Mastodawn

They pay $34 for burgers. Should their fire department service be free? Opening a new fire department in one of NYC's richest neighborhoods has some of America's pettiest journalists asking silly questions in headlines again.🤡

The article acknowledges the fire department analogy, then blows past it.🤷🏿‍♂️

The solve for "Sometimes when a service like free childcare is available to all, marginalized communities get squeezed out," is "Address that racism."

It's not "Therefore waste incredible amounts of time and money trying to means test something that society should just make available to all.🤡"

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Laura "Tegan" Gjovaag ⛈ 🐸12h ago

@mekkaokereke
When school lunch programs throw out the "who deserves to get free lunches?" and just provide for every child, the entire program is cheaper due to the lack of an enforcement layer, all children get fed, and children learn more and pay attention better.

Being overly concerned that someone might get something they don't "deserve" usually ends up screwing over the ones who need help most.

We're supposed to "promote the general welfare" of the public - not gate-keep who gets help.

Trying to carve out a "special" class who are entitled to school lunch has always been a foolish approach that just adds layers of expensive policing that INEVITABLY wind up costing more than they save, and preventing some number of eligible students from getting serviced.

Unfortunately, some people are always more focused on the remote or insignificant risk of cheaters, than they are on make sure that they are servicing those who need it

Just make it free to all

@mekkaokereke

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wakejagr 10h ago

@screwturn @realtegan @mekkaokereke

Yup. School lunch should be free for all.

Want to make sure that people who make more than some arbitrary amount don't get freebies? Tax the rich.

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Humphrey Archer 10h ago

@wakejagr

School lunch
Education
Public transit
Basic healthcare

Should all be free at point of use

@realtegan @mekkaokereke

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Laura "Tegan" Gjovaag ⛈ 🐸10h ago

@screwturn @wakejagr @mekkaokereke

Life = Basic healthcare, school lunch
Liberty = Public transit
Pursuit of Happiness = Education

And so on. You can map the basics to the preamble and come up with a good list of things that Promote the General Welfare of the people and should be free at point of use in order to make a more perfect union.

Not everything should be free, but providing the basics should be the main purpose of a good government.