Well... Korak may be right about the fibre connection - this may be, and I think it is, an entirely private matter (except for one thing - TCT needs to talk government into letting them have the sole franchise, so that part of it ain't exactly free market, is it?)
But this statement kinda took the wind out of me - the cognitive dissonance is amazing:
Wyoming wants trained and skilled people that can benefit this state, not blood sucking bums that rely on the next stimulus package or welfare check!
Korak, here are the problems with this.
1) "Wyoming" doesn't want anything, because "Wyoming" is not a sentient being, but a collection of individuals, individuals who all want different things. Some of those individuals, mostly those in government, want to push certain high wage jobs and so forth, not because they are any more saintly than the rest of us, but because it brings in more tax dollars for their pet projects, and it also feeds their personal need to play Santa Claus and be admired for bringing good stuff to the state (which would come anyway if the market was left alone). Yes, more tax dollars even if there is no income tax - more money is spent on cars, toys, housing, etc. - sales tax and property tax. Government people always get their cut.
2) How can a person accept a "benefit" from government, and not be a "blood sucking bum"? If "Wyoming" is training people, those people are themselves blood sucking bums, as are the business owners who foist their own training needs onto taxpayers. I am always astounded how rural people can sneer at welfare moms in the big cities while getting their own paycheck in one form or another from the same government that supports those welfare moms.
3) It doesn't matter that you can't easily trace the connection between Susan's pocketbook and the subsidies received.
The taxes have been paid The money has been stolen from
someone. Some people think that if Wyoming government manages to arrange things so that money is stolen from people outside of Wyoming (e.g. severance taxes), then that is all right. Besides being highly questionable morally, it just ain't so, because the same trick is played by every other state government, and Wyomingites get dinged for that whenever they buy any product or service from outside the state. About the only argument for continuing this practice, that is not completely suspect, is that stopping it in Wyoming would be "unilateral disarmament". But even that does not make the practice of stealing from others moral or admirable.
4) Wyoming has more government employees per capita than all states but one (Alaska). These folks are (supposedly) needed to provide this and that service. But doesn't that statistic bother you at all? When do we transition over to being just another New Jersey or California? Why not have government just do everything, and we can all live in a worker's paradise? At some point you have to say, government should stay out of this or that.There is no way that government should be involved in training at all. Training happens at companies or people train themselves. There's just no need for inefficient, expensive, coercive government to be in it.
Well, that is enough I suppose. I think some serious reading and self-examination would be a good thing. I personally make it a habit to question my own motives constantly so I don't pull a fast one on myself and rationalize something that I know deep down is just not right.