We Are The 53% (lawyer, financial, government, states)

[Roadking2003]

Originally Posted by freemkt

Then it gets back to the right of Americans to buy homes they can afford and thereby escape rent slavery.

I pay more to rent a ROOM than my next door neighbor pays to OWN a 3BR house. How is that fair?

Then stop renting and buy a house.

[InformedConsent]

Originally Posted by DC at the Ridge

Federal income taxes. They still pay ALL other taxes.

Not always. Some get back more than they pay in.

[MTAtech]

Originally Posted by MTAtech

Well, if you can't see that a person earning $20,000 a year can't afford an additional $2,000 in taxes.

Originally Posted by InformedConsent

Why not? Share dwellings, etc. Live within one's means. It can be done. You're just making excuses for shirking a responsibility we ALL should share.

Yes, "LET THEM EAT CAKE!"

The more you debate, the more you display the cluelessness of your side's position -- 'the poor just need to hunker down to pay more taxes so we can reduce taxes on those who have much.'

Marie Antoinette would be proud of you.

[Roadking2003]

Originally Posted by freemkt

Nope...and interestingly, a childless full time minimum wage worker actually PAYS federal income tax. How do you like them apples?

Wonderful! They would pay 3.7% of their gross income.

That doesn't change the fact that 47% don't pay any FIT.

[InformedConsent]

Originally Posted by MTAtech

Yes, "LET THEM EAT CAKE!"

Not the same at all as "live within your means." Read The Millionaire Next Door. Those millionaires built their wealth from very humble beginnings by... you guessed it... always "living within their means."

[freemkt]

Originally Posted by Alltheusernamesaretaken

This is the Land of Opportunity.

Try going out and making your own future instead of whining about what you don't have at the present.

Ya know what, I kinda agree with you. I see opportunity all over the place, but I lack the cash, credit, and skills to take advantage of it.

I've worked out a sort of flowchard which others might find useful:

(can't do real flowcharts when you're limited to text, but...)

Is there something you can create?
If NO, is there something you can design?
If NO, is there something you can manage or administer?
If NO, is there something you can organize? (e.g. interiors, information)
If NO, is there something you can sell FTF?
If NO, is there something you can sell online or by mail order?
Tried selling different things, found one that works, but it's hard when you're starting on a shoestring.

[Roadking2003]

Originally Posted by freemkt

I'm unskilled and can't afford training to get skills.

Millions of us started at the same place. And millions of us worked our butts off, saved money and did whatever it took (legally) to get skills.

Most of us started off at the bottom of the ladder... making minimal wages but learning and making ourselves more valuable.

[freemkt]

Originally Posted by InformedConsent

Not the same at all as "live within your means." Read The Millionaire Next Door. Those millionaires built their wealth from very humble beginnings by... you guessed it... always "living within their means."

But millionaires next door did it with above-average incomes and in most cases with a business they owned or with a professional practice. Pretty hard to do it as a burger flipper.

[freemkt]

Originally Posted by Roadking2003

Millions of us started at the same place. And millions of us worked our butts off, saved money and did whatever it took (legally) to get skills.

Most of us started off at the bottom of the ladder... making minimal wages but learning and making ourselves more valuable.

Where I work, nobody makes 50 cents more than minimum wage. Doesn't matter how valuable we are or aren't.

[h152cc2]

Originally Posted by freemkt

Where I work, nobody makes 50 cents more than minimum wage. Doesn't matter how valuable we are or aren't.

So switch jobs. That's why we live in a free country.