Comment on Inflation Outpaces Wage Growth For Over 40% Of Americans
ghen@sh.itjust.works 1 week agoThat’s an oversimplification. Taxes are supposed to go for things that benefit everyone like roads for sure; but the vast majority goes to things that we generally think of as good but don’t generally need. Things like healthcare paid for by healthy people and military defense paid for by people who have never been shot at.
So while it is true to say nothing gets back to me, I am still relieved that I don’t have to get my money to come back to me because that would mean I have some sort of problem.
1984@lemmy.today 1 week ago
Thats one way of looking at it, sure.
Another way is that you could have had that money in your bank now, living a better life, maybe being able to stop working earlier, spending time with your family and friends, not feeling exhausted all the time.
ghen@sh.itjust.works 1 week ago
I think we can come to the common ground that there is a lot of stuff that the governments around the world and specifically the US government spend money on that it shouldn’t. A lot of our collective military spending is based on fear for example.
Quadhammer@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Can we agree billionaires shouldn’t exist
ghen@sh.itjust.works 1 week ago
Yup. There’s no such thing as a good billionaire. We could probably drop it down to a hundred millionaire too
phdepressed@sh.itjust.works 1 week ago
Yes, billionaires should not exist.
Can we also agree that school should be free and kids should be fed? Can we agree that roads (and rails) should be made and kept safe? Can we agree that our food should be safe to eat and not full of chalk or worse? Etc etc the most practical way to do those things is for everyone to chip in aka taxes.
One of the biggest problems in America is that since Reagan we’ve stopped truly taxing the rich and with that they’ve bought the government or enough of it to write the rules. Removal of the fairness doctrine, the repeal of glass-steagal, and citizens united are three big ones that come to mind. Where one-side can push their view without pushback or seeing the other side the idea of compromise goes out the window. That random opinions started getting treated same as facts is another thing. That companies could do stock buybacks and effectively manipulate their stock prices and C-suite/board pay meaning they can make money even without actual growth. And of course CU where money became speech and companies gained the benefits of being “people” without any of the detriments.
1984@lemmy.today 1 week ago
Its a hard question to answer. How many jobs are created by those people? Is it a net positive or negative compared to someone who doesnt create any successful company in his life?
I think I just hate the personality of the American billionaries. They are missing a lot of things inside, but that is also why they work so hard, because they need attention and feeling superior to others. Happy people dont even compare themselves to others very much and they feel good just having enough money to get a decent place to live, a decent car and decent food every day. And a partner to make life feel meaningful.
Of course now, young women are being totally brainwashed by social media so now they think they need to find rich single guys and ignore 90% of guys out there, which makes it hard to find a partner.
Its all part of the larger plan of making men feel like they dont have a purpose. Its just psyops. But thats a different discussion…
1984@lemmy.today 1 week ago
No I dont think we should destroy taxes. But I would love if they actually benefitted the majority of people, like you and me. After 50 years of being here on this planet, I havent seen that happening. I see old people getting poor health care, living on very little pension, and being forgotten by society.
All im saying is that the system is largely just sucking up money from everybody and using it for things the majority will never benefit from.
And of course you can say, shouldnt we pay taxes to support the weak in society? Yes, but again, i dont see that happening. I see old people being poor, i even see people being homeless. I see a lot of pain every day in people who actually need help but dont get it, because in capitalism, profits matter, not people.