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Are you crazy? How can I lie when I have experienced it myself? Is it my fault you have probably never gone to Africa etc. and been embarrassed and humbled by the generosity of people who have hardly anything?
Tell me the unit generosity is measured in and maybe I will find a source for you...
My brother will be dead and wasted when he gets into retirement age, if he ever does...
Time, talent and treasure, I already said it. If you're not a churchgoer, I will explain: time is spent volunteering, talent is donating your time doing something you're good at like doctors who go on mission trips, treasure is monetary donations. Find me some stats.
I have no desire to go to Africa, thanks. But I have seen plenty of testimony about mission trips to that continent and yes, there are some generous people there, but they are doing it b/c they're thankful us greedy rich Americans are going over there to help them out.
What the heck??? My grandparents go on cruises and scrimp on everything else (they paid cash for their home 15 years ago as well as their two vehicles...one of which is 15 years old and only has 40k miles on it) b/c they have made good decisions with their lives. It most certainly IS their right to go on trips all the time and enjoy a decade or two of pleasure before they die. What a load of crap. After working hard their whole lives, yes, they do deserve that. Seriously, you are just on a roll this morning.
You have yourself to blame for your entire life. If you are happy, fine, but don't stick your hand out at any point in time and expect me and the other taxpayers to put a roof over your head or food on your table. And don't thing you are better than the wealthy just b/c you're not working your life away. Those people have it way better than you ever will, sorry to say.
That is just a different idea of life. You seem to favor working your butt off while young and then fading life out for the last 20 or 30 years. That is not my idea at all, I prefer distributing work more evenly over the entire lifespan, but also fun, spare-time etc.
For instance retirement here is not like tapping a savings account. I read somewhere that the contributions one pays into the system today are already used up two or three days later. My future rent will depend on the contributions made by others when I am old. Rich people are foolish if they think they will be much better off later on, especially in countries which are aging fast.
Time, talent and treasure, I already said it. If you're not a churchgoer, I will explain: time is spent volunteering, talent is donating your time doing something you're good at like doctors who go on mission trips, treasure is monetary donations. Find me some stats.
I have no desire to go to Africa, thanks. But I have seen plenty of testimony about mission trips to that continent and yes, there are some generous people there, but they are doing it b/c they're thankful us greedy rich Americans are going over there to help them out.
Not at all. I never went anywhere to help locals out and still was always treated with utmost generosity.
And therein lies the problem. You are not "entitled" to any kind of handout. That line of thinking is where you're going wrong. And yeah, if you're a freelancer of any kind and you pay no taxes, I would say you're probably lazy. You don't need to remind me of the deductions for working out of the home, mileage, mortgage interest, etc....I take them, too, and I still turn a profit even during years I don't make that much.
As soon as I pay into a insurance system, I am entitled to making use of it when I need it. That goes for both the US and Europe. If I don't meet the insurance requirements and conditions I won't get anything. But I do meet them, thus I am entitled to help if I need it.
I work from home, no car, thus no mileage, no mortgage either, just rent.
The incentive is earning that money. I doubt anybody wants to work hard if they know it's not going to yield anything. It has nothing to do with society, it has to do with how you want your life to be. Why are you thumbing your nose at those who wants yachts? If they work and earn it, who cares? Why should that person be taxed to death just b/c he works hard?????? You still have not answered the question.
I've heard plenty of people scream about how they hate the rich, tax the rich, the rich are horrible people, the rich are materialistic...but I've never heard anybody with such hatred toward the wealthy b/c they think they're wasting their lives working and need money to be happy. You should be glad the rich are working as they are the ones who fund entitlement programs.
You are making statements that are simply false. 'not yield anything' and 'taxed to death' are simply ridiculous statements when you talk about people making hundreds of thousands of $ and keeping about half of that for themselves
Of course hard work is important, but most of the rich are also very lucky. You need luck AND hard-work to be rich. The problem with setting taxes is that people just assume that the rich's wealth is proportional to their effort. I don't think that's true. I think it's more like after a certain amount of effort, you need luck to be super successful.
That's why I think the rich needs to have more taxes. It accounts for the luck factor.
The book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell talks a lot about how people become successful.
So wealth redistribution is not really the way to go, we need luck redistribution.
I'll tell you what, Malcolm Gladwell was lucky he wrote the book, and lucky he found a publisher, and lucky the stores did not place his book in the wrong section.
Of course hard work is important, but most of the rich are also very lucky. You need luck AND hard-work to be rich. The problem with setting taxes is that people just assume that the rich's wealth is proportional to their effort. I don't think that's true. I think it's more like after a certain amount of effort, you need luck to be super successful.
That's why I think the rich needs to have more taxes. It accounts for the luck factor.
The book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell talks a lot about how people become successful.
What right do you have to someones money? I don't care if they won it in a lottery or earned it. It's their property not mine. I wish more people would show respect for others property and not act like they are entitled to it.
So IF you are wealthy due to luck, how does that change anything? It is still your money.
If I win the lottery tomorrow, do my neighbors have a right to take that money from me?
If you live on that little patch of land between the White House and the Treasury, you better believe your neighbors are going to take it! And without as much as a 'thank you'!
So IF you are wealthy due to luck, how does that change anything? It is still your money.
If I win the lottery tomorrow, do my neighbors have a right to take that money from me?
Lucky, is the beautiful woman with a knock out body who is seen waiting on tables, or just walking the streets, by a talent scout.
Lynne Baggett - discovered on her way to the Harris Department Store in Dallas, Texas, by Steven “Solly” Baiano, Warner Brothers’ chief talent scout
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Kim Alexia - discovered while attending college to become a pharmacist, by John Casablancas, owner of the high-powered Elite modeling agency.
But it is not about luck when someone invents a process for canned food or frozen vegitables, Rubic's Cube, the Pet Rock or the smiley face logo and put it on buttons and t-shirts.
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Last edited by Yac; 01-10-2014 at 08:55 AM..
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