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1. Let's stop all the subsidies, real or fake.
2. It is only fair to pay people for what they are worth or their work is worth. Want more money? Produce more value. It is totally unfair to pay people for MORE THAN they can produce.
3. Walmart's profit margin is only 3%. If someone didn't sneeze right, they would be losing money. Apple would be a much better example.
Good Points .
The general public doesn't can seem to realize how small the profit margins are of many businesses .
This is why so many people support $15 min wages .
They act like every sale is pure profit in the business owners pocket .
Many peoples wealth is tied up in infrastructure. If there was no wealth in this country there would be no place to go to. No restaurants, no malls, no grocery stores. Nothing. The wealth of the people we see every day. We are privileged to go to a well stocked supermarket. A variety store , the mall .
Go to a third world country and see how you live. If not for the wealth of a nation , there would be no better life for anyone. The wealthy actually add much to a neighborhood.
When I was young, we were so grateful to see a new supermarket to move into the neighborhood. We could go there without driving farther away and sometimes could be in walking distance for many. That corner mom and pop store that sold your necessities to live was much appreciated. Today people take for granted all the stores and outlets that supply our needs for a better quality of life. I am glad there are the rich. Without them we would be living in a hell hole.
This is purely LACKADAISICAL on so many levels.
There are very happy people in "third world" nations. You can't escape your matrix.
Um you're directly contradicting your argument about people creating fake businesses just to write off expenses. No one would create a charity just to avoid paying taxes... It's the same situation, you give $100 just to save $30. There are way better ways to save the $30, or more, than charity.
Not to mention the Gates have pledged to give half their money to charity. Who gives away half their money to avoid taxes? It would be an absurd strategy that doesn't pay off... unless they were genuinely interested in philanthropy causes.
Plus, they're creating thousands of jobs with the Gates Foundation. Geez, what's wrong about this situation again?
I agree & great points. I think there are some haters out there who don't agree where the money goes....or they are a bunch of nationalist who think the "American" money should stay inside the borders
Um you're directly contradicting your argument about people creating fake businesses just to write off expenses. No one would create a charity just to avoid paying taxes... It's the same situation, you give $100 just to save $30. There are way better ways to save the $30, or more, than charity.
Not to mention the Gates have pledged to give half their money to charity. Who gives away half their money to avoid taxes? It would be an absurd strategy that doesn't pay off... unless they were genuinely interested in philanthropy causes.
Plus, they're creating thousands of jobs with the Gates Foundation. Geez, what's wrong about this situation again?
Not really.
It's the estate tax Bill Gates tries to avoid. If he didn't create a charity organization with that money, his heir would have to pay 40% estate tax after he dies.
Well, when you say wealthy, I'll assume you mean "1%," as plenty of people who are wealthy are still part of the 99%. Someone making $300,000 probably doesn't actually weld significantly more political power than someone making $10/hr. They most likely live very different lives, but neither has any politicians in their back pocket.
So, do the 1% owe the 99% something?
Yes. Objectively, yes. Because they took something.
The question to be asked here is simple: should trans-Atlantic companies have more political powers than the citizens of any particular nation?
The way I view this, if you answered "yes" to this question, you answered "No" to the OPs. And vice versa. You either think that the current state of corporate lobbying in governments is acceptable or even good, and that therefore they owe nothing to anyone, or you think it's bad and owe at least something.
Now, I'm not naive. I know most people who answered no didn't look at it form this angle. They looked at it from the usual angle: that "something" that they owe is money, so supporting that is wealth redistribution and therefore, saying "yes" to the OPs question is saying yes to communism.
Alas, that's not what I want. I don't need their money.
The 1% owes the 99% only one thing: the political power they stole from us.
The general public doesn't can seem to realize how small the profit margins are of many businesses .
This is why so many people support $15 min wages .
They act like every sale is pure profit in the business owners pocket .
Even if every sale were pure profit in the business owner's pocket, nothing wrong with that. The workers have already been paid - the workers in fact get paid way before the business owners.
If the workers don't like the pay, they are free to work for someone else or start their own pure profit business.
Well, when you say wealthy, I'll assume you mean "1%," as plenty of people who are wealthy are still part of the 99%. Someone making $300,000 probably doesn't actually weld significantly more political power than someone making $10/hr. They most likely live very different lives, but neither has any politicians in their back pocket.
So, do the 1% owe the 99% something?
Yes. Objectively, yes. Because they took something.
The question to be asked here is simple: should trans-Atlantic companies have more political powers than the citizens of any particular nation?
The way I view this, if you answered "yes" to this question, you answered "No" to the OPs. And vice versa. You either think that the current state of corporate lobbying in governments is acceptable or even good, and that therefore they owe nothing to anyone, or you think it's bad and owe at least something.
Now, I'm not naive. I know most people who answered no didn't look at it form this angle. They looked at it from the usual angle: that "something" that they owe is money, so supporting that is wealth redistribution and therefore, saying "yes" to the OPs question is saying yes to communism.
Alas, that's not what I want. I don't need their money.
The 1% owes the 99% only one thing: the political power they stole from us.
What political power? We are a represented democracy.
We, the people, not holding the politicians accountable is no fault of the rich.
It's the estate tax Bill Gates tries to avoid. If he didn't create a charity organization with that money, his heir would have to pay 40% estate tax after he dies.
So you're arguing.... to avoid a 40% tax bill.... they are going to give away 50% of their money?
Um you're directly contradicting your argument about people creating fake businesses just to write off expenses. No one would create a charity just to avoid paying taxes... It's the same situation, you give $100 just to save $30. There are way better ways to save the $30, or more, than charity.
Not to mention the Gates have pledged to give half their money to charity. Who gives away half their money to avoid taxes? It would be an absurd strategy that doesn't pay off... unless they were genuinely interested in philanthropy causes.
Plus, they're creating thousands of jobs with the Gates Foundation. Geez, what's wrong about this situation again?
Quote:
Originally Posted by lifeexplorer
Not really.
It's the estate tax Bill Gates tries to avoid. If he didn't create a charity organization with that money, his heir would have to pay 40% estate tax after he dies.
lifeexplorer is right. and beyond the estate taxes, there are plenty of other tax advantages to putting ones money into a foundation, including income tax deductions, etc. foundations and trust funds are great ways to avoid the estate tax, and still have the benefits of being able to use the money you put in those instruments. there are certain rules that must be followed though, like with a foundation, you must give away a certain percentage of the foundations net worth each year to maintain its tax advantages.
another fun thing about foundations is that people like bill gates and warren buffet can look good int he eyes of the masses when they set up a foundation, and yet retain all the advantages of what the foundation can do for themselves at the same time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lifeexplorer
Even if every sale were pure profit in the business owner's pocket, nothing wrong with that. The workers have already been paid - the workers in fact get paid way before the business owners.
If the workers don't like the pay, they are free to work for someone else or start their own pure profit business.
I don't understand their jealousy.
i do. these people who excoriate the rich are usually small minded people who think that people get rich only because they "steal" from others. they liken rich people to criminals who havent been caught yet. they think there is no way someone like sam walton could build a multi national corporation in their lifetime without stealing from everyone.
what they conveniently forget is that the rich put in the time and effort to make themselves rich. instead of going home a 5pm like the average person does, they put in another 8-10 hours per day.
instead of just going to the job like the average person does, and collecting their paycheck and then going home, these guys take the big risks and borrow money from the banks, and start or buy a business, and then work to make it successful.
instead of taking the money they earn and buying stuff like big screen TVs, fancy cars, every little toy the kids want, etc. they take the money they earn and reinvest it in the business to make it grow. and after they have reached a certain point where the business is doing well, and will live for a long time, then they go out and perhaps step up and buy some of the finer things in life.
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