in the link to the budget provided. Depending on one's circumstances one doesn't have to necessarily work or pay taxes to benefit from this advantage provided by other taxpayers.
A society based on no taxes and no social welfare, would be a society that would potentially result in no means for subsistence to many individuals with autism spectrum disorders, as statistics show that 90% don't maintain full time employment, many of which receive tax payer supported assistance through a variety of programs some of which provide employment training for those fortunate enough to live in areas that have these type of programs.
There is an identified crisis with estimates of up to 500,000 young adults with autism spectrum disorders similar to your age, still living at home, with little employment prospects ahead of them.
While you are hoping for taxpayer supported programs to go away, the overwhelming majority of parents of young adults with autism spectrum disorders are praying that taxpayer supported social welfare programs that currently exist, will remain and expand to provide opportunities to their young adult children, that may eventually mean the difference between subsistence and no subsistence, when family is no longer is around to provide that support.
Hopefully you will be one of the 10% that gains a measure of independence in their life at some point, however beyond this if you expect one day to be self employed, don't look forward to the potential to be able to even be afforded an opportunity to purchase health insurance on your own, diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, if your wish is granted and government supported healthcare reform is repealed at the legislative level.
This is the only current potential that provides this opportunity, that requires insurers to provide an opportunity to purchase that insurance to protect everything one has worked for in life, in case illness or disability falls upon one; it is reality that can happen to anyone at any given second, regardless of any preexisting condition.
http://www.usatoday.com/USCP/PNI/Business/2012-05-07-PNI0507biz-phx-autism--PNIBrd_ST_U.htmQuote:
According to the latest U.S. Department of Labor statistics, only 17.8 percent of people with disabilities were employed in 2010, down from 19.2 percent in 2008.
For adults with autism, the national employment rate is just 10 percent, according to SARRC.
"In general, the research shows that with the downturn in the economy, people with disabilities are the last hired and the first fired," said Marjorie Baldwin, an economics professor at the Arizona State University W.P. Carey School of Business.
SARRC is striving to put a dent in the jobless rate of the Valley's autistic adults.
Participants in the center's employment-services program have a 65 percent employment rate, said Erin Onacki, SARRC's employment service program coordinator.
"If a client comes in the door at SARRC, they are given an opportunity to take different paths toward employment," Onacki said.
In a down economy, people with disabilities need all the training and job-placement assistance they can get, said Baldwin, who studies workplace issues for this sector of the population.
"When the economy is tight and when the economy is in a downturn, lots of people are looking for jobs and employers can be more selective in who they hire," she said.
SARRC officials meet with companies to find out what they need from their employees and meet with job coaches to determine the skill set of a client -- what SARRC calls the autistic adults it serves.
"Between those two things, we're able to place people much faster. We're able to meet the employers' needs as well as having a tracking program for where a client should be in a certain period of time," Onacki said.
Preparing a company to hire an autistic adult is part of the process.
"We offer an autism sensitivity training to the staff. It kind of empowers the employer partner to really take advantage of a person's abilities vs. their disabilities," Onacki said.
More businesses are connecting with SARRC as the program works to show employers that their clients have valuable workplace skills. The Phoenix-based non-profit center is placing clients with 27 businesses this year, up from 17 last year.
"Employers are recognizing the benefits of hiring an employee on the autism spectrum," Onacki said. "They're seeing there's a huge benefit to their organization. It has diversified their work environment, changed the dynamic for their employees and used us as a resource for their friends and family."
Businesses interested in hiring someone with autism can contact SARRC for information. There is no cost to partner with the center.
There are 90 adults with autism working after participating in SARRC's employment program, up from 57 in 2010.
Individuals have been hired as prep chefs at Outback Steakhouse and as shelf stockers at CVS/pharmacy, for example. The center is training some clients to be baristas in SARRC-run coffee shops.
"We placed 23 (clients) total last year," Onacki said. "We're already at 10 this year. Our goal is 36" clients this year.
When autistic adults seek employment help from SARRC, the center determines through tests if they are ready to work or need more training. SARRC then prepares them for interviews or provides job training. These services are increasingly needed as a generation of children with autism grows up, Onacki said.
"A lot of these individuals who were young kids and teens are now moving into adulthood, so we're getting a surplus of people who are getting ready to say, 'High school ended. College isn't an option. And I need to work,'" she said.
Autistic adults receiving job training and placement services from SARRC are supported through grants and state and federal funding, but there is some cost involved. Onacki said SARRC tries to make its services affordable.
Democracy and capitalism cannot exist in a large heterogeneous country, without a hybrid social welfare state funded by the requirement of paying taxes. Human nature will not allow it, in diverse populations this large. Even in small countries like Singapore, where there is a great deal of economic freedom, civil liberties are restricted, and although the social welfare state is limited, 4 out 5 individuals live in government subsidized housing and health care is provided to the population. In Estonia, that is rated as having the highest levels of liberty, the social welfare system is pervasive.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AmishAnd one other thing to consider, if you were to plan to move to a much smaller society like Amish country with fewer potential taxes, or a country with fewer taxes and social welfare programs, religion and government are almost inseparable entities in societies and countries with fewer taxes and less government provided social welfare benefits. Religion is evidenced as filling the void that government sponsored social welfare provides.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-human-beast/201111/why-atheism-will-replace-religionQuote:
My results in the new study mirrored those of the earlier one on belief in God. I found that more people agreed that religion was important in their daily lives in countries with a heavy load of infectious diseases. Religiosity declined in countries having a well-developed welfare state. Residents of more developed countries were less religious and so were nations where third-level education was common. Countries with a more equal distribution of income were lower on religiosity also.
Why is religion in decline in fast-paced countries where ordinary people enjoy a good standard of living? It seems that with better science, with government safety nets, better health, and longer life expectancy, there is less fear and uncertainty in people's daily lives. As a result there is less of a need for religion to help people cope with the feeling that they have little control over their lives.
The fast-paced modern world brings plenty of food, scientific medicine, climate controlled homes, reliable weather forecasts and many other innovations that put God out of business. The fast lane thus leads to atheism. Of that, there can no longer be any doubt.
Unless one decides they want to be controlled by religious ideology, their best bet is to find a developed country like the US, or even better a Scandinavian country, but they won't likely be able to escape taxes or social welfare; one would more than likely have to choose between answering to the government and paying taxes, or answering to the religious ideology of a country or small society, where social welfare benefits and taxes are scarce.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2011/09/atheism-as-mental-deviance/
http://ricochet.com/main-feed/Autism-Atheism-and-Libertarians
It is appears to be a tough position to be in as a libertarian atheist, against taxation and social welfare benefits, because there appears to be no where to go, to find a place where that combination is evidenced as working, other than in ideology form. Ron Paul is also evidence of this, as he doesn't believe in evolution; one apparent reason he had some support among that conservative evangelical christian element in the US.
It is expressed as an ideology but not evidenced anywhere in the developed world. Of course anything goes in some developing countries, where there are those that would likely love to live somewhere like the US and pay the taxes required to gain some type of safety net in life.
The disadvantages are evidenced in countries that come anywhere close to what you appear to be looking for.
There are basically two choices in the US; a mixed economy collecting taxes with a social welfare state, or third world status. The US still ranks in the top ten countries with the highest rates of liberty; take social welfare and taxes away and that ranking disappears, as freedom quickly disappears with anarchy as a likely result. If one wants that, Somalia is already a place one could go, but that is not a wish that I have heard anyone desire in the US, particularly refugees from that country.
There is a price to pay for the fullest expressions of liberty in the world, and by the evidence that exists it is taxes and funded social welfare that provide that opportunity at the highest levels evidenced of liberty.
http://www.stateofworldliberty.org/report/rankings.html
16 Jul 2012, 9:01 pm
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