Poor Man Survival
Self
Reliance tools for independent minded people…
ISSN
2161-5543
A Digest of Urban Survival Resources
"One of the sad signs of
our times is that
we have demonized those who produce,
subsidized those who refuse to produce,
and canonized those who complain."
-- Thomas Sowell
It’s all about the Benjamins
I opened my garbage collection bill
this week and see their ‘fuel surcharge’ of $6 was still in place. This ‘fee’ has been included for over a year
despite low fuel prices…I asked about it when I sent my last payment in and
guess what? ZERO response. Like most of corporate America, greed drives
their need. Lower fuel prices HAVE NOT
reduced airfares, grocery prices or much of anything else.
Why?
Because the only thing that drives
Wall Street and the government is greed.
In the case of the government, they are the only ones who still offer
generous wage and retirement benefit packages and as a consequence, they remain
one of the few bastions of middle class jobs.
The shrinking social contract
between consumers/taxpayers and their feudal lords have been steadily shrinking
for years.
Let’s use fuel stations as an
example. In the 1950s, 1960s and much of
the 1970s fuel was cheap. When I was a
toddler, I recall seeing ‘gas war’ prices of 10 and 12 cents a gallon! Now, the
state and federal taxes are four times that and they
can’t seem to keep the roads in good repair.
SIDEBAR:
Many government
entities are seeking new ways to gouge the public even further with EZPass
tolls and some are considering a new tax based on how many miles you drive.
Corporate America is
on the hunt for new ways to relieve taxpayers of their cash and privacy
including telematic devices to compile records of your driving habits, putting
black boxes in all vehicles, and license plate scanning technology which has
already compiled more 2 billion entries into a national database with more than
70 million license plate photos being added monthly!
Oddly enough in those days gas
stations were full service. High School
kids could find work at the stations pumping the fuel, checking your oil, and
cleaning your wind shield…AND most stations had giveaways such as road maps,
glasses, Green Stamps, and more. They
also offered FREE air to fill your tires with.
All of that of course is gone today
and yet the oil companies reap huge profits every year.
How is it they could make a profit
then and still offer SERVICE? Now they
are pushers of junk food and beer while parking their profits offshore in order
to avoid US taxes. [Corporations used to
pay the bulk of US taxes but they managed to buy enough politicians to shift
the burden to the middle class family].
SIDEBAR:
Research conducted by
independent bodies and by the Federal Highway Administration has found that
red-light cameras end up causing more accidents.
In some states, state transportation funds are used to fund red-light cameras
in large urban areas.
But the revenue from fines stay in the cities where the cameras are located.
One more example of taxpayer bailout of incompetently managed inner cities!
Some
Good News to Report
The good news is that citizens have gotten wise
to the red-light camera scam and have come up with some interesting ways to
challenge the authorities. Check out the website for details of how
to fight these tickets and how to avoid getting them in the first
Has
Peak Food Production Finally Hit?
13 Tips to Avoid a Data
Breach
There are steps you can take to minimize the odds of being breached. There are
also steps you can take to help ensure you don't suffer any consequences,
should thieves get their hands on your data.
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