I was referring to .gov, didn't know about the .org

I appreciate fiscal conservatism too. A high point of our former Gov Dean.

(Looks like the Patriots are going down 21-3 with the interception.)

Earlier in this thread you made a reference to the idea of 'settle for' life style. Is this a wide spread syndrome? I ask because it to described an attitude I have found to be purculating in myself the past year or two.

In fact I am working on a plan to simplify my life style. I just can't see the use in trying to build our business. Employees are more expensive($ & aggravation from half ass attitudes) than their contribution. People, including relatives and people who should know better, that we're rich because we have a small working business. Loyalty is all to often a thing of the past. Plus, now that we have developed our market, we find that we are going to have to compete against a charitible and governmentally subsidized non-profit who also benefits from something called 'paid volunteers'. Oh, and they have copied our entire business model right down to the advertising I produce myself.

We'll make a living, not looking for sympathy, just wanting to describe why we're moving toward this 'settle for' syndrome.

On top of that we live in a cradle to grave enviroment here in Vermont(as you described with medicine, it's well on the way). Our Republican governor is at best a moderate Democratic in practice. The politicians, administrative bureaucrats, entitlements recipients and prisoners are all better off than the average working stiffs like ourselves. (Prison here is not like Texas. We call ours country clubs: they have gyms, cable, no chain gangs, medical benefits, lawyers and plenty of time on their hands. I've actually met men who commit petty crimes in order to take a vacation from the ol lady and kids for the winter.)

We're taxed to death, micro-managed, many of our public officials and bureaucrats are on auto-pilot, and surly to boot. A while back, several cops I know adamantly explained that, 'they are not public servants'. Then the Gov chide us, by advertising how good it is to free men. LOL Oh yeah, and even though we lack most of these amenities(cable, health insurance, health clubs etc) we have too much to do anything other than pay pay pay. No help for us but the slackers are to be pityed. We have to pay for welfare cheats, SSI cheats, Disability cheats, corporate cheats, corporate incentives, corporate tax relief, lax INS enforcement, practically useless education services, enviromental laws that achieve no improvement, snotty motor vehicle bureaucrats and the promise of interference in our life if we exhibit the least bit of frustration at how awful the system is working for the actual working class taxpayer. Just a few examples.

I'm not really pissed anymore. Just tired of being taken advantage of.

I can't find the incentive. That's why we're working on minimizing our taxable efforts. By this time next year we will be raising over half our food needs, which is a huge savings. Why not spend my time canning, drying, smoking or butchering a healthy harvest we raised ourself rather than expanding a business and paying more taxes to a thankless government and clueless citizenry. After a while we'll be selling or bartering our surplus.

Strip away the nicety, and I say fuck this society. It's out of control. Mostly superficial and virtually unresponsive to the working class. The trinkets are nice but this cradle to grave micro management should annoy all responsible citizens. I don't accept that the government, at any level, owns me. Let alone knows what is best for anyone. But...it seems the masses are fine with the disappearance of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Anyway, is there really a national trend of this nature. Could you give me the web site so I can find out how best to pull this off.

But seriously...tell me what you know of this.

Peace be with you all,

Will