| Zappykins said: So, did you have a point or just wanted to complain? Military is always about following the orders of your superior. Doesn't matter what form the government is. The soliders are supposed to go kill people, even each other, if so commanded. Social Security? Most people get back more than what they put in? Do you even math? Cause it seems like you just made those up. Firefighters? Volunteer? I don't think that means what you think it means. They do get paid, and usually they make a very good living. |
Your point was that the military was supposedly some good and it was socialist. I argued that it was bad, and it was precisely because of its socialist nature. Without public funding there would be no military, so I don't know what you mean by "doesn't matter what form the government is" because every standing army is funded through socialist means - taxation. Voluntary militias don't have the same problems with ignoring morality as standing armies do.
Social Security -
Below is when the boomers just started retiring in 2010.
"
For an average-wage-earning, two-income couple turning 65 in 2010, the pay-in, pay-out ratio for Social Security by itself will actually be slightly negative —- the couple will have paid $600,000 in lifetime Social Security taxes and will receive only$579,000 in lifetime Social Security benefits. (Remember, the couple didn’t literally pay out $600,000; that’s the current value of what they paid out over the years, plus an additional 2 percent they may have gotten had it been invested.)"
http://money.cnn.com/2013/04/14/news/economy/social-security-benefits/
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"The system is now paying out more in benefits than it collects in income, with the difference coming from the so-called trust fund, the result of surplus revenue previously paid into the system. But the trust fund is set to run out in 2033, after which the program will only be able to pay about three-quarters of promised benefits, according to the Social Security trustees.
"What we are paying into the system is paying for our parents' benefits," Steuerle said. "But it's not clear what that entitles us to get from our kids.""
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My local firefighters do not get paid in cash. Some get "gifts" but it isn't a job that people hold. It is an extra on top of their real job/school. I knew a few kids in high school who volunteered.The exception is the EMT service which is compensated for each ride it gives, but that is not the fire-service. Also most of the funding for the volunteer fire department is accrued through donations and fund-raisers. So, I don't think YOU understand what volunteer means in this case, it means exactly what it means in any other case.
Here is a google search for you.
"Volunteer firefighters do not get paid, but they can get reimbursed. Reimbursement is usually a small amount of tax-free money for time spent on shifts, responding to calls and training. The amount is usually at the discretion of the department."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volunteer_fire_department
According to the National Fire Protection Association, 69 percent of firefighters in the United States are volunteers.[9] The National Volunteer Fire Council represents the fire and emergency services on a national level, providing advocacy, information, resources, and programs to support volunteer first responders. The NVFC includes 49 state-based firefighter associations such as the Firemen's Association of the State of New York (FASNY), which provides information, education and training for the volunteer fire and emergency medical services throughout New York State.







