7 ms·

The U.S. government (federal and state) spend more than $10T annually. By comparison, the top 1% wealthy Americans combined donate about 1% of that amount ($100

The U.S. government (federal and state) spend more than $10T annually. By comparison, the top 1% wealthy Americans combined donate about 1% of that amount ($100B) annually. Furthermore, government spending is ostensibly in the hands of the people via our elected representatives. It took me about 15 seconds to Google the San Francisco city budget and see that the city plans to spend $200M(!) on the city's public library this year. We are not at the mercy of rich people we don't control. Instead, we are at the mercy of the people we elect, who we do control. As things should be. Sadly, we just don't seem to care very much as a populace. Government budget breakdowns don't make headlines, whereas information about the spending habits of the rich tend to capture our imaginations. It's also worth nothing that in his prime Bill Gates was not the philanthropist he is today. He "retired" into it. I'm not sure why people have expected Musk, Bezos, etc. to do in their primes what Bill Gates is doing in his retirement.

dheera 3y ago
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- jimjimjim 3y ago
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marchingkazoo 3y ago
Comparing government expenditures on infrastructure (roads, bridges, sewers, power grids, schools, libraries), and earned benefits (social security, medicare) with a "charitable foundation's donations" can only be seen as disingenuous. Please don't insult us with this sort of sophistry.
- csallen 3y ago
  Anything can be compared. In fact, you may be surprised to learn that the entire point of the word "compare" is to point out similarities between otherwise dissimilar things.
  - marchingkazoo 3y ago
    Well, yes, it's true that the Milky Way could be compared to a sardine sandwich. As has been noted, that comparison would be disingenuous.
    - csallen 3y ago
      Both the Milky Way and sardine sandwiches are visible objects. That's a comparison that's not disingenuous. If you're going to label a comparison as disingenuous, the onus is on you to provide a reason why. Otherwise, you're being unreasonable.
      - marchingkazoo 3y ago
        >Both the Milky Way and sardine sandwiches are visible objects. Sure. Aside from that? I'm trying very very hard to not be pedantic, but you are making that difficult. Thing is, comparing incompatible items is disingenuous.
s1artibartfast 3y ago
Another consideration is that Federal, state, and local tax collection currently stands at approximately 40% of US GDP for the US. This puts a natural upper limit on how much the government can just raise revenue and simply do. Eventually people need to consider not revenue, but instead what they want the government to prioritize, and how efficiently it does it. I find that most people are in disbelief when they hear this Stat because they think in terms of individual tax rates and not serial multiplication. Take a widget company by way of example. It produces a widget which it sells for profit. Company pays corporate income tax, then passes the rest on to investors who pay income or capital gains tax again. The investor then uses that income to pay sales taxes on anything they buy as well as property taxes and miscellaneous fees.

dheera 3y ago

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jimjimjim 3y ago
[flagged]

marchingkazoo 3y ago

Comparing government expenditures on infrastructure (roads, bridges, sewers, power grids, schools, libraries), and earned benefits (social security, medicare) with a "charitable foundation's donations" can only be seen as disingenuous. Please don't insult us with this sort of sophistry.

csallen 3y ago
Anything can be compared. In fact, you may be surprised to learn that the entire point of the word "compare" is to point out similarities between otherwise dissimilar things.
- marchingkazoo 3y ago
  Well, yes, it's true that the Milky Way could be compared to a sardine sandwich. As has been noted, that comparison would be disingenuous.
  - csallen 3y ago
    Both the Milky Way and sardine sandwiches are visible objects. That's a comparison that's not disingenuous. If you're going to label a comparison as disingenuous, the onus is on you to provide a reason why. Otherwise, you're being unreasonable.
    - marchingkazoo 3y ago
      >Both the Milky Way and sardine sandwiches are visible objects. Sure. Aside from that? I'm trying very very hard to not be pedantic, but you are making that difficult. Thing is, comparing incompatible items is disingenuous.

s1artibartfast 3y ago

Another consideration is that Federal, state, and local tax collection currently stands at approximately 40% of US GDP for the US. This puts a natural upper limit on how much the government can just raise revenue and simply do. Eventually people need to consider not revenue, but instead what they want the government to prioritize, and how efficiently it does it. I find that most people are in disbelief when they hear this Stat because they think in terms of individual tax rates and not serial multiplication. Take a widget company by way of example. It produces a widget which it sells for profit. Company pays corporate income tax, then passes the rest on to investors who pay income or capital gains tax again. The investor then uses that income to pay sales taxes on anything they buy as well as property taxes and miscellaneous fees.