Germany has good roads, and I think that’s a good thing. They improve fuel efficiency and make my life easier. The schools are pretty okay too – not perfect, but good enough, and this matters because everyone should have a decent education. And not just because it’s fair, but also for selfish reasons: I have to deal with people and I’d rather they not be stupid. When I had pneumonia, I’m glad I got to stay in a clean hospital with doctors and nurses who knew what they were doing.
All of this stuff is funded by tax money, and I want this stuff, so I pay taxes. I really don’t get people who whine about having to pay for the services they enjoy. So I have zero sympathy for Not-Joe the Not-a-plumber who’s afraid of socialism because he might have to pay taxes on his $250,000 a year. Dude, my husband’s a hot-shot university professor (a real one), and I’ll never see a quarter of a mil.
And I was pleased to read that Klaus Zumwinkel is going to be charged for tax evasion. I hope he gets more than a slap on the wrist – y’all know how I feel about the whole Liechtenstein tax evasion thing. I know “they all do it” – that just means they’re all worthless wastes of skin. I suppose it could be argued that the have-nots may be justified in ducking their responsibility and leaving normal people* to pick up the slack – but the have-a-lots have no excuse.
*Normal = getting by on less than six figures and somehow surviving without private jets and $1,000-a-bottle champagne.
Really, where does anyone get this idea that money somehow exempts you from responsibility? If anything, it should mean you have more responsibility. It used to mean that.
It’s fortunate that I’ll never meet one of the super-rich, because I don’t think I’d be able to resist slapping them.
Song du jour of the day: Please Mr. Postman, by the Marvelettes.
(note on the title: for those who don’t speak German, zum = to the; Winkel = corner. Although technically it’s an outside corner, not an inside corner, which is an Ecke, I still think it’s a funny name.)
alala 
November 27th, 2008 at 22:18
Can I use that name for a really bad character, or have you got dibs on it?
November 27th, 2008 at 23:34
Well, you can use it, but he is a real person, so you might get sued. Don’t worry, though, I can come up with freaky German names for days.