cross-posted from: https://kbin.earth/m/196@lemmy.blahaj.zone/t/818591
town that always catches on fire rule
this post was submitted on 10 Jan 2025
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Retired firefighter/paramedic here. It’s simple: Fire departments don’t normally generate revenue. It’s a money-sink and local governments don’t like that. The first things financially cut when I worked for a city of 170,000 were always services that didn’t make money. That’s just how it works.
Why police departments need heavy armor and assault accoutrements is beyond me, though. I mean, all that shit didn’t help whatsoever in most mass-shootings.
Yes, And?
Of course it's a sink. With that reasoning, taxes are sinks for citizens. The entire oiintis that you get something back for it .
I think to the mass of people, if they can see a cop that means the money is going to something tangible that a politician can point to and say we did all of these numbers because cops. While firefighters the more money you put in, it doesn't as easily translate to a figure that you can point to and say we did all this fire stuff. Which then the general populous gets pissed off that their tax dollars are being wasted.
It doesn't make it right, smart, sensible or logical. But the general population doesn't really care about that.
They need to understand it’s a service, not a business. Sure, a fire department doesn’t make money but, neither does a city that burns to the ground.
As a society, we have simply got to get past the notion that everything that exists needs to be monetized to be deemed worthy of existence.
They don't think that way. "It does not generate revenue, therefore it cannot be allowed to exist." This philosophy is so deeply ingrained into the American psyche that it is inescapable.
Story time: American colleague and Canadian colleague are talking. Canadian says that university costs only 5000 CAD in tuition. American nearly falls out of his chair and yells, "BUT HOW DO THEY MAKE MONEY??"
And bear in mind that he was one of the most educated and successful people I have ever met, and yet he found it so difficult to fathom that a university could exist without making money. Now with that in mind, imagine convincing a large group of average people to fund public services.
This is why the USA is the way that it is.
You don't even need to go that far. From a financial perspective, a fire department is a hedge bet against fire. It doesn't exist to generate revenue, but it limit losses.
Not unlike fire insurance, except insurance only protects against the validation of property while a fire fighting team protects the real assets.
The whole point of government is to collect taxes to pay for stuff that isn't revenue generating to spread out the costs!
Seriously, this. Government is supposed to fund services, not profitable businesses
But that's socialism, noooooo \s
Meanwhile the government running businesses for profit is essentially the definition of socialism lol
The government isn't a business, for fuck's sake! Some services like police, fire, health are necessary, but don't generate revenue! Also, even the most profitable corporations on the planet still have IT, Management, and HR departments that don't technically make money.
I saw Rebel Ridge on Netflix, could very well be that police departments generate revenue through Civil Forfeiture.
(It’s a fictional thriller, not a documentary, but very much based on modern realities)
Did somebody say John Oliver story that enrages me how fucked up America is as a country?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3kEpZWGgJks
Molly's Game also includes Civil Forfeiture. I wouldn't call it a major part of the plot, but it's definitely there and described as bullshit.
Tickets. Police departments have quotas because that's their main revenue source, civil forfeiture is just the icing on the cake.