Idiot question: Do we (taxpayers) pay for all these ads we hate?

[Bossy Monkey]

I appreciate that we would be paying for them regardless in the form of higher prices, so it's sort of a moot point. But I seem to recall that in controversies over sports franchises holding up cities for new arenas, that it turned out that not only were taxpayers paying for the building but also we wind up footing the bill for the corporate skybox rentals because they're considered a promotional expense which gets taken off on corporate income taxes. By extension, advertising would also be a deductible promotional expense. By further extension, this whole deal GM is advertising every two minutes on every network about giving away the store to give everyone on Earth the GM employee discount would also be paid for by taxpayers (the discount, I mean).

A few of my remaining working brain cells are chiming up to claim that all business expenses are deductible. This may also be true, and maybe all this stuff seems like an outrage because I'm just not thinking it through.

I actually have an Economics degree, so it's beyond embarrassing to admit to being this much of an idiot. That said, I would be thrilled to hear that everything I said above is wrong, so feel free to tell me so. Am I completely off the beam, or is this totally insane?

[Trillo]

1. It's been my subjective theory

that little people pay for everything. To me, Durant's theory that Hunter/Gatherers worked on average for only about 2 hours per day in needs acquisition, and spend the rest of the time "lazing" around, suggests to my mind that our current work ethic of anywhere from 40-75 hours per week (poor working people who need two full time minimum wage jobs) means that all those hours above 10-14 hours per week (hunter gather survival hours) is spent 'enriching others.'

This type of thinking (my subjective theory) is similar to flipping the 'stick box' and bringing the transparent rear cubic face forward in one's mind.
http://www.richardgregory.org.nyud.net:8090/papers/brainmodels/brain_model_fig2.gif

[Bossy Monkey]

2. Thanks for replying but...

now my head hurts.:D

[julianer]

3. I don't want to pop your balloon

but Karl Marx was ahead of you by about 140 years. He called it surplus labour, I believe.

It's from selling the product of surplus labour that you get profit.

It's all in the first few chapters of Capital.

[Trillo]

4. Could be.

I've never read anything penned by Marx. Nor am I anywhere near finishing Durant.