My sister was in South Carolina recently and everyone there said hi and was very friendly. She tried to do the same when she returned to California and no one wanted to reciprocate.
Tennessee income tax ban
- Thread starter charlesmartel
- Start date
My sister was in South Carolina recently and everyone there said hi and was very friendly. She tried to do the same when she returned to California and no one wanted to reciprocate.
ZuzanaDesigns
All Your Design Needs
I have heard Canadians are all super friendly like it is in the south
I would love to visit.. Funny you say that about holding doors because that's another thing people do here that weirded me out a little until I got use to it. They will see you 20 feet away and hold it open for you. It's awesome. Letting you out in traffic is another thing people do. You will not wait 2 cars before someone does. I was in upstate NY a few months back and it took me 20 mins to get out in traffic because no one would let me pull out. If you go into a restaurant or bar the people at the establishment act like they went to high school with you and in 10 minutes people are buying you drinks and telling you about their family's and the next weekend you are all barbecuing together. I didn't feel this so much in Nashville but people are still unbelievably friendly. I guess it is just the south in general.
ZuzanaDesigns
All Your Design Needs
SC and NC are pretty friendly as well. In Cali nobody wants anything to do with each other and will look at you weird if you just start going around waving at everyone.
I live in Greenville, SC - love it here. Huge talent pool and a lot of startup activity too, Elon Musk's Founders Institute picked here to have a chapter over several other cities like Atlanta etc.
Just want to chime in about the south being awesome. Living in Mayberry (Mount Airy), North Carolina right now.
As someone who lives in Southern California, here's my perspective...
Everyone is pitching.
The homeless guy asks me for money. The soccer mom asks for my help in reaching grocery items on high shelves.* The Christian twenty-something at the coffee joint wants to convert me.**
When I see a stranger, I assume s/he wants to pitch me. So I ignore.
* One lady actually admitted she wanted my help so she didn't mess up her hair. I declined. lol
** To be fair, he just wants to invite me to his small bible study. He's using the slow-burn approach rather than the hard sell (e.g. "You're going to burn, man!").
There has never been an income tax in TN. Not to mention that this article is from 2014!!!!
ZuzanaDesigns
All Your Design Needs
Great perspective and I agree with it all. The religious brainwashed freaks are the scariest ones to me. California is far too busy and needy for me. That's why I got out of California as soon as I could and went into the Army at 18.
Contradicting humans! We all want
Clean water
Good roads
Effective law enforcement
Timely state services
Good and free elementary and high schools
ETC
But you better keep my taxes very low. Something must give. I personally hate taxes but that's due to my intense private nature and lifestyle.
Trust me, Americans will scream if all the free shit is removed from circulation. Who's going to take care of your old age parents, and do you think you'll be protected from all the hungry kids with no food because of no food stamps.
Politicians will find other ways to get the money because most people are clueless about all the taxes levied by the state.
Check your cable bill to see more taxes
Check your utility bill to see more taxes
Motor vehicle fees
Real estate transaction fees
ETC.
Clean water
Good roads
Effective law enforcement
Timely state services
Good and free elementary and high schools
ETC
But you better keep my taxes very low. Something must give. I personally hate taxes but that's due to my intense private nature and lifestyle.
Trust me, Americans will scream if all the free shit is removed from circulation. Who's going to take care of your old age parents, and do you think you'll be protected from all the hungry kids with no food because of no food stamps.
Politicians will find other ways to get the money because most people are clueless about all the taxes levied by the state.
Check your cable bill to see more taxes
Check your utility bill to see more taxes
Motor vehicle fees
Real estate transaction fees
ETC.
If I make an extra $100k a year, my utility bills don't up. Neither does my cable bill.
Also, you should take care of your parents as they age and charity will take care of the poor.
Taxation socializes costs. For example, I own a home and pay property taxes, but don't make use of local schools. Local schools are paid for, in large part, by property taxes. The cost is borne by all of us homeowners.
Wouldn't it be simpler to pay for the products and services we use?
For example, I'm in Southern California and use the 405 once every 6 months. Meanwhile, many commuters travel the 405 every day. Why should I pay the same amount of taxes for maintenance of the 405? The people who use it should pay for it.
I pay for the meat I consume.
I pay for the gadgets I use.
I pay for the haircuts I receive.
I pay for my Netflix bill.
In other words, I pay for the products and services I use. I don't think I should have to pay for the products and services others use.
You may be right.
But most people are intellectually inconsistent and morally bankrupt. Their perspective is dubious at best.
I agree with you, but people have been conditioned over decades to expect others to pay for stuff.
Personally I dislike all the govt programs that are designed to keep people on the doe. You get more money as you have more kids.
My point is that the govt tax system is designed to screw the less fortunate with a regular job.
You pay for access to roads, not for one certain road.
If one road gets huge traffic, it will receive more funding since more people use it.
No one charges you "per movie" in Netflix. How fair it is for people to pay same price, while watching different number of movies?
Not trying to be devils advocate, but actually this system is fair (with loadz of space for improvement) as trying to charge "users of the road" per "usage"would create huge bureaucracy and place for corruption/manipulation.
That's been working well for Mexico right? lol People who can afford school get it, those who can't end up life long unskilled peasants.
It would be interesting to see the lifetime earnings (and thus tax revenue) difference between kids that don't have any education, not even elementary (if parent's couldn't afford it) vs the minimal education we currently provide.
I don't want kids, don't mind the taxes that go to it. Our taxes on our house are $3500/year.
I don't know where you live but in CA it doesn't work that way. A road gets more traffic and nothing happens. Traffic is actually created by government. It's because there's no pricing mechanism. The gas tax you pay has no relation to the roads you use or the time you use them.
If roads were privately owned, there would less traffic as tolls would rise as traffic increases. Traffic as we know it would not exist. Our roads are like the post office. No matter how many people get in line, they don't open another window. Have you ever waited in line for 20 minutes at a grocery store. I doubt it. Grocery stores know they would lose business if long lines persisted. That's why they open more lines. If there's traffic on the road, the parasites in charge get the same amount of money.
Hmm.. Public education is mandatory in Mexico through the 9th grade.
Education in Mexico - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Plus, you're stuck in an 18th century mindset like most people. It doesn't take 12 years to teach people how to read, do math, and write. Gov't education is largely babysitting and it kills the desire to learn in a lot of kids. Today, you can get a cheap computer and an Internet connection and teach your kids more than they'll learn in most schools. I know that I learned a lot more out of school than in school. Kids are naturally curious. Forced schooling destroys that curiosity for many.
I dont live in one certain place, but been long term to places where roads are privately owned (in Europe) and this sucks so bad.
The issue is that road is not a shop. If you do not like it, it is not easy to just change it. Unless you are OK to drive an extra 100-200 kilometers, or pick shitty secondary roads.
People will stop using it? Never enough to put road owner in to the trouble. And even if they start seeing no profits for more than month, they will just decrease prices or run some promo and they are back in business.
20 minutes waiting? I don't think I have waited that long in any tool bridge in Europe (not included accidents and other random stuff that wasnt in any way fault of highway management company). Every 4-5 years, right before election all the issues get fixed anyways to buy votes. Since there is more than 2 parties in most parliaments here even shitty politicians need to please voters and open an extra line in highway or install stopless tool bridge.
It's hard to compare current day toll roads to what would exist in a free market. Today's toll roads are more like monopoly toll roads. You can't just open a road like you can a grocery store, even if you have the money to buy the land. There's lots of permitting, taxpayer subsidies, bribing, etc that needs to be done. It's almost impossible.
In Texas there are double-decker freeways. I have never seen that anywhere else. Traffic in Los Angeles is busy all day long, even Sunday night. There's no incentive to expand the roads or build a second deck.
One of the main arteries leading into Seattle is the 520 bridge, which was free for decades, but recently the state gave rights to a toll company to manage it. It's $5.40 each way during rush hour and adjusts price every 15 minutes. If you buy a pre-paid pass, it's 50% discount. If your account gets to $0 the company charges an extra $5 to charge another $30 to your card on file, for you.
There's a free bridge 5 miles south, except if you live north of the city, you have to drive through the city (30 -45 mins during rush hour on I-5), take the I-90 free bridge, which is packed, then you have to drive north through another big city, Bellevue, which can take 30 mins, then get back on 520 outside the toll area and take the first exit to get to my job. lol The toll bridge closes often for maintenance, and everyone is forced to I-90, I'll just not go to work for a few hours if 520 is closed.
I work from 11am - 8-9pm to avoid the parking lot the toll bridge becomes during rush hours as 40k Microsoft + others employees migrate to/from Redmond/Bellevue back to Seattle.
The toll has raised so much money that they're expanding it to the carpool lane on another highway. You pay to drive in 1 lane, or sit in the worst traffic in the country. lol
You can bet most truckers take the free route.
There's a free bridge 5 miles south, except if you live north of the city, you have to drive through the city (30 -45 mins during rush hour on I-5), take the I-90 free bridge, which is packed, then you have to drive north through another big city, Bellevue, which can take 30 mins, then get back on 520 outside the toll area and take the first exit to get to my job. lol The toll bridge closes often for maintenance, and everyone is forced to I-90, I'll just not go to work for a few hours if 520 is closed.
I work from 11am - 8-9pm to avoid the parking lot the toll bridge becomes during rush hours as 40k Microsoft + others employees migrate to/from Redmond/Bellevue back to Seattle.
The toll has raised so much money that they're expanding it to the carpool lane on another highway. You pay to drive in 1 lane, or sit in the worst traffic in the country. lol
You can bet most truckers take the free route.