Society
Exploring "Why" questions about Society
481 articles
Why is sales tax in the US excluded from the list price?
Because every state has a different tax rate on goods, so that would make putting tax into the price a little difficult
Why are churches tax exempt?
It has nothing to do with the separation of church and state regarding their tax status. Churches are eligible for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. They do have to abide by the restricts such as the
Why do money-wiring services exist when you can just email money for free?
email doesn't happen out of thin air. you have to have a device. if you're poor you are unlikely to have a device.
Why whistleblowing is dangerous to the whistleblower and in some cases illegal?
It's not illegal to blow the whistle on illegal behavior. The problem in this case is that what the NSA is doing might actually be legal. As for support for Snowden vs Manning: Are you sure that's tru
Why is it legal for organizations like the MPAA to exist? Isn’t that collusion?
Businesses are allowed to work together, as long as it's not about defrauding consumers, price fixing & stuff like that. There's nothing wrong with forming a trade association to promote their col
Why do married couples, civil unions, etcetera get benefits that legally separate couples don’t get?
Because the government needs some way to determine who gets those benefits and who doesn't. Civil marriage is a legal status change, analogous in some ways to legally adopting a child; it creates a le
Why do high schools test you on every chapter when colleges/universities only give two exams?
> you might be studying a lot for something that doesn't show up on the test The goal is not to pass tests: the goal is to acquire knowledge. Tests and exams are just there to prove you've actually
Why it takes 3-5 business days to transfer money to/from my PayPal account.
The financial system takes a while to do anything, since various security checks have to take place by all parties involved. It's not just Paypal being slow for fun, it's so they can ensure the money
Why did US Congress pass a law to ensure all helium in the US National Helium Reserve is sold by 2015? What benefit does this have?
In 1995 We had gathered a stockpile of over 1 billion cubic meters but had also racked up a debt of $1.4 billion doing so. The law was not to sell off all stockpiles, it was to start selling off the s
Why does the USA government allow cable companies to have monopolies over a area?
Natural monopolies are not illegal. A monopoly is only illegal if you actively take actions to prevent or eliminate competition. One such action is buying out the competition, but competition choosing