<p>^</p>
<p>Right, 73% of federal income taxes, 71% of actual wealth, so the top 10% is paying slightly more than their “fair share.”</p>
<p>I would look up the second question…because SS is a tax the middle class pays and the wealthy don’t. (or it is immaterial to the wealthy).</p>
<p>I am not really in love with your first answer either. It is because 10% of the people received 90% of the income gains over the last 30 years or so. You can figure it out mathematically if you have the information. ;)</p>
<p>Well, I hope that the protestors are all registered to vote.</p>
<p>I have felt for a very long time that we rob our youth and if they were to vote, perhaps some political pressure would be brought to bear on the issues which matter most to them. Most successful revolutions begin in the middle class, and most of those begin with the middle class youth. </p>
<p>If I were a political candidate, I’d be out there asking questions, and listening to what they had to say. I’d then probably find out how many of them were registered to vote.</p>
<p>My son certainly registered to vote as soon as he was able and has worked on political campaigns. Vt is such a small state that even running for national office doesn’t require millions. Maybe I’m wrong, but I’d think political action, such as protesting, would increase other political activity, such as voting.</p>
<p>I guess my last post was so boring that it killed this thread. Too bad. We’re going to NYC anyway.</p>
<p>I see this raged a bit after I went to sleep last night.</p>
<p>My sense is those so angry at the ‘rich’ and demanding they start ‘paying their fare share’ are really angry that some people have simply done better in life in terms of their work and investment. It’s not really about the taxes. It’s about equalizing what everyone has. It’s ultimately, for this mind set, about creating a society where the harder you work and the more talented you are will have no impact on what you earn. Then these types will be quiet for a while. They will never really be satisfied though.</p>
<p>I’m a little cynical on this. Come from a big family of people who think this way. They all make choices in life that limit their earnings but they all really want what the “rich guy” has. </p>
<p>FWIW, I don’t think anyone in this country is going hungry unless they are seriously mentally ill or being abused/neglected by a parent. I don’t think forcing more taxes on those wealthier than you might be is about providing basic necessities to anyone in this society. It is about wealth redistribution.</p>
<p>It is really about greed. The most covetous, greedy behavior and rhetoric going on at the moment, imo, is from those espousing the “make the rich pay” line.</p>
<p>Um no. We’ve done well and are ready to pay more taxes. You aren’t listening, And you don’t know anyone who is going hungry because you are hanging out with people who have money, I guess. Some people can’t find jobs. Do you really think there are no people struggling in this economy?</p>
<p>We are leaving for NY. See you on Wall St!</p>
<p>Have fun…</p>
<p>Wealth redistribution: it’s time. </p>
<p>The family into which you are born pretty much determines where you are going to end up in life. What about the child born into an impoverished, uneducated family? This is not equal opportunity. Who is greedy? </p>
<p>One child has access to an excellent public school education because their parents can afford to live in the best neighborhood. One goes to a substandard urban school. Who is greedy?</p>
<p>One child has health insurance, annual checkups and there is no question that any prescribed medications are purchased and taken as directed. One child has no health insurance and her parents can’t afford to regularly buy the doctor prescribed preventative asthma medications. Who is greedy?</p>
<p>One child is taken to the dentist twice annually. One child lives with rotten teeth. Who is greedy?</p>
<p>Some children grow up and go to college. Some really never have that opportunity. They really don’t. And I don’t think they are greedy to point out the inequality of society. If they are covetous, who can blame them? Certainly not me.</p>
<p>If there is a huge inequality of resources how is it possible that those who have less are the greedy ones?</p>
<p>dstark #116
</p>
<p>Too scary. I had to go lie down after I read this. </p>
<p>BTW I don’t do any of these things!!! except sometimes the parking bill because there is no choice. I have frequently asked someone to come check me out at the self service aisle if there is no other choice open. And I don’t even own an ATM card.</p>
<p>I also buy American, shop mom & pop, and as local as possible. Right now I’m going outside to consult with three hourly workers. I feel like I am supporting the economy all by myself but am going to run out of funds very soon :(</p>
<p>alh…I really like your post # 270.</p>
<p>As far as the technology goes…my wife gets very angry with me when I use the self service line in a grocery store. She says it is costing people jobs. She won’t use the self checkout line.</p>
<p>In response to alh’s post #270: Personal responsibility: it’s time.</p>
<p>How about if you are unable to afford having a child, you wait until you can? How about if you can’t provide decent housing, health care and school, you don’t keep having children? How about if you’re young or don’t have a husband/serious partner, you wait? The #1 cause of poverty is NOT all those greedy people that have the things you want. The #1 cause of poverty is being a single parent. We should be yelling it on the rooftops. </p>
<p>And no, of course it’s not the fault of the child. But it’s not the fault of other people in society, it is the fault of the person who gave birth to them without being able to provide for them. And of course not all single parents are in that situation. But the reality is, if people were more personally responsible, and did not have children they knew they couldn’t afford, our society would have far more money to take care of people whom tragedies and miserable circumstances happened to later on. I’d much rather help those who life took an unfortunate turn, then those who purposefully put themselves and their children in that position. And yes, I’m pro choice.</p>
<p>well I guess forced sterilization is an option?</p>
<p>If you are born into the wrong circumstances and no amount of hard work changes your basic circumstances – you don’t get to have children?</p>
<p>Oh yeah – I think Jonathan Swift wrote a satire ;)</p>
<h2>I think at various points in history people have believed this to be a societal problem. </h2>
<h2>If only poetgrl was in charge of the country! Love your posts on this thread!</h2>
<p>dstark: thanks - just restating your 10 people dividing up the “things” post.</p>
<p>alh – my younger one is at a pretty expensive private hs. I went to a parent gathering there last week and noticed how much older the parents seemed than at our public hs back home (we moved recently). It’s pretty obvious, more affluent people tend to delay childbearing in order to finish educations, focus very hard on launching careers. Then they have more money to help their kids. </p>
<p>At some point, we have to stop apologizing to people as if ‘society’ is responsible for them making poor decisions. It isn’t always about being a victim. The Great Society launched a number of decades ago now. How’s that working really? </p>
<p>Like everything, it’s a balance. I’m for Big Government. And Big Business. We need both. We need our fiercely driven entrepreneurs. They really do generate innovation and wealth for all. We need a safety net. But it shouldn’t be a big comfy mattress that is inviting to just sink into. It should be a pretty uncomfortable place to settle and not a place to call home. </p>
<p>I’m really dismayed by the class warfare getting stoked at the moment. I’m cynical enough to believe that those fomenting it are really about holding on to their own power and are driven mostly by self-interest.</p>
<p>
That’s silly. The issue isn’t not having children, it’s not having children at 14. It’s having children with a partner to share some of the load, both financial and otherwise. When a woman is having a child so young, there is very little likelihood that either mother or the child will have a successful life.</p>
<p>As Mrs. Obama can tell you, in this country, it’s poor nutrition by way of obesity, not hunger, that is our largest health problem. </p>
<p>Who has read the census report on poverty in America? Fascinating reading.</p>
<p>
That. Because when people get their own, they value it, want to hold on to it, and consider seriously where it goes. But there is an entire industry devoted to keeping people down. To making their living off pregnant teenagers and their kids. What would they do without those pregnancies and other pathologies?</p>
<p>Wealth redistribution is simply a shorter way of saying that moochers should be able to slack and do nothing at all while they simply leech off of the work of those who have actually tried to make something of their lives. Didn’t work in the USSR and it isn’t going to work in this country.</p>
<p>“I’m cynical enough to believe that those fomenting it are really about holding on to their own power and are driven mostly by self-interest.”</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>[Koch</a> Brothers Flout Law With Secret Iran Sales - Bloomberg](<a href=“Bloomberg - Are you a robot?”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?)</p>
<p>sewhappy: Did any of the families at the private school gathering attend urban public schools? I agree with you that families keep wealth by delaying childbearing and limiting the number of children they have. They do this to keep resources in their own family and not share them with other families (except through marriage). Is this greedy?</p>
<p>Aren’t there some proposals around to decrease Planned Parenthood funding? Is that a social program you support?</p>
<p>In my opinion the way American society is set up is directly responsible for some having a lot and some having nothing. So society is to blame. And the financial circumstances of our great and great great grandparents are frequently determining our own good fortune. </p>
<p>I will be following this thread with interest but can’t post any more today because I’m very busy redistributing wealth and spending my kids’ (very small) inheritance. :)</p>
<p>edit: Cuse, please read some history of Russia before the revolution. Please.</p>