Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
No, they don't say that. I fact, I just posted the Forbes link that differentiates how the self-made earned their money, and how those who inherited money increased their wealth.
You just don't get it. You have your mind made up, and you refuse to recognize the truth.
Quote:
"Wealth transfers — inheritances and gifts combined — constitute a small part of the holdings of the rich, whether you define “rich” in terms of income or net worth. For the top income quintile, gifts and inheritances amount to 13 percent of household wealth, according to research published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For the top wealth quintile, they amount to 16 percent. For the hated “1 percent,” inherited wealth accounts for about 15 percent of holdings.
...Meanwhile, inherited money makes up 43 percent of the wealth of the lowest income group and 31 percent for the second-lowest."
The middle and lower-middle classes are inheriting a significantly larger percentage of their wealth than is the top 1% (net worth of ~$7 million or more). The top 1% is far more likely to be creating their wealth.
What others have has nothing to do with what we don't have. In fact, it's because others have that many of us have what we have. If you don't like the fact that Bill Gates is rich, quit buying what he sells. It's that simple. Keep your money. Make due with what you have instead of buying the latest and greatest. Bill Gates et. al., don't owe us a penny. We got what we paid for.
To the person who posted this on my rep page:
"Very ironic coming from someone who is CONSTANTLY complaining about her job and the pay she gets."
I am not complaining about what others have nor am I blaming the fact they have for my low wage. Fighting for a decent wage has nothing to do with what others have. I have never said that people should not work to better their situation. What I said above is that what others have has nothing to do with what you don't have and it doesn't.
I will continue to fight for a fair wage for myself because what I do ought to be valued enough to pay a fair wage. However, hats off to Bill Gates et. al. for making it big. I'll never do that but that has nothing to do with them. It has to do with me. What I control is whether or not I choose to spend some of the money I have to make them even richer but that is my choice. I can buy what they sell or make do with what I have. I find it ironic that many of the people who complain about the likes of Bill Gates being as rich as they are are first in line to buy the newest technology Apple puts out.
No one resents the ultra-wealthy for being wealthy, but it is a very real problem when so much of the wealth that naturally flows up, as capital does, stays at the top. It's a recipe for social unrest and frankly it's being done on the backs of that 3% that you are lauding. Anecdotes are anecdotal, but when my taxes are done every year i know exactly who is paying and it ain't the top nor the bottom, it's the ever dwindling upper-middle class; the millionaire next door.
The problem is not that the top aren't paying enough. It's that the bottom half don't pay anything and many of them get money back they never earned. When half of your population doesn't pay to fund the system or takes from they system that is a recipe for disaster.
The rich are not going to spend their wealth for our sake. They're going to make their own lives secure as would you or I if we were them. If you spend your wealth you end up broke if the income stops. They are going to keep enough of their wealth that they don't have to worry. However, I would argue that they spend a lot more money than others so they are doing something to help the situation. They dine out at restaurants, buy expensive clothes and jewelry, cars, the latest technology etc, etc, etc... but you cannot expect them to spend so much they put their futures at risk.
If we went to a flat tax system where everyone pays in and eliminated the ability to get more back than you paid in, we'd fix our problem. Make minimum wage $10/hour and introduce a 15% flat tax. This would give the middle class more to spend and them spending their money will do far more than the few rich there are spending theirs because there are a lot more of them and they spend what they earn. The problem isn't that the top 3% don't pay enough. It's that the bottom 50% don't pay or get from the system.
If dd's baby is born this year, her boyfriend will get a deduction for the baby and a $3000 child tax credit. He makes $10/hour and stands to not only get back everything he paid in but another $1500 on top of that (he will file single head of household and claim the baby. We still claim dd because we're supporting her and the baby when he arrives. He's providing health insurance for the baby so he has to claim the baby otherwise we would.). This baby being 10 days early is worth about $3500 to dd's boyfriend. I'm hoping he's early and they use the windfall to get their own apartment . While I will advise them to take advantage of anything they can because Lord knows dh and I have paid more than our share of taxes over the years, I have to ask why our system is set up to just hand them money like this. IMO, something is wrong here. I'd rather have fair taxes for the middle class and a system that doesn't just hand out money.
Last edited by Ivorytickler; 11-22-2014 at 05:56 AM..
Anecdotes are anecdotal, but when my taxes are done every year i know exactly who is paying and it ain't the top nor the bottom, it's the ever dwindling upper-middle class; the millionaire next door.
Then let's look at the facts... The top is in fact paying. According to the latest published IRS data on this (2014 publication, includes up to the year 2009), the top 400 filers paid an average effective federal income tax rate of 19.91% in 2009. Page 10, here: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/09intop400.pdf
"Very ironic coming from someone who is CONSTANTLY complaining about her job and the pay she gets."
I am not complaining about what others have nor am I blaming the fact they have for my low wage. Fighting for a decent wage has nothing to do with what others have. I have never said that people should not work to better their situation. What I said above is that what others have has nothing to do with what you don't have and it doesn't.
I will continue to fight for a fair wage for myself because what I do ought to be valued enough to pay a fair wage. However, hats off to Bill Gates et. al. for making it big. I'll never do that but that has nothing to do with them. It has to do with me. What I control is whether or not I choose to spend some of the money I have to make them even richer but that is my choice. I can buy what they sell or make do with what I have. I find it ironic that many of the people who complain about the likes of Bill Gates being as rich as they are are first in line to buy the newest technology Apple puts out.
It's obviously not.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I fact, I just posted the Forbes link that differentiates how the self-made earned their money, and how those who inherited money increased their wealth.
What others have has nothing to do with what we don't have. In fact, it's because others have that many of us have what we have. If you don't like the fact that Bill Gates is rich, quit buying what he sells. It's that simple. Keep your money. Make due with what you have instead of buying the latest and greatest. Bill Gates et. al., don't owe us a penny. We got what we paid for.
