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> What's the connection between scamming and slavery? ...asked the taxpayer. Slaves didn't get paid. I'll rephrase that. They were taxed 100%. How much perce

> What's the connection between scamming and slavery? ...asked the taxpayer. Slaves didn't get paid. I'll rephrase that. They were taxed 100%. How much percent are you taxed? Does that make you a slave? You probably think it doesn't. But if someone that is taxed 100% is a slave, then if we tax people 99% can we say they're not slaves any longer? What about 98%? What about 39.1%? What's the cutoff? Indeed it gets to a point where we can't say with a straight face that people are "slaves" because they're getting most of their money back. The difference between scam and slavery is a matter of degree. If you dial this scam up to 100% it becomes slavery. If you dial it down enough that people believe you're stealing their money for their own good, that's when it's a scam. Food for thought.

mturmon 12y ago
"taxed 100%" This is just not the case. Slavery is much worse, because it extends beyond money. For instance, as a slave, your children can be sold away from you. There is a big difference between high tax rates and being outright owned.
- innguest 12y ago
  You mean how the government can take your children away from you through Child Protection Services? But that's a detail. Governments do sell our children away quite literally, which is why young people entering the market now pay for health benefits for the elderly - because the State is too incompetent to properly manage the money those elders put in themselves when they were working. Try another argument. Good one though.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - mturmon 12y ago
    I'm trying to parse your second paragraph. You are saying that governments "literally" sell our children. The reason you give is that young people are paying taxes that support Medicare, i.e., health care for senior citizens? I think your argument is that these taxes (1.45%, currently) are "literally" the equivalent of slavery?
    - innguest 12y ago
      Thanks for asking for clarification. I did not phrase that well. I'm arguing that when we (taxpayers in the US) go in debt ($18 trillion + $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities) that means we are borrowing from future generations which will then be forced to pay for something they never voted for. I see you like numbers. The numbers I point out above are a little scarier than your "1.45%" but nice try.
caseydurfee 12y ago
You might want to take a couple seconds to think about all the ways that taxation is different from actual slavery, and how clueless and asinine your comments look in light of that. Taxation doesn't control who you can marry. Taxation doesn't confiscate your children. Taxation doesn't prevent you from practicing your religion. Taxation doesn't require you to take the name of the person who owns you. Taxation doesn't deliberately keep you ignorant and uneducated. Taxation doesn't beat you to death if you try to escape (it is trivially easy to renounce your US citizenship). Taxation doesn't tell you are less than a human because of your national origin. Taxation doesn't make you owned by one person, a thing that can be sold to another person. Get some freaking perspective.
- innguest 12y ago
  I hope your use of adjectives has calmed down your nerves. > You might want to take a couple seconds to think about all the ways that taxation is different from actual slavery I've thought and read about this for more than a couple of seconds, but if it makes you feel edgy to make unfounded statements about how much research your interlocutor has put into what he has said, then whatever floats your boat. > Taxation doesn't control who you can marry. Tell that to gay people in the US. > Taxation doesn't confiscate your children. Tell that to those whose children have been unfairly taken away by CPS (there was a terrifying experience related on HN not long ago). > Taxation doesn't prevent you from practicing your religion. Religion is bigotry justified and made immune to criticism via holy books. I'm against them so I don't care about this point. > Taxation doesn't require you to take the name of the person who owns you. It does require you to get official papers, documents, and IDs registered with the oppressor, plus a passport and all your fingerprints to go from one tax farm to another. > Taxation doesn't deliberately keep you ignorant and uneducated. It sure does with the Prussian education model we use in the US, and you're anecdotal proof of that. > Taxation doesn't beat you to death if you try to escape (it is trivially easy to renounce your US citizenship) From Wikipedia: Renunciation of U.S. citizenship was free until July 2010, at which time a fee of $450 was established.[29] An increase to $2,350, effective September 12, 2014, was justified as "reflective of the true cost" of processing.[30] So it's only "trivially easy" for those that have $2,350 in the bank which if you look at the statistics for the US isn't that many people. > Taxation doesn't tell you are less than a human because of your national origin. Tell that to the Palestinians. > Taxation doesn't make you owned by one person, a thing that can be sold to another person. Tell that to the Greeks whose work and life savings are being negotiated to be sold to international banksters as we speak. Good try though. Try again. This time try doing doing it better.

mturmon 12y ago

"taxed 100%" This is just not the case. Slavery is much worse, because it extends beyond money. For instance, as a slave, your children can be sold away from you. There is a big difference between high tax rates and being outright owned.

innguest 12y ago
You mean how the government can take your children away from you through Child Protection Services? But that's a detail. Governments do sell our children away quite literally, which is why young people entering the market now pay for health benefits for the elderly - because the State is too incompetent to properly manage the money those elders put in themselves when they were working. Try another argument. Good one though.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- mturmon 12y ago
  I'm trying to parse your second paragraph. You are saying that governments "literally" sell our children. The reason you give is that young people are paying taxes that support Medicare, i.e., health care for senior citizens? I think your argument is that these taxes (1.45%, currently) are "literally" the equivalent of slavery?
  - innguest 12y ago
    Thanks for asking for clarification. I did not phrase that well. I'm arguing that when we (taxpayers in the US) go in debt ($18 trillion + $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities) that means we are borrowing from future generations which will then be forced to pay for something they never voted for. I see you like numbers. The numbers I point out above are a little scarier than your "1.45%" but nice try.

caseydurfee 12y ago

You might want to take a couple seconds to think about all the ways that taxation is different from actual slavery, and how clueless and asinine your comments look in light of that. Taxation doesn't control who you can marry. Taxation doesn't confiscate your children. Taxation doesn't prevent you from practicing your religion. Taxation doesn't require you to take the name of the person who owns you. Taxation doesn't deliberately keep you ignorant and uneducated. Taxation doesn't beat you to death if you try to escape (it is trivially easy to renounce your US citizenship). Taxation doesn't tell you are less than a human because of your national origin. Taxation doesn't make you owned by one person, a thing that can be sold to another person. Get some freaking perspective.

innguest 12y ago
I hope your use of adjectives has calmed down your nerves. > You might want to take a couple seconds to think about all the ways that taxation is different from actual slavery I've thought and read about this for more than a couple of seconds, but if it makes you feel edgy to make unfounded statements about how much research your interlocutor has put into what he has said, then whatever floats your boat. > Taxation doesn't control who you can marry. Tell that to gay people in the US. > Taxation doesn't confiscate your children. Tell that to those whose children have been unfairly taken away by CPS (there was a terrifying experience related on HN not long ago). > Taxation doesn't prevent you from practicing your religion. Religion is bigotry justified and made immune to criticism via holy books. I'm against them so I don't care about this point. > Taxation doesn't require you to take the name of the person who owns you. It does require you to get official papers, documents, and IDs registered with the oppressor, plus a passport and all your fingerprints to go from one tax farm to another. > Taxation doesn't deliberately keep you ignorant and uneducated. It sure does with the Prussian education model we use in the US, and you're anecdotal proof of that. > Taxation doesn't beat you to death if you try to escape (it is trivially easy to renounce your US citizenship) From Wikipedia: Renunciation of U.S. citizenship was free until July 2010, at which time a fee of $450 was established.[29] An increase to $2,350, effective September 12, 2014, was justified as "reflective of the true cost" of processing.[30] So it's only "trivially easy" for those that have $2,350 in the bank which if you look at the statistics for the US isn't that many people. > Taxation doesn't tell you are less than a human because of your national origin. Tell that to the Palestinians. > Taxation doesn't make you owned by one person, a thing that can be sold to another person. Tell that to the Greeks whose work and life savings are being negotiated to be sold to international banksters as we speak. Good try though. Try again. This time try doing doing it better.