I think all of the auto pays I use include a cap. Also my utility emails me the bill at the start of the month but does not change me until the end of the month so I have several weeks to deal with it if I want to challenge it.
One time they misread my meter, so I got billed about 3x the normal amount. It was not a huge amount of money but it was enough to catch my eye and look into it. The next month my meter reading had negative usage so they credited me. After a couple of months it corrected itself. But then I have Soohulist Commie Utilites provided by the city government.
If we're looking for any silver lining in this hellscape, perhaps it will put the focus on what a shitty president W was. He was first eclipsed, then rehabilitated, by 45's antics.
mine's a little more simple....we do an average based on previous usage, so basically i pay one amount all year round, no more, no less. but even given that, i still dont auto_pay.
but for things like streaming services i use, and they won't let me pay in full for a year, i use credit card gift cards ( which i paid for in cash) to auto_pay them. also all the accounts not in my name, some in my pets', some rando name.
it's funny how i rarely get any solicitation in my real name.
1. "Assistive technology" is actually a thing, and many "younger" people experience physical issues, so conflating "aging" and "disability" (which you're implicitly doing here) fails.
2. "Family" is *NOT* some sort of universal panacea, and more to the point, treating it as if it were tacitly implies that the primary reason to breed is so that you will have a ready-made pool of dupes to *victimize* during your dotage (irrespective of whether or not you have treated them with dignity and respect beforehand).
3. It *also* (falsely) implies that the purpose of your "blood kin" (who can tacitly be regarded as a readily-available pool of slave labor) obviates the existance of NON-FAMILIAL "safety nets".
(Not to mention the fact that it *also* tacitly treats what RIghtists woudl probably call "biological" females as the *breeding machines* required to produce the next generation of "kin"/slaves.
Sounds harsh? This is what too many pre-feminist cultures *were*, and now "kinship" functions in the "minds" of Right-wing traditionalists.
That came off as *really* snarky - but I have developed a visceral loathing of the RIghtist fetishization of "family" and "blood ties" and suchlike - probably has something to do with the fact that a significant proportion of my own "kin" were (and have continued to be) exploitative vermin.
To be honest, I've come to the conclusion that "unconditional love" is basically a bad euphemism for "Enabling" in general - and when invoked by "family", it is the *same* exactly euphemism - backed up by *emotional blackmail*.
4. Probably the *worst* aspect of what you (admittedly) probably didn't think that you just said - is the unstated premise that since - presumably - "the elderly" have some sort of "blood kin" (who can be guilted into serving them in their dotage) - then there's no reason for non-kin to give a shit about them.
(Yeah: the Rightist "family"-fetish really grates on me.)
You probably didn't actually *mean* most of the stuff I just mentioned.
In the original radio scripts, after the Vogons take over the Galactic Civil Service, the philosophers who had previously managed the Galaxy were sent to the Tax Return Office to lick stamps.
Puerto Rican statehood would *permamently* and irremediably fuck up the Right's weird "hispanic panic" (to say nothing about kicking the "English Only" movement right in the walnuts).
(An *entire* state where *spanish* is their primary/home language? But....how do we sell them the 'I don't wanna have to press 1 for English" bullshit?) :)
I think all of the auto pays I use include a cap. Also my utility emails me the bill at the start of the month but does not change me until the end of the month so I have several weeks to deal with it if I want to challenge it.
One time they misread my meter, so I got billed about 3x the normal amount. It was not a huge amount of money but it was enough to catch my eye and look into it. The next month my meter reading had negative usage so they credited me. After a couple of months it corrected itself. But then I have Soohulist Commie Utilites provided by the city government.
If we're looking for any silver lining in this hellscape, perhaps it will put the focus on what a shitty president W was. He was first eclipsed, then rehabilitated, by 45's antics.
I wonder if spellcheck changed "digitally " to "diligently."
mine's a little more simple....we do an average based on previous usage, so basically i pay one amount all year round, no more, no less. but even given that, i still dont auto_pay.
but for things like streaming services i use, and they won't let me pay in full for a year, i use credit card gift cards ( which i paid for in cash) to auto_pay them. also all the accounts not in my name, some in my pets', some rando name.
it's funny how i rarely get any solicitation in my real name.
When I met Ted in 1988, I had no word to describe him, but only because I didn’t speak German. Thank you, Germans, for “Backpfeifengesicht.”
— Craig Mazin (@clmazin) January 20, 2016
(Backpfeifengesicht, by the way, translates to “face that should be slapped.”)https://www.motherjones.com... Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.
My only real quibbles with this:
Several reasons:
1. "Assistive technology" is actually a thing, and many "younger" people experience physical issues, so conflating "aging" and "disability" (which you're implicitly doing here) fails.
2. "Family" is *NOT* some sort of universal panacea, and more to the point, treating it as if it were tacitly implies that the primary reason to breed is so that you will have a ready-made pool of dupes to *victimize* during your dotage (irrespective of whether or not you have treated them with dignity and respect beforehand).
3. It *also* (falsely) implies that the purpose of your "blood kin" (who can tacitly be regarded as a readily-available pool of slave labor) obviates the existance of NON-FAMILIAL "safety nets".
(Not to mention the fact that it *also* tacitly treats what RIghtists woudl probably call "biological" females as the *breeding machines* required to produce the next generation of "kin"/slaves.
Sounds harsh? This is what too many pre-feminist cultures *were*, and now "kinship" functions in the "minds" of Right-wing traditionalists.
That came off as *really* snarky - but I have developed a visceral loathing of the RIghtist fetishization of "family" and "blood ties" and suchlike - probably has something to do with the fact that a significant proportion of my own "kin" were (and have continued to be) exploitative vermin.
To be honest, I've come to the conclusion that "unconditional love" is basically a bad euphemism for "Enabling" in general - and when invoked by "family", it is the *same* exactly euphemism - backed up by *emotional blackmail*.
4. Probably the *worst* aspect of what you (admittedly) probably didn't think that you just said - is the unstated premise that since - presumably - "the elderly" have some sort of "blood kin" (who can be guilted into serving them in their dotage) - then there's no reason for non-kin to give a shit about them.
(Yeah: the Rightist "family"-fetish really grates on me.)
You probably didn't actually *mean* most of the stuff I just mentioned.
When you make a lot of money pretending that nothing bad ever happens, you can buy your way out when the inevitable occurs.
Really good article among a sea of excellent articles. Thank you, Robyn.
Let's pretend they already seceded and send them a bill for all the stuff we're giving them. Nah. Never mind.
In the original radio scripts, after the Vogons take over the Galactic Civil Service, the philosophers who had previously managed the Galaxy were sent to the Tax Return Office to lick stamps.
Most Puerto Ricans don't want statehood. I'll let them decide their future.
Nah, you can just expect Federal taxpayers to cover your incompetent asses.
52% supported statehood in the most recent referendum:
https://theconversation.com...
Puerto Rican statehood would *permamently* and irremediably fuck up the Right's weird "hispanic panic" (to say nothing about kicking the "English Only" movement right in the walnuts).
(An *entire* state where *spanish* is their primary/home language? But....how do we sell them the 'I don't wanna have to press 1 for English" bullshit?) :)
Ta, Robyn.
https://aws1.discourse-cdn....