Close to home: I saw one guy threatening another guy with a knife. Called 911, the police showed up really quickly de-escalated the conflict, kept everyone safe, while also assuring that nobody needed to go to jail over a resolved issue.
As for me: Kept the roads rolling. Ensured cargo planes arrive on time and safely. Managed a network of trade deals that ensures coffee is relatively cheap, accessible, and plentiful. Kept wages at grocery stores sufficient that I do not feel I am oppressing them by going to a shop. Protected the water in my pipes, and the electricity in my wires.
I've no idea how many departments are required to keep me in coffee, but it is higher than I am estimating.
Funded the Grapevine highway interchange with stimulus money in 2009.
There are four highways and two busy roads that all converge in Grapevine, TX. And getting from one highway to another was awful. Plans to build giant highway interchange that had been on the back-burner until it got funded by the stimulus.
Now it's done (apart from one chunk that was delayed by flooding), and it's terrific.
That's a....long list. I know how infrastructure works. So, besides having waste disposal, electric, and water options, interstate freeways, and the right to put a Black Lives Matter sign in my yard...
More specifically? Low-interest student loans, a really good rate on a mortgage, sweet tax breaks on what interest I did pay on student loans and said mortgage, made legal the right for me to marry a lady in the future should I ever want to (I hope it never comes to that but the future is uncertain and humans are fragile) (for those that don't know me well and are reading this, I'm pansexual and currently married to a man, otherwise that last statement sounds a little weird), the Recovery Act did awesome things for my mom, Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, ACA re: birth control (sigh, RIP ACA). Others I'm forgetting, probably.
I also started working for a state/federal funded research University this year. So, employment, health care, etc. I mean, a large part of this sweet deal is my union, but that union is also empowered by the government, so.
Oh, yeah, I collected a month's worth of unemployment checks.
My mother has been on and off disability for years (schizophrenia, congestive heart failure).
My grandparents were able to afford care at home, so they both passed away in their bed, at home. Grandpa lived out his hospice, at home. Wouldn't have been possible without Medicaid. Well, might have been, but they were able to pass the house and a small trust fund along to my mom to take care of her after they died as well. To be fair, this is also because they live in California, which has better Medicaid than most states, but I know at least part of that is federally funded.
The naked Xray wouldn't even be so bad (I mean psychologically violating but at least not physically so much). However, it is designed for normalized average bodies, and so anyone who deviates from average (people of size, people with implants and prosthetics, and I assume trans folks who are untransitioned etc) are automatically flagged for invasive searches even if they don't trigger the normal alarms. It's kind of a double down on marginalization.
Kelley Vanda If I think about it shallowly, the list is pretty narrow. If I think about it with any sort of due diligence, it is neverending, too.
The allergy meds that let me live without constant headaches and nosebleeds went generic, and is now as cheap as ibuprofen. I know generics are safe, because FDA.
Mo Jave I won't go through them because my dad was a TSA screener. I know how much he hated those things, and I know how much it squicks me out to imagine my father having to look at my naked adult body on a weird-ass scanner.
Plus, it gives me a chance to do some quality control feedback to the TSA. I always get screener names/badges and fill out a comment card.
All of the standard and impersonal support that it provides everyone in the way of infrastructure, trade and the general ability to live in a modern first world country but is extremely cumbersome to actually enumerate.
My wife is on SSI (and has been for the past 5 or 6 years) and thus her income and main medial insurance is provided by the government. We would literally not be surviving financially without that.
My mother in law is on SSI as well, and had surgery for a broken hip as well as rehab care through her medicare/medicare insurance. Again, with out that we would not have survived the past couple of years financially.
I work for a state funded university in their grant managements area and without the money from the state and various federal agencies funding research would not have my job. I might have some other job elsewhere, but not this one and the excellent benefits that it provides.
William Nichols for those that are normalized, yes. For those who are not, no. I don't know what opting out is, I don't think that I have the option to, as I am not a citizen.
Being a US American traveling abroad has always been fraught for me. I get complimented for being "too nice to be American" when I travel. For my whole life, the POTUS wasn't an admirable person. The last 8 years gave the world hope that the US would stop being the petulant child of the world stage.
Mo Jave it does cause difficulties for trans people -- my F->M friend used to fly all the time for work (on an oil rig) and there have been...kerfuffles. Having IDs in both his current and former names has ultimately worked, but in the short term always raises eyebrows.
I'm really not thrilled with the X-ray machines for a different reason -- without regular calibration, they can dose you with hundreds of times as much radiation as they're supposed to. Hospitals learned this about their equipment quickly and do regular checks...but guess who skimps on diagnostic maintenance? I can spell t in three letters...
Last I heard, the TSA nekkid xray machiens were never approved by the FDA for use on the human population, the TSA siting national security reasons to skip the safety measures.
* Prohibited pre-existing condition exclusions on health insurance. I have a chronic medical condition. I'm not utilizing benefits right now, but if I do need to and have a coverage gap it's basically bankruptcy. Prior to this I was more or less a serf to my employer, taking a stable gig with kinda crappy pay, so I could maintain continuance of coverage. Without that worry, I've been able to take on more risk in career development and go back to school.
* Maintained large wilderness areas in a condition reasonably resembling natural beauty, which provided opportunities for hiking and developing skill at photography.
* Sent a robot to Pluto and gave us pictures of Pluto. This has to be one of the holy shit top achievements of the history of our species, no?
* Provided the lion's share of funding for science research, which of course yields innumerable benefits in health and material development and developing a fundamental understanding of our world.
Those are just the first four things that come to mind. The number of things we take for granted is probably countless.
Close to home: I saw one guy threatening another guy with a knife. Called 911, the police showed up really quickly de-escalated the conflict, kept everyone safe, while also assuring that nobody needed to go to jail over a resolved issue.
ReplyDeleteFar from home: Close-up pictures of Pluto.
As for me: Kept the roads rolling. Ensured cargo planes arrive on time and safely. Managed a network of trade deals that ensures coffee is relatively cheap, accessible, and plentiful.
ReplyDeleteKept wages at grocery stores sufficient that I do not feel I am oppressing them by going to a shop. Protected the water in my pipes, and the electricity in my wires.
I've no idea how many departments are required to keep me in coffee, but it is higher than I am estimating.
Directly? I have a job because of the government.
ReplyDeleteTell me more, Stephanie Bryant ?
ReplyDeleteCovered my wife's medical expenses. She has endometriosis and fibromyalgia.
ReplyDeleteFunded the Grapevine highway interchange with stimulus money in 2009.
ReplyDeleteThere are four highways and two busy roads that all converge in Grapevine, TX. And getting from one highway to another was awful. Plans to build giant highway interchange that had been on the back-burner until it got funded by the stimulus.
Now it's done (apart from one chunk that was delayed by flooding), and it's terrific.
Made me feel like a person who has worth.
ReplyDeleteJosh Roby Do you feel comfortable expanding? I've got some ideas as to what you mean, but others may not. This is a public post, so ... yeah.
ReplyDeleteDisability insurance. Medicare.
ReplyDeleteThat's a....long list. I know how infrastructure works. So, besides having waste disposal, electric, and water options, interstate freeways, and the right to put a Black Lives Matter sign in my yard...
ReplyDeleteMore specifically? Low-interest student loans, a really good rate on a mortgage, sweet tax breaks on what interest I did pay on student loans and said mortgage, made legal the right for me to marry a lady in the future should I ever want to (I hope it never comes to that but the future is uncertain and humans are fragile) (for those that don't know me well and are reading this, I'm pansexual and currently married to a man, otherwise that last statement sounds a little weird), the Recovery Act did awesome things for my mom, Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, ACA re: birth control (sigh, RIP ACA). Others I'm forgetting, probably.
I also started working for a state/federal funded research University this year. So, employment, health care, etc. I mean, a large part of this sweet deal is my union, but that union is also empowered by the government, so.
Lots of frisking.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good list, Kelley Vanda ! Less incomplete than most of ours.
ReplyDeleteOh! I have two living parents, thanks in large part to medicare. My sister was able to feed her son during some lean years, thanks to WIC.
My ability to think increases exponentially with coffee, so I'm getting more empathetic as the day goes on.
Mo Jave You must go through our airport security frequently?
ReplyDeleteOh, yeah, I collected a month's worth of unemployment checks.
ReplyDeleteMy mother has been on and off disability for years (schizophrenia, congestive heart failure).
My grandparents were able to afford care at home, so they both passed away in their bed, at home. Grandpa lived out his hospice, at home. Wouldn't have been possible without Medicaid. Well, might have been, but they were able to pass the house and a small trust fund along to my mom to take care of her after they died as well. To be fair, this is also because they live in California, which has better Medicaid than most states, but I know at least part of that is federally funded.
Good lord I could just keep going.
Indeed. I know the EWR airport guards intimately.
ReplyDeleteMo Jave Generally, I don't go through the naked xray machine, so I feel your pain.
ReplyDeleteWilliam Nichols I work for a defense contractor. My income is literally dependent on whether or not the Navy keeps us.
ReplyDeleteThe naked Xray wouldn't even be so bad (I mean psychologically violating but at least not physically so much). However, it is designed for normalized average bodies, and so anyone who deviates from average (people of size, people with implants and prosthetics, and I assume trans folks who are untransitioned etc) are automatically flagged for invasive searches even if they don't trigger the normal alarms. It's kind of a double down on marginalization.
ReplyDeleteGiven me something to be proud of as an American when I go abroad.
ReplyDeleteKelley Vanda If I think about it shallowly, the list is pretty narrow. If I think about it with any sort of due diligence, it is neverending, too.
ReplyDeleteThe allergy meds that let me live without constant headaches and nosebleeds went generic, and is now as cheap as ibuprofen. I know generics are safe, because FDA.
Mo Jave So ... wait. The use of the naked xray machines are another form of privilege?
ReplyDeleteMy opting out, then, is either privilege or solidarity. It is for sure from a privileged position.
Lex Larson Does that change tomorrow?
ReplyDeleteMo Jave I won't go through them because my dad was a TSA screener. I know how much he hated those things, and I know how much it squicks me out to imagine my father having to look at my naked adult body on a weird-ass scanner.
ReplyDeletePlus, it gives me a chance to do some quality control feedback to the TSA. I always get screener names/badges and fill out a comment card.
All of the standard and impersonal support that it provides everyone in the way of infrastructure, trade and the general ability to live in a modern first world country but is extremely cumbersome to actually enumerate.
ReplyDeleteMy wife is on SSI (and has been for the past 5 or 6 years) and thus her income and main medial insurance is provided by the government. We would literally not be surviving financially without that.
My mother in law is on SSI as well, and had surgery for a broken hip as well as rehab care through her medicare/medicare insurance. Again, with out that we would not have survived the past couple of years financially.
I work for a state funded university in their grant managements area and without the money from the state and various federal agencies funding research would not have my job. I might have some other job elsewhere, but not this one and the excellent benefits that it provides.
William Nichols for those that are normalized, yes. For those who are not, no. I don't know what opting out is, I don't think that I have the option to, as I am not a citizen.
ReplyDeleteWilliam Nichols Absolutely it changes tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteBeing a US American traveling abroad has always been fraught for me. I get complimented for being "too nice to be American" when I travel. For my whole life, the POTUS wasn't an admirable person. The last 8 years gave the world hope that the US would stop being the petulant child of the world stage.
That absolutely changes tomorrow.
Mo Jave it does cause difficulties for trans people -- my F->M friend used to fly all the time for work (on an oil rig) and there have been...kerfuffles. Having IDs in both his current and former names has ultimately worked, but in the short term always raises eyebrows.
ReplyDeleteI'm really not thrilled with the X-ray machines for a different reason -- without regular calibration, they can dose you with hundreds of times as much radiation as they're supposed to. Hospitals learned this about their equipment quickly and do regular checks...but guess who skimps on diagnostic maintenance? I can spell t in three letters...
Last I heard, the TSA nekkid xray machiens were never approved by the FDA for use on the human population, the TSA siting national security reasons to skip the safety measures.
ReplyDeleteAnybody else know about that?
Enacted legislature which allowed me to buy health insurance which allowed me to get my CPAP which reduces my chance of dying in my sleep.
ReplyDelete* Prohibited pre-existing condition exclusions on health insurance. I have a chronic medical condition. I'm not utilizing benefits right now, but if I do need to and have a coverage gap it's basically bankruptcy. Prior to this I was more or less a serf to my employer, taking a stable gig with kinda crappy pay, so I could maintain continuance of coverage. Without that worry, I've been able to take on more risk in career development and go back to school.
ReplyDelete* Maintained large wilderness areas in a condition reasonably resembling natural beauty, which provided opportunities for hiking and developing skill at photography.
* Sent a robot to Pluto and gave us pictures of Pluto. This has to be one of the holy shit top achievements of the history of our species, no?
* Provided the lion's share of funding for science research, which of course yields innumerable benefits in health and material development and developing a fundamental understanding of our world.
Those are just the first four things that come to mind. The number of things we take for granted is probably countless.