But GOD, Red State is run by morons.
The animal shelter where I volunteer and where we got our three beasties had a similar sign for YEARS: We receive no state, federal or municipal dollars. The point of that sign isn’t to say “Look how awesome we volunteers are with our gritty self-reliance,” it’s to say “so pony up if you can, because we are SCREWED OVER HERE.” It’s to encourage private donations. That’s the only reason you communicate something like that.
It really is remarkable the number of people who think saying, “Can’t you just get a grant? Can’t the city give you some money?” completely absolves them of the nagging feeling they have that they should be doing something to help. People really do think somebody else takes care of stuff like this, local history and homeless people and animals. Surely there’s a large fund of some kind, out of which we pay for this stuff so we don’t have to think about it, right? Well, there might be, if you fuckers would quit voting down every three-dollar-a-year tax increase because of your admiration of Paul Revere or some shit. As it is, that sign might as well say “thanks, Republicans, for pointing out that taxes are theft. Thanks a bunch. Really. You’ve been a huge help.”
You put up a sign like that to say “we are doing this all by ourselves, so please give us a hand.” You know, handouts. Contributions. Pitching in.
All those things conservatives love to hate.
A.
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