As IF Times

Recently, revelations about the number and efficacy of vaccines taken by people have finally been called to question.  For several generations, vaccines of all kinds were foisted on the public, who generally acquiesced to the ‘wisdom’ of the medical industry.  The Covid nonsense woke up the public and suddenly the revelation that children were obliged to take, in some cases over 72 vaccines as compared to only about 4 in the early 60’s, came under renewed scrutiny.  These statistics are sobering.  Populations become de-sensitized to the abnormal.

We’ve become acclimatized to other things as well. It occurred to me that a big chunk of our modern lives now are consumed with maintaining records or logs of some kind with all kinds of organizations, without us even realizing it. Everyone and I mean everyone in the world (with access to a smartphone or computer) is obliged to maintain a password of some kind. Losing or forgetting this password leads to all kinds of inconveniences and aggravation disrupting our daily lives.  That’s the least of it.

In reality, to function in today’s society, there are passcodes and checks on every aspect of our lives.  Banking; Netflix; Spotify; Amazon; health clubs; loyalty cards; government services; airlines; etc. etc.   My own survey reveals that I need passcodes to enter over 100 different sites and services. We become indoctrinated to believe that this is just part of life.

Even going to McDonald’s these days can be an IQ test, since there are often electronic kiosks to enter your order in place of communicating with a real person.  You are prompted for your membership identity first.  Someone decided that having machines with member requirements were more efficient than telling a human that you want a big mac. Let’s not even to mention the byzantine hoops of government websites and services one has to navigate if you want some kind of government agency information.  May God have mercy on anyone who is the subject of a government clerical error on a form that needs to be fixed.

But those are just nuisance inconveniences. The real oppression comes in the form of fees, taxes and costs… simply to exist.  A quick Google search reveals that the average American pays over 97 distinct taxes including of course, the hated income and property taxes.

From the time you are born, there are fees and costs for you to exist.  Someone has to pay for the hospital costs and I understand that there is even a movement to implement a ‘birthing tax’ on newborns. From that point forward, your entire life is spent in pursuit of making enough money to pay taxes and fees just to be a human.  A massive lucrative industry exists just to guide people on how to keep the money they earn and shield themselves from taxes.  Nowhere else in the animal kingdom are animals required to pay just to live.  If you are fortunate enough to have anything left to leave to your family after a lifetime of paying taxes, then surprise, surprise, there are death and estate taxes.

All of this is tied to the exponential reach and growth of government over our lifetimes. If I wanted to enumerate all the taxes and fees that have been introduced in the past 50 years, it would be an exhaustive list and not really the point of this discussion. Suffice to say, you’d be hard pressed to cite a case of a removal of any given tax or fee once implemented.  Thus, taxes tend to stack up like vaccines doses as people accept them without questioning them.

People have now become accustomed to the mountain of taxes and fees foisted upon them without adequate justification.  It’s accepted as the cost of living. It’s like the new normal of 20% minimum tipping at restaurants. People may complain, but they go along to get along. Never ending taxes and fees are like parasites eating at the body, subtly but surely.   Politicians know this innately.  They will never have the pressure of having to justify their spending bills because public pushback is tepid and passing.  What’s more, they have the ability to vote themselves raises…because of the price increases that they cause.  Thus, people’s fight for simple existence is really against those supposedly charged with their care!

In the animal world, most species have to worry about the dangers posed by other animals for their survival.  Only in the human world is the most dangerous animal their own species, slowly pecking them to death without them even being aware.  The best analogy is the one about the frog being unknowingly boiled in increasingly warmer water.  It seems as if humans are in a lot of hot water.

As we all know by now, the experience of foreign and especially European visitors to America to spectate at the World Cup matches has overwhelmingly been favorable as witnessed by the many numerous testimonials on all social network platforms.  Unusual American customs have been mostly positive for visitors, from serving sizes, to ice in drinks; free refills etc.

The one custom that shocks visitors is that of tipping at restaurants.  As documented in a previous post, the culture of tipping is wildly out of control in the United States.  Tipping has always been a part of American culture and has been consummated by a small gratuity for a small service rendered…mainly out of politeness rather than an obligation.

Suddenly, every person seems to be entitled to or expecting some kind of additional payment for any service rendered.  Doormen, bellhops, bathroom attendants; the kid who cleans your golf clubs,  all perform their jobs with the expectation of a little extra cash for their ‘service’.  These amounts tend to be nominal if annoying and thus far, tip inflation hasn’t been an issue there.  In the case of dancers, well you get what you pay for;  they can’t really be considered tips.

The most contentious area of out of control tipping is in restaurants. Everyone knows that tipping is not in fact discretionary, it is an expected payment after the total restaurant tab.  Recently, I’ve personally noted that the minimum amount offered on the payment machine starts at 20% and goes to 25 and then 30%. The experience of foreign tourists has brought this issue to light once more.  It’s not tip inflation, it’s tip extortion.

Of course, there will be those that protest that workers receive the majority of their pay in tips since their rack wages are very low; some claim as low as $2.50 per hour.  I don’t know in what backwater in the US pays a minimum wage of $2.50 per hour.  If that is truly the case, the restaurant shouldn’t be in business.  If the wages are that low, then presumably a meal would cost less than $5, in which case a higher gratuity may be reasonable.

But in most big cities, wages are substantially higher.  In Chicago and New York city for example, the minimum wage is $17 per hour.  In Los Angeles and Washington DC, over $18 per hour, and similarly in all the big metropolitan areas of the US.  Georgia and Wyoming have the lowest minimum wages at just over 7 dollars an hour.  Predictably, one will find the most expensive dining experiences in the bigger cities where a typical, not lavish meal, will easily run over $100 for two people.  Add a few drinks and the bill will easily be $200. So a mandatory 20% gratuity will add 20 or 40 dollars to a bill…just to have someone bring food to your table.  Which is almost acceptable…almost…if the amount of the tip didn’t depend of the amount of the food.  Dine with a family of four or more and you’ll have to ask for their installment plan.

No one can honestly explain how pouring  a $100 bottle of wine merits more of a tip than a $30 bottle of wine. As noted in a previous post, this makes as much sense as tipping on the value of the car parked by a valet.

Wait staff who work at restaurants charging $100 for a bottle of wine and $50 main dishes are not paying their workers $2.50 an hour.  That urban myth is absurd. Restaurants that cannot factor in appropriate wages for staff have a flawed business model.  To gouge customers based on the value of food served as an expected mandatory gratuity is a scam that needs to end.  If there is to be an extra service charge to dine at a restaurant, then state so clearly or charge a flat fee per head.   Just leave a note on the menu telling them that they were lucky to have had the fortune to be served at all; leave $10 for the privilege. Or they can leave the tipping to the discretion of the customer as it should always be.  This is one area where the Europeans have it right.