Imagine that you live in an apartment with several roommates. You divide up the rent, the water bill, the electric bill, phone bill, .... You don't measure how long each individual takes in the shower, or how much television any person watches. Everyone just pitches in to pay for the apartment and amenities. If you're lucky, your roommates will even tide you over on the bills when your car breaks down and you need to spend an extra $1,000 to fix it. That's what we are, the American people. We are roommates, all living in one big apartment called the United States of America. Instead of rent and bills, we pay taxes to cover living expenses, such as the police, firefighters, public libraries, and schools. Our living expenses also include maintenance of items previous generations "purchased", such a public roads and public parks. When someone has a "bad month", that means that they live under the poverty line, we help them out with the expenses.