From: Michael Gillman (tootallmike@hotmail.com)
Date: Wed Aug 24 2005 - 03:56:52 PDT
Apologies to those who consider this OT but I think it’s very interesting to hear the views of people living elsewhere. For instance I am amazed that anyone in the US could consider their fuel prices to be high, but it’s all a matter of perspective - I have a friend who works in the UAE who drives a Ford Explorer. It takes him 5mins to fill the tank and costs a fraction of what even the Americans are paying.
Now ask yourself this question: if your government was absolutely transparent and you agreed 100% with where your taxes were to be spent, would you then be happy to pay them ? Judging by your comments, I suspect not, but consider not just your personal short-term benefits but also the long-term consequences for your country. How long do you think the US economy would last if everyone suddenly decided not to pay all their taxes?
I do object to some of the ways in which my tax money is spent or wasted, but as I stated before, if they take it off fuel, they’ll put it onto something else.
The original question was along the lines of “how much would it cost to go for a drive out in an M35?” and my answer remains that regardless of what it costs, you’ll find a way to do it if you want to. I’m on a low budget as well because foolishly I chose a job I enjoy rather than one which pays well but I have taken decisions regarding my lifestyle which allow me to afford to run trucks. I too am as tight as a duck’s a*se because I have to be to afford what I enjoy doing.
By "if you love your hobby enough you'll pay whatever it costs." I simply meant that if you feel your vehicles are costing too much to run, sell up and find another hobby. I am not saying this to be offensive so much as realistic. I often think I’d be much better off collecting stamps! However, I honestly do not consider this to be an expensive hobby – I know people who spend a lot more than me on CDs, clothes, computers, football season tickets etc.
What ho, toodle pip, top hole and all that.
Best regards - Mike
From: "Employee at MILVEHCO" <milveh@dslextreme.com>
To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
Subject: [MV] Fuel costs, observations, UK - USA
Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2005 10:41:09 -0700 (PDT)
>A list member from the UK recently wrote, "if you love your hobby enough
>you'll pay whatever it costs." And I'm sure every Royal would agree with
>you too, damned the costs, full speed ahead! Wished I had the luxury of
>being able to say that, but I'm on a farmer's budget and we tend to be
>real tight when it comes to spending.
>
>He also noted as a patriotic duty, "I consider it to be part of my
>responsibility as a good citizen to pay my taxes. I choose to live in this
>country so I accept the rules." In America we tend to feel it's our
>patriotic duty "NOT" to pay taxes, least whenever we can avoid it! Thus
>the old saying, "The income tax has made more liars out of the American's
>than golf!"
>
>The American taxpayer's logic is simple: If you give government a dollar,
>they'll spend two. So we try to avoid giving them money. We've not had
>a lot of luck with this considering we work 190 days a year on average to
>pay them. Despite this depressing situation, we remain determined not to
>become co-dependant with those addicted to spending our tax money...that
>includes gasoline taxes. Someone once said, "tax money for lawmakers is
>like Viagra for sex addicts!" and I might ad we're tired of getting
>screwed!
>
>The notion that it's right to question government's tax spending stems
>from a situation back in the late 1700's...something about King George III
>imposing taxes without consent and without due representation. It worked
>pretty well at the time too!
>
>Speaking of poor representation, a few days ago our government admitted
>they either lost or misplaced 32,000 vehicles we (taxpayers) bought for
>them. They just can't account for them either through paper work or
>physically searching. Possibly one or two of them are owned by list
>members? Well, whatever happened they are gone and it's things like this
>that cause us to resist further taxation and why our gasoline tax runs
>about .86 cents per gallon and your's in the UK is about 600% higher.
>
>You might consider adopting the American philosophy on taxes...just a
>thought.
>
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