| Topic: |
Sociology > Depression |
| User: |
"lisa in mass." |
| Date: |
15 Jul 2003 11:48:01 PM |
| Object: |
town meeting |
we had a special town meeting tonight. joe talked me into going.
it had been a long time since i showed my face in town hall,
aside from election days. apparently, people were wondering if i
was even alive.
it was a long and frustrating meeting. we need to appropriate
more money for the schools and to buy a new firetruck. this was
the informational meeting prior to the vote next week. once
again, it pitted the old people against the younger, the
lifelong residents vs those who came forty years ago and those
who came last year. the real problems stemmed from our governor
withholding necessary funds, but we took out our frustrations on
each other.
some things don't change. harold finally died, but ralph seems
all too happy to take his place as cantankerous old-timer who
thinks we shouldn't pay anything for anything. 'if you need a
new firetruck (to replace the 1963 pumper), why don't you take
out a personal loan and maybe the town can pay you back a little
at a time?' 'why bother fixing the elementary school's roof?
just give up on that building. this town hall has been here
since 1930, and the building next to it's from 1790 and they're
fine, so the kids should just come here.' we had disgruntled
people from the school complaining that too many kids are being
sent by their parents to other high schools, others complaining
that maybe we wouldn't if anyone told us what was going on at
the high school, and yet others complaining about all the
complaining.
the worst of all, though, is that only about 25 people attended.
there may well be several hundred votes next week, and most of
those people have no idea what the issues are. i worry about how
many will simply vote down new taxes with no knowledge of the
cost. i worry that our elementary school, which has 9 classroom
teachers, will have 6 next year. they won't know that school
programs are already cut to where there is no more fat. no field
trips, no more nightly vacuuming to stop the mold spores from
proliferating, we won't even have a nurse at school most of the
time. there's nothing left to cut, except staff. too many people
might shrug and say that with the money the school has, they can
manage. they just don't know, and didn't care enough to find
out.
tonight's meeting was awful, as usual. it was long, tedious,
annoying at best. but i'm glad i went.
-lisa
.
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| User: "Joe User" |
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| Title: Re: town meeting |
17 Jul 2003 11:54:17 PM |
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lisa in mass. wrote:
it was a long and frustrating meeting. we need to appropriate
more money for the schools and to buy a new firetruck. this was
the informational meeting prior to the vote next week. once
again, it pitted the old people against the younger, the
lifelong residents vs those who came forty years ago and those
who came last year.
OMG, a real town meeting, I dont' bother with local politics, since I'm
never local that long, but still it's facinating, exactly what you said.
Have the old established players trying to preserve their equity and pay as
little as possible
Old people vs. Young People
Etc, etc.
I guess that's why I always live in communities that have the same
demographics as me, more or less, the simple difference are just impossible
to get past. Like people with children vs. people without
retirees vs. non-retirees.
Local Yokal vs. Transiants with money, etc.
the real problems stemmed from our governor
withholding necessary funds, but we took out our frustrations on
each other.
But is that just pushing the problems up a level? The same problems exist,
they are just bigger. If a local community can not work throguh their
differences, the state/federal goverment shouldn't even try.
some things don't change. harold finally died, but ralph seems
all too happy to take his place as cantankerous old-timer who
thinks we shouldn't pay anything for anything. 'if you need a
new firetruck (to replace the 1963 pumper), why don't you take
out a personal loan and maybe the town can pay you back a little
at a time?
Man, that's the age old problem of, "If I don't pay, the others will still
pay, and I can get free services", classic
' 'why bother fixing the elementary school's roof?
just give up on that building. this town hall has been here
since 1930, and the building next to it's from 1790 and they're
fine, so the kids should just come here.'
Oh that's a classic old geezer comment, he got a free ride from his parents
(or grand parents) but you probably got the "fixed income" argument. Gawd I
hate old people, maybe we should just cut off his social security, it will
go bankrupt long before I could ever retire, and even if it didn't, I don't
need it:P
Thus, why should I pay *MY* money to support a walking talking corpse,
that's long outlived it's usefulness and an ungreatful one at that.
we had disgruntled
people from the school complaining that too many kids are being
sent by their parents to other high schools, others complaining
that maybe we wouldn't if anyone told us what was going on at
the high school, and yet others complaining about all the
complaining.
LOL
the worst of all, though, is that only about 25 people attended.
there may well be several hundred votes next week, and most of
those people have no idea what the issues are. i worry about how
many will simply vote down new taxes with no knowledge of the
cost.
That's why democracy today doesn't work, it's a I'm going to get mine today,
at whatever the long term price.
Old people are the absolute worse since they no longer think about the
future, like i said, walking corpses who's sole mission in life is to ensure
they can live as comfrontably not working as humanly possible, so what we
sold 3 generations and counting down the river I worked hard for 30 years, I
deserve the public assistance for the next 30 (after the free 15 year ride
from Mom and Dad).
In short, they work 1/3 of their life, and complain endlessly about it
(while the rest of us will spend ATLEAST 2/3 of our lives working, along
with paying off their debt)
OK, I hijacked you to ***** about how much I hate old people.
i worry that our elementary school, which has 9 classroom
teachers, will have 6 next year. they won't know that school
programs are already cut to where there is no more fat. no field
trips, no more nightly vacuuming to stop the mold spores from
proliferating, we won't even have a nurse at school most of the
time. there's nothing left to cut, except staff. too many people
might shrug and say that with the money the school has, they can
manage. they just don't know, and didn't care enough to find
out.
This is how I look at it, many people have children, and they want everyone
to pay for *thier* child's education, that's fine, but it comes at a price,
if I have to support your brats, you have to support my brats, that's the
social contract.
Now for those that don't have kids, they have a legitimate *****, It is
primarily the responsiblity of parents to look out for their children, both
individualy, and collectivly as those who bring children into the world. I
made a choice not to, I don't mind paying something, but I will not and
should not pay as much as those who choose to breed.
.
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| User: "yuluwirri" |
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| Title: Re: town meeting |
17 Jul 2003 02:59:01 PM |
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x-no-archive: yes
On 16 Jul 2003 04:48:01 GMT, "lisa in mass." <mccats@rcn.com> wrote:
we had a special town meeting tonight. joe talked me into going.
it had been a long time since i showed my face in town hall,
aside from election days. apparently, people were wondering if i
was even alive.
it was a long and frustrating meeting. we need to appropriate
more money for the schools and to buy a new firetruck. this was
the informational meeting prior to the vote next week. once
again, it pitted the old people against the younger, the
lifelong residents vs those who came forty years ago and those
who came last year. the real problems stemmed from our governor
withholding necessary funds, but we took out our frustrations on
each other.
some things don't change. harold finally died, but ralph seems
all too happy to take his place as cantankerous old-timer who
thinks we shouldn't pay anything for anything. 'if you need a
new firetruck (to replace the 1963 pumper), why don't you take
out a personal loan and maybe the town can pay you back a little
at a time?' 'why bother fixing the elementary school's roof?
just give up on that building. this town hall has been here
since 1930, and the building next to it's from 1790 and they're
fine, so the kids should just come here.' we had disgruntled
people from the school complaining that too many kids are being
sent by their parents to other high schools, others complaining
that maybe we wouldn't if anyone told us what was going on at
the high school, and yet others complaining about all the
complaining.
the worst of all, though, is that only about 25 people attended.
there may well be several hundred votes next week, and most of
those people have no idea what the issues are. i worry about how
many will simply vote down new taxes with no knowledge of the
cost. i worry that our elementary school, which has 9 classroom
teachers, will have 6 next year. they won't know that school
programs are already cut to where there is no more fat. no field
trips, no more nightly vacuuming to stop the mold spores from
proliferating, we won't even have a nurse at school most of the
time. there's nothing left to cut, except staff. too many people
might shrug and say that with the money the school has, they can
manage. they just don't know, and didn't care enough to find
out.
tonight's meeting was awful, as usual. it was long, tedious,
annoying at best. but i'm glad i went.
I'm proud of you that you went Lisa. Sounds like a rough night though.
:/
-lisa
--
yuluwirri
~~~~~~~
Fish know.
~~~~~~~
yuluwirri@hotmail.com
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| User: "lisa in mass." |
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| Title: Re: town meeting |
17 Jul 2003 10:33:52 PM |
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yuluwirri wrote...
I'm proud of you that you went Lisa. Sounds like a rough
night though.
:/
it was hard physically, but mostly it was long and frustrating.
it would have finished in one quarter the time had people there
not been so predictably stupid.
-lisa
.
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