4 ms·

Do you know what is theft ? When kids born today are unable to afford to go to college, while the same people who are against +80% tax were born in an era when

by 1971genocide 11y ago

Do you know what is theft ? When kids born today are unable to afford to go to college, while the same people who are against +80% tax were born in an era when tax was way higher at +90% that helped pay for their education and create the infrastructure that allowed them to earn their wealth. "Surplus Wealth is a scared trust which its possessor is bound to administer in his lifetime for the good of the community " - Andrew Caregie. Guess what if you think the government is treating you unfairly then be prepared when society bifurcates and returns a stack error in the form of "bolsheviks".

onewaystreet 11y ago
Some of the wealthiest people in the US were born just a few decades ago. Not all US billionaires are not crotchety 80-year-olds.
yummyfajitas 11y ago
More kids than ever before can afford to go to college. http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/images/2010/ted_20100428.png http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/images/2010/ted_20100428.png
- rosser 11y ago
  Having little choice but to sign yourself up for a mortgage-sized debt that can't be discharged isn't the most obvious definition of "affordable" I've ever encountered.
  - yummyfajitas 11y ago
    I'm defining "afford to go to college" as "have enough money to actually attend if they choose to". The number of people who actually attend is a lower bound on this number. A quick google search yields an average cost of $9k for a state school, $22k for out of state, and $31k for private. Maybe the expensive side of college is "mortgage-sized" debt, provided you are comparing to the cheapest mortgages.
  - thetopher 11y ago
    Little choice? There is a wide spectrum of choices for higher-education in the US. While I think the idea that everybody should go to college is fundamentally harmful, I do think that everybody who wants to should be able to go to college. On the other hand, taking out $200,000 in loans to study comparative literature at an ivy league school, and then demanding that the universe provides means to pay it all back is ridiculous. People should buy into their education with a long-term plan. Most people cannot afford the luxury of majoring in an unprofitable subject while incurring enormous debt.
TheHydroImpulse 11y ago
I think you'll find few who disagree that there's income inequality (it will always exist, however, it's at extreme and unsustainable levels currently). However, hiking up taxation to extraordinary levels is absurd. It's a trend to try and take from the rich and give to the poor. If you truly want more distributed income across the people (I wouldn't call it income equality because that's impossible.) then you'll find instituting more taxation does little to fix that. Most of the 1%'s wealth doesn't come from their income. There's a reason many CEOs take $1/year as salary. The entitlement system is absolutely broken. I'm all for a smaller government, but if we could replace the broken system with some sort of basic income (and that idea seems quite contrary with my political beliefs), I doubt it'd cost more than what's currently being paid out -- and it might actually be better.
liquidise 11y ago
Many individual billionaires in the US donate more money to charities in one year than most americans will earn in their entire lives. Think about that for a moment. And this is in addition to the top 10% of americans already paying 68% of all the taxes. Your inclusion of Mr. Carnegie's quote is quaint. He was freely entitled to his own ideas. The beauty of freedom is that those who disagree are empowered to amass and donate their money as they personally see fit. It is neither the job, nor the right, of the populace to spend the money earned by any individual, regardless of their level of success.

onewaystreet 11y ago

Some of the wealthiest people in the US were born just a few decades ago. Not all US billionaires are not crotchety 80-year-olds.

yummyfajitas 11y ago

More kids than ever before can afford to go to college. http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/images/2010/ted_20100428.png http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/images/2010/ted_20100428.png

rosser 11y ago
Having little choice but to sign yourself up for a mortgage-sized debt that can't be discharged isn't the most obvious definition of "affordable" I've ever encountered.
- yummyfajitas 11y ago
  I'm defining "afford to go to college" as "have enough money to actually attend if they choose to". The number of people who actually attend is a lower bound on this number. A quick google search yields an average cost of $9k for a state school, $22k for out of state, and $31k for private. Maybe the expensive side of college is "mortgage-sized" debt, provided you are comparing to the cheapest mortgages.
- thetopher 11y ago
  Little choice? There is a wide spectrum of choices for higher-education in the US. While I think the idea that everybody should go to college is fundamentally harmful, I do think that everybody who wants to should be able to go to college. On the other hand, taking out $200,000 in loans to study comparative literature at an ivy league school, and then demanding that the universe provides means to pay it all back is ridiculous. People should buy into their education with a long-term plan. Most people cannot afford the luxury of majoring in an unprofitable subject while incurring enormous debt.

TheHydroImpulse 11y ago

I think you'll find few who disagree that there's income inequality (it will always exist, however, it's at extreme and unsustainable levels currently). However, hiking up taxation to extraordinary levels is absurd. It's a trend to try and take from the rich and give to the poor. If you truly want more distributed income across the people (I wouldn't call it income equality because that's impossible.) then you'll find instituting more taxation does little to fix that. Most of the 1%'s wealth doesn't come from their income. There's a reason many CEOs take $1/year as salary. The entitlement system is absolutely broken. I'm all for a smaller government, but if we could replace the broken system with some sort of basic income (and that idea seems quite contrary with my political beliefs), I doubt it'd cost more than what's currently being paid out -- and it might actually be better.

liquidise 11y ago

Many individual billionaires in the US donate more money to charities in one year than most americans will earn in their entire lives. Think about that for a moment. And this is in addition to the top 10% of americans already paying 68% of all the taxes. Your inclusion of Mr. Carnegie's quote is quaint. He was freely entitled to his own ideas. The beauty of freedom is that those who disagree are empowered to amass and donate their money as they personally see fit. It is neither the job, nor the right, of the populace to spend the money earned by any individual, regardless of their level of success.