The fact that you're able to spend time leisurely on sites like HN implicitly groups you into a higher income bracket. If you couldn't afford a personal computer, your comment might be a little less snarky when the library was your primary resource.
If kids need broadband, then raise the local taxes to pay for it. Or solicit local donations. Frankly, I don't think it would take much to raise $1,000 for a library.
For example, if the local population is too stupid to fund it because they just raised $60 million for a new high school football stadium, then that's their problem, and I don't think I (or you) should have to pay for their ignorance. (I'm referencing a town in Texas that built a massive high school football stadium because they think it's more important that their education investment.)
TL;DR - just because something exists, doesn't mean it should. There are more efficient ways of doing things.
Yes, there are poor areas. The problem is they lack powerful congressional seats, and the rich ones get the money.
The military clearly has a ton of waste, but that's not a reason to waste money here - it's a reason to cut waste there too.
It's small libraries in rural areas that really need this support. Many communities cannot afford to support even the fixed costs of a library (a building and staff person), to say nothing of a collection or broadband. These largely rely on grants and support from the state and federal government.
We both look at the number and shake our heads, only you think it's far to high and I far to low.
>For example, if the local population is too stupid to fund it because they just raised $60 million for a new high school football stadium, then that's their problem, and I don't think I (or you) should have to pay for their ignorance. (I'm referencing a town in Texas that built a massive high school football stadium because they think it's more important that their education investment.
Just like with the "die poor, don't have kids you can't afford" argument, it may make you feel morally superior, but it actually makes you a short sighted dick.
The kids who will suffer because of it didn't decide to build that stadium or neglect the education infrastructure, they just get disadvantaged by it.
tl;dr - sometimes you just need to suck it up and pay for things you don't want to like an adult because it's better in the long run.
That's somewhat prejudiced. You can browse HN just fine with a cheap Android and any open wifi, which isn't hard to find in a city. Even the homeless have smartphones nowadays, for the most part.