I think a balance is needed in these matters. Independence and resilience is good for the soul. It should always be the default. If everyone is gaming the system it collapses and if that happens the dependent are wiped out first.
But there is little point being a principled outsider when all it will do is impoverish you. The more government takes over the more we are foolish to not asset strip the system every time we are given the opportunity.
I don't know what the answer is except to assume these are all signs of an eventual slow collapse, which is inevitable with a bureaucratized state anyway.
These are good points but I am absolutely loathe to accept any government assistance or benefit not because I think it will transform me into a dependent but because I see it as potential legal leverage. Your homeschool program is a great example. You threaded the needle and got what you wanted out of the state but what about that off chance you incur the ire of the state? All of a sudden the arrangement you thought was above board becomes a potential crime in the states eyes. The same with Covid business loans or any other “program” a citizen has to seek out from the government. You may ultimately be vindicated in a hearing or trial but you’ll suffer plenty…
Absolutely there's a risk, and the acceptable amount of tolerance is going to be different for everyone. I don't blame people who don't want any part of it.
I do think finding the best situation for children’s educations within the system would definitely be one of those times where being creative and taking risks would definitely be merited!
Some people I know call it bleeding the beast. But I have a great aversion to deal with government in any capacity.
As a general contractor, the State, County and city demand I be up to date and copacetic with all regulations, which for the most part are make work for government employees, which rules become increasingly onerous with every passing year, making building and remodeling more expensive every year.
That is the slipperly slope, the more I accept the demands of government, the bigger and more powerful it grows.
My wife and I had twins who were extreme preemie. The little one weighed 1 pound 7 ounces at birth, had to have 3 surgeries his first week after birth and another surgery 4 months later. He was in the NICU for 6 months.
I'm middle class pushing toward UMC and my wife and I have a nice house in a good neighborhood.
My son's NICU bill was $4,500,000. His twin brother's bill was $500,000. My wife had to be in the hospital for 6 weeks before birth and had to have a procedure on the twins pre birth. Her total bill was $1,000,000.
We would've been completely financially ruined by this despite having good health insurance except a social worker took pity on us. She filled out the welfare forms in such a way to make my wife look like a poor oppressed single mom.
The state covered everything that insurance didn't. Plus we got WIC for like a year. We still have social workers checking in on us. Recently we found out that the twins are developmentally delayed on speech and need to start in a special school.
One time I did the very White thing of wondering if it was just that we received all this stuff. After all I don't want to be one of those takers. My wife said that I was just getting back what I paid for with all the high taxes we are charged. Which is the correct answer.
Plus let me tell why our bill was so high. In the NICU there were so many middle easterners with their inbred babies with who knows what genetic defects. There's the usual babies born addicted to drugs. One time there were these black people smoking pot, stinking up the NICU with Marijuana odor 20 feet from where my 4 month old son was recovering from a surgery.
There's so many losers soaking up services that its practically a sin not to do everything you can to get a rebate on the ridiculous taxes you and your loved ones pay.
When I heard the government wanted to give me $300 a month to spend on groceries and required basically no supporting proof other than my driver's license... It was tough but I said yes. I consider it a refund for everything i've already paid in.
It's a very slippery slope once you get on the government tit
Back in the 1980s, my friend worked on the factory floor at the slowly declining General Motors. He gladly latched on to whatever loopholes and compensation the union had gotten for them. But at the same time, it was hard to get the union leaders to care much about the rank and file. They spent a lot of time playing golf with GM executives.
The State of Michigan has very lax homeschool laws, and there are a few virtual academies set up that take part-time students.
My understanding is the local Church applied for specific classes, gave the CV of the instructor to prove competency (this did not require a teaching degree), and worked with a rep for approval. Every teacher has to have the same background check as public school teachers though. On approval, the designated rep oversees the school to ensure it's following protocol directly.
There was one similar setup that got shut down a couple years back for being too overtly religious in instruction, but our teachers are open about the faith. I'm not sure if they got a bad draw for a rep or they tried to turn classes into a version of Vacation Bible School. There are tradeoffs.
Wow. All this time I thought the summer EBT cards for the kids in online classes was just a California thing. We had a similar quandary over getting them, but also thought about the property taxes, sales tax, utility bills, and other forms of revenue required to pay to live in this modern society and decided to use the cards for household groceries.
I think a balance is needed in these matters. Independence and resilience is good for the soul. It should always be the default. If everyone is gaming the system it collapses and if that happens the dependent are wiped out first.
But there is little point being a principled outsider when all it will do is impoverish you. The more government takes over the more we are foolish to not asset strip the system every time we are given the opportunity.
I don't know what the answer is except to assume these are all signs of an eventual slow collapse, which is inevitable with a bureaucratized state anyway.
These are good points but I am absolutely loathe to accept any government assistance or benefit not because I think it will transform me into a dependent but because I see it as potential legal leverage. Your homeschool program is a great example. You threaded the needle and got what you wanted out of the state but what about that off chance you incur the ire of the state? All of a sudden the arrangement you thought was above board becomes a potential crime in the states eyes. The same with Covid business loans or any other “program” a citizen has to seek out from the government. You may ultimately be vindicated in a hearing or trial but you’ll suffer plenty…
Absolutely there's a risk, and the acceptable amount of tolerance is going to be different for everyone. I don't blame people who don't want any part of it.
I do think finding the best situation for children’s educations within the system would definitely be one of those times where being creative and taking risks would definitely be merited!
Some people I know call it bleeding the beast. But I have a great aversion to deal with government in any capacity.
As a general contractor, the State, County and city demand I be up to date and copacetic with all regulations, which for the most part are make work for government employees, which rules become increasingly onerous with every passing year, making building and remodeling more expensive every year.
That is the slipperly slope, the more I accept the demands of government, the bigger and more powerful it grows.
When dealing with some regulatory busybodies, malicious compliance is an effective way of getting people with too much time off your back.
My wife and I had twins who were extreme preemie. The little one weighed 1 pound 7 ounces at birth, had to have 3 surgeries his first week after birth and another surgery 4 months later. He was in the NICU for 6 months.
I'm middle class pushing toward UMC and my wife and I have a nice house in a good neighborhood.
My son's NICU bill was $4,500,000. His twin brother's bill was $500,000. My wife had to be in the hospital for 6 weeks before birth and had to have a procedure on the twins pre birth. Her total bill was $1,000,000.
We would've been completely financially ruined by this despite having good health insurance except a social worker took pity on us. She filled out the welfare forms in such a way to make my wife look like a poor oppressed single mom.
The state covered everything that insurance didn't. Plus we got WIC for like a year. We still have social workers checking in on us. Recently we found out that the twins are developmentally delayed on speech and need to start in a special school.
One time I did the very White thing of wondering if it was just that we received all this stuff. After all I don't want to be one of those takers. My wife said that I was just getting back what I paid for with all the high taxes we are charged. Which is the correct answer.
Plus let me tell why our bill was so high. In the NICU there were so many middle easterners with their inbred babies with who knows what genetic defects. There's the usual babies born addicted to drugs. One time there were these black people smoking pot, stinking up the NICU with Marijuana odor 20 feet from where my 4 month old son was recovering from a surgery.
There's so many losers soaking up services that its practically a sin not to do everything you can to get a rebate on the ridiculous taxes you and your loved ones pay.
Brutal. I'm glad it turned out okay for you.
When I heard the government wanted to give me $300 a month to spend on groceries and required basically no supporting proof other than my driver's license... It was tough but I said yes. I consider it a refund for everything i've already paid in.
It's a very slippery slope once you get on the government tit
Back in the 1980s, my friend worked on the factory floor at the slowly declining General Motors. He gladly latched on to whatever loopholes and compensation the union had gotten for them. But at the same time, it was hard to get the union leaders to care much about the rank and file. They spent a lot of time playing golf with GM executives.
Great read. Can I ask more about your school set-up? I'm in Canada, I dont know if there are any structures like this.
The State of Michigan has very lax homeschool laws, and there are a few virtual academies set up that take part-time students.
My understanding is the local Church applied for specific classes, gave the CV of the instructor to prove competency (this did not require a teaching degree), and worked with a rep for approval. Every teacher has to have the same background check as public school teachers though. On approval, the designated rep oversees the school to ensure it's following protocol directly.
There was one similar setup that got shut down a couple years back for being too overtly religious in instruction, but our teachers are open about the faith. I'm not sure if they got a bad draw for a rep or they tried to turn classes into a version of Vacation Bible School. There are tradeoffs.
For Canada, I have no clue what is in place.
Wow. All this time I thought the summer EBT cards for the kids in online classes was just a California thing. We had a similar quandary over getting them, but also thought about the property taxes, sales tax, utility bills, and other forms of revenue required to pay to live in this modern society and decided to use the cards for household groceries.