Where Do My Taxes Go?

One of the biggest debates between conservatives and liberals is the debate on whether to raise or lower taxes. As a citizen of a now conservative state, I have certain observations on state and local taxes and where they go. As a citizen, my impression on government is that it is designed to serve and protect the population which it governs; however, this does not seem the case. Very selfishly of me, I am going to discuss the organizations, regulations, laws, and other government run programs which do or do not serve me as a result of the taxes I pay.

One of the main focuses of taxes is to run the transportation of a given area. In York County countless road projects have been started and underway. I would normally argue that this is a positive constructive thing meant to serve the citizens of an area. The road "improvements" in York County have hardly been improvements, but instead they have made the means of transportation worse. Any construction project which has been started has not been thoroughly finished but instead has caused the roadways to be worse. The roads are patched unevenly and ruts are created. Popular streets like Philadelphia Street and even highways like Interstate 83 have been severely affected and have become nearly impossible to travel. Which brings us to the mass transportation of York County, Rabbit Transit.

Rabbit Transit is also an ineffective means of transportation. The bus routes are not only inconvenient but are also inexpensive and often off schedule. The tax money the citizens of this county pay are meant to provide public transportation which is to be used effectively. With the buses rarely on time, many citizens miss the bus not of their fault but of the organization's fault. This leaves citizens with a choice to purchase their own means of transportation (which will be destroyed by the poorly paved roadways) or take a means of transportation which is inefficient and unreliable.

Taxes also provide things like welfare, public housing, police forces, and other public works of that nature. Since I am not on welfare or public housing, this has little impact on me. I appreciate the socialization of certain programs and in fact encourage necessary programs such as these, but they must be monitored more closely. We are paying out massive amounts of unemployment and welfare money on people who are unwilling to make their own and instead become reliant on the state. It is important that if we are willing to provide services such as welfare that we monitor those who are receiving money.

Lastly, the police force in this area is ineffective in stopping any real crime. It has, however, become very adept to generating revenue for the state in the form of traffic violations and petty crime. There is a massive heroin epidemic surging through York County which the police forces have done very little to stop. This includes the use of the drug in local high schools. The numerous police forces of the area (frankly, a little too many unorganized, independent departments) are able to arbitrarily stop traffic offenders for going a few miles over the speed limit. In the society I would like to live in, I would prefer felony grade crimes to be a priority over traffic and summary violations.

Conclusively, the high state and local taxes are doing very little to help or encourage the everyday citizen living in the area. The only state program which benefited young people in Pennsylvania, educational grants, are being cut severely (53%) by our new governor. In colonial times there was a phrase "No taxation without representation", the fact of the matter is the everyday citizen has become inadequately represented by those in office and those running for office (a system which has been broke and seems like there is no way out). The consequences of this misrepresentation was revolution. Perhaps, the state and local governments ought to look more closely at the history and establishment of this country while making policies that are not beneficial to those they govern.

Alex Smith

The Irony of Higher Education in United States Society

Having recently joined the higher education community, I am beginning to notice certain problems with high education through my own personal experience. Student contributions in the classroom are not only on a decline as a result of students not participating, but are also a cause of the restrictions placed on students by professors. It has become disrespectful or deviant to challenge or question a professor's line of thinking or even the logic of their favorite thinker. Perhaps, student contribution has become rebellious and controversial for the sake of controversy or due to a lack of intellectual thinking, but a more likely view on this trend is the likelihood that a habituation has occurred where students have become docile in contributing and accepting professor's information as axioms and furthermore, the professors, themselves, have accepted the information they present as absolute. I wish to share with you my personal classroom experience within the last year to further develop this idea.

The classroom layout may be a large contributing factor to the higher education being in decline. In nearly all classes, a lecture setting has been established. There is one focal point - the lecturer and the material presented. It is a formal setting meant to mass produce students of the same mold. The lecture halls have become caverns of habituation and brainwashing. Looking at the concept of a lecture, there is one speaker and a room full of note-takers intent on every word spat worrying if this topic is on the midterm. The concept in itself encourages an authoritarian/submissive relationship between student and teacher. It is a one-way street of superiority. We have placed one thinker on a pedestal - or behind a lectern - and focus endlessly on one perspective and interpretation of history, literature, art, philosophy, English, history, or any other subject presented. How is this format problematic?

This relationship between student and teacher creates several problems. The first problem created by this relationship is the inability of students to grow into critical and analytic thinkers. It is a process of digestion. The students absorb information, digestion, and live according to this information without ever questioning why this is the way to exist. By doing this we create the next problem with is to perpetuate this relationship. As teachers retire, grow old, and die, there is but one way for new teachers to submit information to students which is the same broken cycle they experienced as students. The former students take the same unquestioned information provided and present it to new students in the same format as their teachers. The cycle of habituation is continued by students. Furthermore, if misinformation is provided (which does happen; believe me, I've been through it), we continue in a cycle where bad information is reused.

Considering the dangers of lecture driven classrooms, I encourage all students to discuss! Interact. Throw your opinion out there. Take the information and question it. Create your own interpretation based on fact not on a professor's opinion or thought.

Alex Smith.

Introduction to Idle Times

Welcome to Idle Times! This is a new blog (and certainly not an original idea since there are literally thousands upon thousands of these sites) for anyone to share opinions, thoughts, ideas, problems, or solutions to current issues of society.

Mission Statement: To create and develop a functional and free exchange of ideas and frustrations for those living society.

How Idle Times Works

Idle Times is a free exchange of information and ideas meant to spark discussion and education to a society which has no time for discussion or exchange. Anyone is free to submit to Idle Times via email Idle.Times.Submissions@gmail.com. It is my promise that all submissions will be published for discussion with no restrictions applied. I strongly urge all submissions be revised, so that this blog may in fact maintain a level of respectability and held to a high standard. All topics, discussions, ideas, and submissions are welcome for discussion. Please have a clear subject line as to the topic and author of the piece submitted, so that I can clearly determine the email as non-spam email. Lastly, as operate of this blog, I am not responsible for any posts submitted and do not take any credit or flak from any posts which I did not write (If you wish to be recognized for your submission, please mark the bottom with the name you wish to be presented; otherwise it will be marked anonymous or through your email address. If you do not want credit or your email address given out, please specify so in your submission.)

With all of that said, I leave the submissions up to you. I will also be participating in this blog, so I will see you on the page and look forward to reading and discussing!

Alex Smith, creator.