this post was submitted on 10 Jun 2024
688 points (96.4% liked)

Showerthoughts

29839 readers
459 users here now

A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. A showerthought should offer a unique perspective on an ordinary part of life.

Rules

  1. All posts must be showerthoughts
  2. The entire showerthought must be in the title
  3. Avoid politics
    • 3.1) NEW RULE as of 5 Nov 2024, trying it out
    • 3.2) Political posts often end up being circle jerks (not offering unique perspective) or enflaming (too much work for mods).
    • 3.3) Try c/politicaldiscussion, volunteer as a mod here, or start your own community.
  4. Posts must be original/unique
  5. Adhere to Lemmy's Code of Conduct

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
quinten@lemmy.world
vatlark@lemmy.world
forkball@lemmy.world
Thekingoflorda@lemmy.world
688
Lemmy is like a public library of the internet: it's one of the few places where you can exist without the expectation of paying either through watching ads or through direct payments (lemmy.ml)
submitted 5 months ago by snek_boi@lemmy.ml to c/showerthoughts@lemmy.world
87 comments fedilink hide all child comments
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] TheRealKuni@lemmy.world 6 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Taxes are not direct payments and taxes would be collected regardless of the existence of libraries.

I dunno about where you live, but where I live libraries are funded by millage. We vote to fund the libraries specifically with a tax. So if we didn’t have the libraries, we wouldn’t pay that millage.

Taxes would still be collected, but not THAT tax.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Do you think you would pay any less in tax if there was no library?

[–] TheRealKuni@lemmy.world 6 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Again, where I live, yes. If we, as voters, decided not to approve the library millage, we would no longer pay that specific tax which funds the library.

The library would coast for a bit, but would eventually shut down unless we voted to start paying that tax again.

I know this is true because it literally happened a few towns over where a bunch of dipshits voted to stop funding their library over LGBTQ books. Fortunately the library was kept afloat by donations until a millage was eventually approved to keep it funded.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

a rate of 0.4119 mills

I would suggest that the tax cut in that case is so negligible as to be essentially nonexistent from a taxpayer's perspective.

[–] TheRealKuni@lemmy.world 7 points 5 months ago

Well, sure, but that’s not the point. I’m just saying the tax money that I pay to fund the library is something I specifically pay to fund the library. If we didn’t have the library, my taxes would be lower by the amount of my taxes that goes towards the library.

(Obviously, libraries are a fantastic use of tax money and I would never vote not to pay the meager amount I do to fund them.)