Current Events > When I was a teenager, I thought republicans were evil. Voted dem in 2004.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Gladius_ posted...

I believe most of the government is corrupt. Pick your hero and they likely have skeletons in their closet filled with half truths and unfulfilled promises. This goes for democrats and republicans included.

I don't need to condemn people just because they're not literally Jesus. Some people are worse than others and I vote to remove them.

---

NightingaleMD posted...

All the responses here

lol

once you guys make this money, and some of you probably will, you'll see what I mean. I used to think the way you do. But when half your paycheck goes out the window....you really miss the other half.

Ok boomer

---

Gladius_ posted...

, I am confident I do more good for the world properly gauging which organizations to donate to while making sure it really goes to what they say it goes to

Why should everyone else share your confidence in yourself over institutions that have Democratic accountability? Even if you are The Good Philanthropist, society cannot rely on every wealthy person being the same way. That money ends up getting steered towards areas and institutions that already wealthy, because that's what the wealthy are going to have the most contact with and knowledge of.
---

An anarchist state would be chaos. We need the government. You just need transparency and input from everyone to make it work at its best.

---

Kim Kusanagi posted...

NightingaleMD posted...

All the responses here

lol

once you guys make this money, and some of you probably will, you'll see what I mean. I used to think the way you do. But when half your paycheck goes out the window....you really miss the other half.

Ok boomer

This is the most accurate use of Ok boomer yet. That is literally what boomers use as an excuse to why they are conservative in their old age. Thankfully the younger generations know better

Antifar posted...

Why should everyone else share your confidence in yourself over institutions that have Democratic accountability? Even if you are The Good Philanthropist, society cannot rely on every wealthy person being the same way. That money ends up getting steered towards areas and institutions that already wealthy, because that's what the wealthy are going to have the most contact with and knowledge of.

That's why Harvard has a $30 billion endowment, and Flint can't afford new pipes.

I think the argument being made is that our government isn't held accountable by our democracy

---

Gladius_ posted...

I am confident I do more good for the world properly gauging which organizations to donate to
...
Yet many are comfortable giving the government more than their fair share while calling the rich evil. Ignoring that many of us keep certain important charities afloat.

Gladius_ posted...

I also do not trust rich people that talk about taking other rich people's money so they can distribute it elsewhere and then trusting them blindly that it will be used for what they say it will be used for.

---

"don't trust the government but do trust extremely wealthy people" is a weird take imho

What makes individuals more trustworthy than a collection of individuals?

---

Gladius_ posted...

Jealousy is ugly.

The topic creator is entitled to his opinion but the jealousy for those who make money in this thread is real.

Whose alt is this?

---

Gladius_ posted...

A collection of individuals have a tighter pull and more influence on the masses. They can achieve both more harm and more good. A collection of individuals can also bail each other out of harm's way. Again, for both good and ill. You are currently seeing this in action if you turn on any news station.

You clearly don't understand "my take" but that's okay.

In practice, how would you be able to trust individuals work for good while also preventing like-minded individuals from forming groups?

---

Why is taxes being lumped into 401k?

---

josifrees posted...

Why is taxes being lumped into 401k?

Because TC is being disingenuous and trying to make his stance seem more reasonable

or hes just trolling

---

I'm sure someone scraping by month to month is really upset that there are people out there only making their year's pay per month after taxes. And I'm sure they are really upset when they hear billionaires might be taxed so heavily that they'd be lesser billionaires afterwards.

---

Whoever said that thing about being more concerned with deductions when you're earning fuck all was completely right also btw

Working for the Washington state government these last 10 months has really reduced my confidence in the government being able to do anything effective or enact the will of the citizens.

At the state level what I see is people writing laws when they dont understand the industry they are regulating. They make it super hard on small business to compete with large or for new players to enter the market. They then try to remedy this through preferential treatment to a small group adversely impacted and call that a success when they capture 5% of the people they disenfranchised.

---

Gladius_ posted...

I am just hesitant to give those groups more power.

you're always giving someone more power

and it's not yourself
---

NightingaleMD posted...

I was so excited to vote for Kerry. Was excited for democrat everything. Thought the rich were evil, wanted them to pay bazillions in taxes, etc

flash forward to now. I haven't even reach full partner yet in my group, and still pull 27k/month, give or take a few depending on my hours. that nearly doubles once I'm partner.

and I'm seeing 16k go to taxes/401k/etc each month and it kills me on the inside

once you start getting money, you don't want to give it away

I was an idiot

No, you weren't an idiot then. Now is when you should be most outraged by people who don't pay their fair share.

You have to understand that (at least part of) that money goes to prop up the system that allows you to make any money at all in the first place. And you have to understand that when the system fucks up again (what a surprise) like it did in '08 the government will bail it out.

So sooner or later, in one way or another, that money is coming back to you. And if it never does... that might actually be for the best. Look at is as a sort of insurance.

Lol. TC is an ED doctor, which makes his fuck everyone but me mentality all the more sad; he is on the front lines witnessing those bearing the brunt of socioeconomic inequality suffer. Guess his human empathy only exists during working hours or if its not affecting his bottom line

Taxes suck, but someones gotta pay for shit. If anything, you should be ass pained that youre paying more than corporations pulling in billions of dollars of profit annually, or millionaires jumping through loop holes to pay little to no taxes. Even after taxes, youre living off more than the vast majority of Americans, youre not going to get any sympathy from anyone (even people sitting in your own tax bracket).

---

Money is currency for trade, that is all.

Now, how money currently operates (revolves around debt) IS evil, and it's not the fault of either party but a fault of the central banking system established in 1913.

Nobody talks about this stuff but many of the great wars since are fought because the west is pushing this debt based "world reserve currency" around the world to take control of the world economy.

The dollar represents not value but a debt owed to someone somewhere.

That's why it says "for all debts, pubic and private".
---

As someone single, childless, and self-employed, I definitely feel the tax burden at the end of the year even though I'm just a bit above median personal income.

But I recognize that's largely because I pay my taxes at the end of the year instead of with each paycheck.

I don't much like paying for other people's kids when I have decided I can't afford them myself (tho tbh I'm not sure I'd want them even if I could afford it financially), but I also want the kids who do exist to be healthy and educated. So I still want to support poor families.

I'm likely never to see those Social Security taxes paid back to me because I'm male, I'm not especially healthy, and the social security program in general might not exist by my retirement age anyway.

I think it's disingenuous for TC to lump 401k in with taxes, since ultimately the 401k money will build a future for him (something poor people don't really have going for them).

There are a lot of people who could work more or harder than they do - I am one of them but choose to spend my time in ways I enjoy rather than constantly working. There are also a lot of people working as hard as they can and still struggling much more than I am.

When TC said "I don't really use the money for much either so it mostly just accumulates", it slightly undermined his post. Not entirely, but slightly. Because it shows he has plenty of money to live his life and save for the future.

Taxes tend to increase gradually as your income increases. It's not like if you jump from $70k a year to $80k a year you're going to pay 25% effective rate instead of 20%. The higher rates are usually only on marginal income above a certain amount. So TC is still willfully choosing this high-paying job with high taxes recognizing it provides him more after-tax income than a lower-paying job would.

Antifar even makes a valid point when he says the Republican party is not a single issue party. One must take into account that their vote has kore consequences than just taxes and select the best overall option from the available choices. Even if I were super rich, I believe I would not vote for most Republicans as their other values are too different from mine.

Alright... I guess that's it for my collection of thoughts upon reading all these posts.
---

need to raise taxes to 1950s levels give people something to really cry about

---

Just excellent trolling from the tc, planted a perfect seed then let everyone fight among themselves

---

NightingaleMD posted...

I was so excited to vote for Kerry. Was excited for democrat everything. Thought the rich were evil, wanted them to pay bazillions in taxes, etc

flash forward to now. I haven't even reach full partner yet in my group, and still pull 27k/month, give or take a few depending on my hours. that nearly doubles once I'm partner.

and I'm seeing 16k go to taxes/401k/etc each month and it kills me on the inside

once you start getting money, you don't want to give it away

I was an idiot

What this guy is failing to mention is his CPA will literally get back every single penny come tax time.

I know from personal experience being a Assistant CPA for a business that only did the taxes of rich assholes.

Honestly he's probably already bought farm land and some borderline slave labor and is going to get a huge fat check from that too.

republicans are still evil

---

I get where you're coming from TC but you're not gonna get sympathy from people who live paycheck to paycheck and earn in a year what you earn in a month. You just aren't.
---

This man is pulling 11k/mo and still bitching

Most people dont even make that before taxes

But yeah, most people grow into the selfish "I got mine, everyone else can starve and suffer" mindset
---

pinky0926 posted...

I get where you're coming from TC but you're not gonna get sympathy from people who live paycheck to paycheck and earn in a year what you earn in a month. You just aren't.

It wouldn't turn into a shit show like this if TC didn't turn it into identity politics.
---

NightingaleMD posted...

I was so excited to vote for Kerry. Was excited for democrat everything. Thought the rich were evil, wanted them to pay bazillions in taxes, etc

flash forward to now. I haven't even reach full partner yet in my group, and still pull 27k/month, give or take a few depending on my hours. that nearly doubles once I'm partner.

and I'm seeing 16k go to taxes/401k/etc each month and it kills me on the inside

once you start getting money, you don't want to give it away

I was an idiot

Your taxes would be a lot lower without 40 years of Republican wars and tax giveaways to the people with even higher incomes than you.
---

WoT by a broke motherfucker
---

While I'm not a tankie, shit like this is what makes me understand their perspective.
---

An irony here is that the Trump administration is the embodiment of the criticisms made by young Democrats of the early aughts, right down to "no war for oil."
---

He can only deal in extremes
---