yay misanthropic bitch
Nov. 5th, 2004 02:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lauralhWhen it comes to many issues, I tend to lean in the direction of libertarianism, but not with taxes. President Bush's desire for an "ownership society" -- wherein the tax burden might shift from what you earn to what you spend -- is one that will do little to benefit me.
A national sales tax or a flat income tax is-- yeah, I'm going to say it -- unfair to those of us who can't afford to buy a new Mercedes each year or squirrel away a large chunk of our earnings. Any form of taxation is going to screw someone, so I say: Let it be the rich. Fuck 'em.
If you can't live on a few million a year, you might want to cut back on your spending. A diamond-encrusted iPod is a sure sign that you're not being taxed enough, and that perhaps you might want to send a small fraction of the cost of your bejeweled toy to some of the tortured Sierra Leoneans who helped make your sparkling dream a reality.
Do you know how much money I gave to charity last year? Zero dollars. And do you know why I gave zero dollars? Because I don't care about you, your sick grandmother, your HIV+ sister-in-law or your fatherless, asthamatic child. If it weren't for taxes forcing me to fork over money to keep alive the dream of a social contract, I'd let you all die alone in the gutter.
I have no sense of loyalty to my fellow man because I've met only a handful of you. I don't know you, and I don't care about you.
That's primarily why taxes exist: To make all of us selfish bastards contribute to the upkeep of a society that we grudgingly admit benefits us. It's reassuring to know that if someone breaks into my house and rapes and kills me, cops might show up in a few hours to dust for fingerprints.
So, it's a strange stance for an alleged Christian to take on, one that will diminish the concept of public good and loyalty to one's community. It becomes mine, mine mine, me, me, me, and here's the number to the local church's soup kitchen. Don't worry, faith-based initiatives will keep your stomach full.
This year, New Jersey enacted a tax on cosmetic surgery. Want whiter teeth, firmer breasts or a smoother bikini line? The state's going to tack on an extra six percent, so that it might pretend that a balanced budget that doesn't rely on magical invisible money is within its reach.
If we had a national sales tax, would it remain stable, would additional items not be added to the list of what's taxable? Of course not. It would just keep going up and up, as our representatives spent and spent, until wow, we'd need an income tax to pay for it all.
The problem isn't that we pay taxes. It's that we pay taxes to support corrupt politicians, their corrupt buddies and the inept bureacracies they create, and unfortunately, everyone has his own view on what's corrupt and inept. Some people don't want to fund public schools, while others don't see the benefit in paying toward public transportation they never use.
Overhauling the system is pointless if government waste isn't addressed.
Now, I'm frugal. I'd like to retire before I'm decrepit and so old that lying topless on a Mediterranean beach would offend all but the most perverse senior fetishist, and to achieve that, I deny myself the pleasures of a venti decaf double-latte with sprinkles, a new car that depreciates in value as soon as it's off the lot and thirty-five dollar blush that doesn't highlight my cheekbones any better than Wet 'N' Wild's version does.
But I'd likely still see an increase in how much I pay in taxes because more of my income goes toward everyday expenses: clothes, gas, food, etc. My money pays for stuff. A larger portion of the wealthy's money goes into tax-free or low-tax havens because they can spare the dough. The allure of not paying any tax on your money until you spend it diminishes when you realize that you can't horde it under your bed and expect bills to get paid and necessities purchased.
What the middle-class usually realizes, and what the poor and rich often fail to acknowledge, is that significant upward mobility is not attainable for most Americans. We know that we're stuck. No matter how hard we work, if we don't grease the right palms, if the stars don't align and if we're not in the right place at the right time, it won't matter how much effort we pour into becoming the next Oprah or Bill Gates. The chances of any of us becoming that well-off are about the same as my ever responding to your e-mails or buying tickets to a Dwarves show that isn't cancelled or lasts longer than two minutes.
I work seven days a week, and it's not because I need the money. It helps, but I wouldn't become homeless if I scaled back to a normal work week. I bust my ass because the experience will eventually help me earn more money, particularly from jobs that allow me to work from home, but I know that money is never going to grant me anything more than a comfortable existence. My only goal is to gain enough experience and contacts so that I can leave the corporate world behind -- and almost no one gets rich from that.
But I realize it. I haven't deluded myself into thinking that I'll ever be an Anne Rice-esque prima donna with an elaborate mansion and an ego that people are too afraid to deflate. It'd be nice, but it's not going to happen, and Republicans repeating the mantra that Americans can "do anything they set their mind to" isn't going to change that.
Americans, for the most part, are largely ignorant of how rare it is for someone to truly succeed beyond peonship, which is why they tend to support policies -- such as a consumption tax or the eradication of the estate tax -- that will never benefit them. They think they'll be the ones to make it. That's why companies like Publish America are still in business, and the NJ Lotto tells us that all we need are a dollar and a dream. No, we need a fucking huge heaping pile of luck.
Several times a week, I receive e-mail from readers who want to know "when [I'll] publish a book" or "why someone hasn't given [me] a column," as if I can wave a magic wand and create a contract with HarperCollins or a syndication deal with newspapers out of thin air.
Talent, skill and intelligence mean little in the world because any dumb fuck-up with connections can become president. It's who you know that matters, and you can spend half your life hawking your Mysterious Miraculous Mop(tm) at home and garden expos around the country, but you're still not going to be in any position to sniff Paris Hilton's panties.
Stop thinking you're going places. You're not. An ownership society doesn't mean you own shit. It means that someone owns you.
A national sales tax or a flat income tax is-- yeah, I'm going to say it -- unfair to those of us who can't afford to buy a new Mercedes each year or squirrel away a large chunk of our earnings. Any form of taxation is going to screw someone, so I say: Let it be the rich. Fuck 'em.
If you can't live on a few million a year, you might want to cut back on your spending. A diamond-encrusted iPod is a sure sign that you're not being taxed enough, and that perhaps you might want to send a small fraction of the cost of your bejeweled toy to some of the tortured Sierra Leoneans who helped make your sparkling dream a reality.
Do you know how much money I gave to charity last year? Zero dollars. And do you know why I gave zero dollars? Because I don't care about you, your sick grandmother, your HIV+ sister-in-law or your fatherless, asthamatic child. If it weren't for taxes forcing me to fork over money to keep alive the dream of a social contract, I'd let you all die alone in the gutter.
I have no sense of loyalty to my fellow man because I've met only a handful of you. I don't know you, and I don't care about you.
That's primarily why taxes exist: To make all of us selfish bastards contribute to the upkeep of a society that we grudgingly admit benefits us. It's reassuring to know that if someone breaks into my house and rapes and kills me, cops might show up in a few hours to dust for fingerprints.
So, it's a strange stance for an alleged Christian to take on, one that will diminish the concept of public good and loyalty to one's community. It becomes mine, mine mine, me, me, me, and here's the number to the local church's soup kitchen. Don't worry, faith-based initiatives will keep your stomach full.
This year, New Jersey enacted a tax on cosmetic surgery. Want whiter teeth, firmer breasts or a smoother bikini line? The state's going to tack on an extra six percent, so that it might pretend that a balanced budget that doesn't rely on magical invisible money is within its reach.
If we had a national sales tax, would it remain stable, would additional items not be added to the list of what's taxable? Of course not. It would just keep going up and up, as our representatives spent and spent, until wow, we'd need an income tax to pay for it all.
The problem isn't that we pay taxes. It's that we pay taxes to support corrupt politicians, their corrupt buddies and the inept bureacracies they create, and unfortunately, everyone has his own view on what's corrupt and inept. Some people don't want to fund public schools, while others don't see the benefit in paying toward public transportation they never use.
Overhauling the system is pointless if government waste isn't addressed.
Now, I'm frugal. I'd like to retire before I'm decrepit and so old that lying topless on a Mediterranean beach would offend all but the most perverse senior fetishist, and to achieve that, I deny myself the pleasures of a venti decaf double-latte with sprinkles, a new car that depreciates in value as soon as it's off the lot and thirty-five dollar blush that doesn't highlight my cheekbones any better than Wet 'N' Wild's version does.
But I'd likely still see an increase in how much I pay in taxes because more of my income goes toward everyday expenses: clothes, gas, food, etc. My money pays for stuff. A larger portion of the wealthy's money goes into tax-free or low-tax havens because they can spare the dough. The allure of not paying any tax on your money until you spend it diminishes when you realize that you can't horde it under your bed and expect bills to get paid and necessities purchased.
What the middle-class usually realizes, and what the poor and rich often fail to acknowledge, is that significant upward mobility is not attainable for most Americans. We know that we're stuck. No matter how hard we work, if we don't grease the right palms, if the stars don't align and if we're not in the right place at the right time, it won't matter how much effort we pour into becoming the next Oprah or Bill Gates. The chances of any of us becoming that well-off are about the same as my ever responding to your e-mails or buying tickets to a Dwarves show that isn't cancelled or lasts longer than two minutes.
I work seven days a week, and it's not because I need the money. It helps, but I wouldn't become homeless if I scaled back to a normal work week. I bust my ass because the experience will eventually help me earn more money, particularly from jobs that allow me to work from home, but I know that money is never going to grant me anything more than a comfortable existence. My only goal is to gain enough experience and contacts so that I can leave the corporate world behind -- and almost no one gets rich from that.
But I realize it. I haven't deluded myself into thinking that I'll ever be an Anne Rice-esque prima donna with an elaborate mansion and an ego that people are too afraid to deflate. It'd be nice, but it's not going to happen, and Republicans repeating the mantra that Americans can "do anything they set their mind to" isn't going to change that.
Americans, for the most part, are largely ignorant of how rare it is for someone to truly succeed beyond peonship, which is why they tend to support policies -- such as a consumption tax or the eradication of the estate tax -- that will never benefit them. They think they'll be the ones to make it. That's why companies like Publish America are still in business, and the NJ Lotto tells us that all we need are a dollar and a dream. No, we need a fucking huge heaping pile of luck.
Several times a week, I receive e-mail from readers who want to know "when [I'll] publish a book" or "why someone hasn't given [me] a column," as if I can wave a magic wand and create a contract with HarperCollins or a syndication deal with newspapers out of thin air.
Talent, skill and intelligence mean little in the world because any dumb fuck-up with connections can become president. It's who you know that matters, and you can spend half your life hawking your Mysterious Miraculous Mop(tm) at home and garden expos around the country, but you're still not going to be in any position to sniff Paris Hilton's panties.
Stop thinking you're going places. You're not. An ownership society doesn't mean you own shit. It means that someone owns you.
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no subject
Date: 2004-11-05 03:02 pm (UTC)And yet, somehow, such uncaring selfish bitches will elect representatives who will spend the money wisely and altruisticly.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-05 03:42 pm (UTC)Or perhaps I am and I don't want to believe that anyone could that that short sighted. Selfishness is one thing but short-sightedness is an intolerable trait for someone in a position of that scope and power.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-05 04:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-05 04:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-05 04:52 pm (UTC)You might want to trot on over to finance.yahoo.com and educate yourself.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-05 05:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-05 05:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-05 05:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-05 05:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-05 05:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-06 04:27 pm (UTC)But correct about the fact that a consumption tax is fucking stupid. Any form of sales tax is, in economic parlance, "regressive". That means that it hits hardest the people who can afford it least.
The first point is that the Constitutional Amendment that set up the Income Tax only allows an INCOME TAX. Any other form of tax is UnConstitutional. So I don't care what anybody's advisors are advising. This whole issue is crap, because it's impossible to get 2/3 of the states to ratify the entire new Amendment that would be required.
Second point is that the Libertarian position on personal taxes is that they should be completely eliminated? I don't see how the author argued against that position in any way? She didn't INSIST that rich people MUST be taxed. Anyway, my (fairly Libertarian) position is to return the tax code to the way it was when it was first passed. 4% on everything over $100,000. Only about half of the government's income comes from taxes on individuals, so even eliminating that entire source of income would not bankrupt the government. And I personally think that corporations should make up much of the difference, anyway.
Third point is that she is VASTLY mistaken about wealth accumulation!!! Buy a house (TAKE ON A MORTGAGE!), be thrifty with your money, and invest all your savings, long term, into the stock market. You will be a rich person by the end of your life. It's really not hard. If you get and stay married, that also seems to speed up the process a lot (statistically).
no subject
Date: 2004-11-08 10:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-08 12:42 pm (UTC)for real.
Date: 2004-11-08 12:45 pm (UTC)