Obviously if you ask anyone if they like free stuff they will say yes. If you ask someone if they like subsidised stuff they will probably say yes but resent the discounted price they still have to pay. This is because free stuff is superior. You know it, we know it. Some stuff is subsidised, or free, because it makes sense for it to be so. It is a necessity, as it were. Recently Jessica Valenti pondered upon the subject of tampons and sanitary towels (some of us cannot master the mooncup OK? OK) and how, for many menstruating people out there, the cost of them makes them a luxury. Valenti ventured the idea that perhaps there was a case for free tampons, the response to this was a bizarre barrage of abuse. So, at the risk of incensing the masses...here's what else we think should be free.
1. Water should be free. It costs 0.097p a litre which shows just how much of a rip off bottled water is. Worse still various corporations are trying to turn water into a commodity to be traded for profit rather than an essential element for survival. I don't need to explain how wrong this is. Water is not oil and you can't allow people to die of dehydration in order to increase your shareholders returns. Gareth
2. Suncream should be free. I'm very pale and spend summer dashing from shady spot to shady spot and slathering myself in suncream (factor 50, anything less I burn. I know this because I have tried it so all you suncream naysayers can SHH NOW). This is all well and inconvenient but the price of keeping my skin healthy and pain free is, like, a LOT guys. I think it should be subsidised. Squeamish Kate
3. Everyone loves a bargain. In winter I like to buy bikinis because they dirt cheap then. In summer I wear them not to swim but to sit out in the sun and get brown. I love to sunbathe but I also know it's SO very important to protect your skin so I lather on the sun screen. Expensive essential sun screen. We are constantly told how we must protect our skin from the lovely sunshine aka cancerous rays but it's not cheap. People are priced out of being able to be safe. Subsidise sun screen! Squeamish Nicola
4. Tampons are never going to be free, and it's unlikely we'll ever see them tax-free in the developed world. The customer base is captive, and the multinationals that produce them are too strong. But in the interests of a civilised world, pre-school childcare should be free for all, with punitive taxes on those who choose to go private. Mothers of any income group would then be free to work, and even those kids destined for a life of private schooling would have childhood memories of friends across social classes. F1Kate
5. I sort of want to write a humorous response to this prompt, talking about how there should be free dogs to play with and walk anywhere you might get stressed, and people hanging out with ducklings for you to pet at train stations. And it's not that those aren't GREAT ideas. But when there are organisations that disagree that basics such as water should be free, and services such as healthcare which would surely be free if we really cared about each other are slowly being sold off ... Well it makes me too angry to be funny really. We put a price on things far too often and the belief that the best and only way to measure value is through cash is cynical and dispiriting. Happy Friday. Squeamish Louise
2. Suncream should be free. I'm very pale and spend summer dashing from shady spot to shady spot and slathering myself in suncream (factor 50, anything less I burn. I know this because I have tried it so all you suncream naysayers can SHH NOW). This is all well and inconvenient but the price of keeping my skin healthy and pain free is, like, a LOT guys. I think it should be subsidised. Squeamish Kate
3. Everyone loves a bargain. In winter I like to buy bikinis because they dirt cheap then. In summer I wear them not to swim but to sit out in the sun and get brown. I love to sunbathe but I also know it's SO very important to protect your skin so I lather on the sun screen. Expensive essential sun screen. We are constantly told how we must protect our skin from the lovely sunshine aka cancerous rays but it's not cheap. People are priced out of being able to be safe. Subsidise sun screen! Squeamish Nicola
4. Tampons are never going to be free, and it's unlikely we'll ever see them tax-free in the developed world. The customer base is captive, and the multinationals that produce them are too strong. But in the interests of a civilised world, pre-school childcare should be free for all, with punitive taxes on those who choose to go private. Mothers of any income group would then be free to work, and even those kids destined for a life of private schooling would have childhood memories of friends across social classes. F1Kate
5. I sort of want to write a humorous response to this prompt, talking about how there should be free dogs to play with and walk anywhere you might get stressed, and people hanging out with ducklings for you to pet at train stations. And it's not that those aren't GREAT ideas. But when there are organisations that disagree that basics such as water should be free, and services such as healthcare which would surely be free if we really cared about each other are slowly being sold off ... Well it makes me too angry to be funny really. We put a price on things far too often and the belief that the best and only way to measure value is through cash is cynical and dispiriting. Happy Friday. Squeamish Louise
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