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Old 01-31-2013, 11:51 AM
 
Location: San Diego, CA
10,581 posts, read 9,787,000 times
Reputation: 4174

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I keep hearing liberals and other socialists say they want to "redistribute" the wealth in this country. But that implies that the wealth was "distributed" by someone to us all in the first place, and maybe that someone did a bad job and the liberals think they can do it better.

But wealth was never "distributed" to any of us, except maybe by welfare clerks to various indigent persons. But the $100 that's in my wallet now, wasn't distributed to me by anyone. A guy with a car and I made an agreement: I'd tune up his car and fix a few things on it, and he'd pay me $100 to do it. I tuned it up, changed the oil, and replaced two squeaking belts that were badly worn. He's happy, now it starts easier, gets better gas mileage, and doesn't make weird sounds as he drives. He'd much rather have a car that drives like this, than have the $100; and I'd much rather have the $100 and don't mind getting my hands dirty to do something I do well.

Nobody "distributed" anything to either one of us. He and I made a deal, both of us gave the other something of value, both of us are happy with the outcome.

But if Barack Obama had come along just then, he might have taken the guy's $100, and the guy couldn't have gotten me to fix his car. He'd still have a sh*tty-running car that sometimes wouldn't start, I'd be $100 poorer... which means my son would be walking 3 miles to school instead of riding the bike I was about to fix up for him. Barack Obama wants me to think that a better use was made of that $100, than we would have made of it... but when we asked Barack Obama exactly what the money was used for, he couldn't answer the question.

People who talk about "redistributing" wealth, are lying. What they are doing, is taking something that was yours, that you earned, and telling you that (a) they know better how to use it than you do, and (b) this somehow makes it OK for them to take it from you, whether you like it or not.

These people aren't "redistributing" anything, because your money wasn't "distributed" to you in the first place. You EARNED it, and you got it because you DESERVED it, not because some uninvolved bureaucrat thought your having it would somehow be a good idea and so gave his blessing on you to receive it.

"Redistributing" is a politician's way of implying you did NOT earn your money, and so it's not really yours. And pretending that his deciding what to use your money for, is the natural order of things. Not the idea that since you earned it, YOU should decide what to use it for. He's trying to get you away from that idea.

A man who jerks you into an alley, sticks a gun in your face, and demands you give him your money or he'll blast you, is doing the same thing that politician is. The only difference is, the guy with the gun is being more honest and straightforward about it. He's not pretending you owe him anything, and not trying to get you to believe that what he's doing is "moral", and not trying to fool you into thinking that your keeping your money is eeevil.

Next time some politician or forum member tells you he wants to "redistribute" the wealth, remember what he's really saying. And remember that in some ways you'd be better off with somebody sticking a gun in your face.
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Old 01-31-2013, 11:58 AM
 
Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
68,330 posts, read 54,411,082 times
Reputation: 40736
Quote:
Originally Posted by Little-Acorn View Post
Next time some politician or forum member tells you he wants to "redistribute" the wealth, remember what he's really saying. And remember that in some ways you'd be better off with somebody sticking a gun in your face.
So what are they really saying when they say they want to take our tax $$$ and give even more to an alreadly bloated, overpriced military?

That the MIC lobby was very, very good to them this year?
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Old 01-31-2013, 12:03 PM
 
6,331 posts, read 5,212,292 times
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What is government "redistribution of wealth", really?

Walll Street getting 1.5 trillion dollars of the tax payers money.
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Old 01-31-2013, 12:07 PM
 
Location: Great State of Texas
86,052 posts, read 84,509,263 times
Reputation: 27720
All government programs and salaries are redistribution of wealth via taxpayer dollars.
And when the USG doesn't have enough they borrow and redistribute that money as well.

The USG is one gigantic ponzi scheme.

They may have started out as Robin Hood but they are now Gordon Gekko.
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Old 01-31-2013, 12:10 PM
 
Location: Annandale, VA
5,094 posts, read 5,175,972 times
Reputation: 4233
"Wealth" is what you have accumulated AFTER your taxes are paid. The only way the government can redistribute it is if they confiscate your estate.

Currently, we don't have any wealth taxes........yet.
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Old 01-31-2013, 12:13 PM
 
Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
68,330 posts, read 54,411,082 times
Reputation: 40736
Quote:
Originally Posted by HappyTexan View Post
All government programs and salaries are redistribution of wealth via taxpayer dollars.
And when the USG doesn't have enough they borrow and redistribute that money as well.

The USG is one gigantic ponzi scheme.
Actually, the OP made a point on another thread that Redistribution of Wealth was taking from those who'd earned their $$$ and giving to those who have less, a meaning that seems to come up when the term is searched.

Perhaps we need a new term for taking our tax $$$ and giving to those who already have plenty but will always welcome more?
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Old 01-31-2013, 12:22 PM
 
Location: San Diego, CA
10,581 posts, read 9,787,000 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Don Draper View Post
What is government "redistribution of wealth", really?

Walll Street getting 1.5 trillion dollars of the tax payers money.
Bingo, that's part of it, if you're referring to bailouts funded with taxpayer money. If you're referring to the interest being paid to banks, on or off Wall Street, that's not "redistribution of wealth". It's the government spending taxpayer money to pay rent for what they're getting (huge amounts of loan principal). (Whether that borrowing and interest paying is a good idea, is another matter.)

Income "redistribution" is also Social Security recipients getting taxpayer money, long after the money THEY paid as taxes, was "redistributed" to other recipients many years ago.

Ditto for welfare rceipients, Obamaphone recipients, Obamacare payment recipients, etc.

Again, income "redistribution" is when the government takes tax money from taxpayers, and hands it to people who did nothing to earn it.
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Old 01-31-2013, 12:26 PM
 
1,596 posts, read 1,159,362 times
Reputation: 178
Default What is government "redistribution of wealth", really?

It's like a big blender without a lid on top.
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Old 01-31-2013, 12:28 PM
 
Location: Littleton, CO
20,892 posts, read 16,083,461 times
Reputation: 3954
Quote:
Originally Posted by Little-Acorn View Post
I keep hearing liberals and other socialists say they want to "redistribute" the wealth in this country.
No you don't. That's pretty exclusively a right-wing dog whistle. Liberals don't talk that way.
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Old 01-31-2013, 12:28 PM
 
6,331 posts, read 5,212,292 times
Reputation: 1640
Quote:
Originally Posted by Little-Acorn View Post
Bingo, that's part of it, if you're referring to bailouts funded with taxpayer money. If you're referring to the interest being paid to banks, on or off Wall Street, that's not "redistribution of wealth". It's the government spending taxpayer money to pay rent for what they're getting (huge amounts of loan principal). (Whether that borrowing and interest paying is a good idea, is another matter.)

Income "redistribution" is also Social Security recipients getting taxpayer money, long after the money THEY paid as taxes, was "redistributed" to other recipients many years ago.

Ditto for welfare rceipients, Obamaphone recipients, Obamacare payment recipients, etc.

Again, income "redistribution" is when the government takes tax money from taxpayers, and hands it to people who did nothing to earn it.
That sounds like the bank bailout to me.
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