The 1% thread got me wondering. I’ll give it a stab,
Never having to worry about where a meal is coming from, or where I am staying that night. Never having to worry if my car was going to get me somewhere. Knowing if I got in any kind of a situation, there was enough money to get me out. Never worrying about going to the Dr. or ER if someone needed it, never worrying about how to get medicine.
And maybe my definition is just a sad statement on America. But to me if you have all that, your rich.
That is a pretty loose definition of rich. There are a lot of people that meet most of that criteria, if not all of it, and they (we) are the ones that are tipping the server at the restaurant, buying the new cars that keep the auto workers employed, paying to have cars serviced that keep that industry running, etc. They (we) are literally the backbone of the service economy, and the people that make a living off that industry want to tax us so we can’t do that.
The stupid in this thread is reaching new heights. People are literally espousing for Socialism.
Not really, people are questioning historically low tax rates and accelerating income inequality controlled by unharnessed greed.
We’re getting closer to the opposite of socialism where 1% of the population with no oversight owns the food stock, energy stock, housing stock, medical stock that the 99% require to live.
Should the 1% get richer and richer off the necessities of life? Did we really need venture capital to get involved in medical care and turning single family homes into rental stock?
Should the Waltons be hyper involved in water policy? Should the tech bros be hoovering up farmland? Should my dermatologist work on commission selling beauty products? Should my anesthesiologist be a profit center for a company that will not negotiate in good faith with my insurance so I get billed despite doing everything I could to be protected?
You can be mad all you want- but we are at a level of income inequality that historically would predict a revolution and the 1% just keeps going. There’s nothing off limits to what they will squeeze a completely unnecessary for them $ from someone drowning financially.
Actually it is. You are suggesting that the people that have worked hard for their life style be taxed to the point where they are like everyone else. Why should I bust my ass to get to where I am if I am penalized to the point where I live no better than a floor supervisor? On the flip side, how do you feel about socialized (government provided) medical care? For some reason most people that take your stand do not want to equalize the one major expense that varies greatly by working class. I have never understood that thought process.
You (the royal you) are seeing a problem that I agree exists, but you are trying to fix it in the wrong and, in my opinion, dangerous to the economy way. In my opinion, the tax codes have not kept up with the current economy. Digital merchants - companies and individuals that make a living providing digital services, advertising, information, etc. are not being taxed like a brick and mortar company (like mine). That fix alone, along the other similar problems, would greatly improve our debt ratio.
Take the need to purchase medical care off the individual’s budget and watch what happens to the standard of living for the lowest earners, or even the lower middle class.
There are fixes, and many smart people have suggested them, but the ruling class seems to keep shooting that down. That’s our problem.
In case you are wondering, by 2020 standards I’m not quit in the top 5% of all US earners, and probably will not get any higher before I retire.