Slashdot Mirror
AU Senator Calls Scientology a "Criminal Organization"
An anonymous reader passes along news that an Australian senator, Nick Xenophon, has denounced the Church of Scientology as "a criminal organization" from the floor of Parliament. "Senator Xenophon used a speech in Parliament last night to raise allegations of widespread criminal conduct within the church, saying he had received letters from former followers detailing claims of abuse, false imprisonment, and forced abortion. He says he has passed on the letters to the police and is calling for a Senate inquiry into the religion and its tax-exempt status." It wasn't that long ago that the CoS was calling for Net censorship in Australia; a month later the organization was convicted of fraud in France.
Never underestimate the stupidity of rich 'n greedy white people!
No sig for you!!
Which is why you need to take the mormons down as well. Down with religious cults!
I see this argument everytime slashdot reports on Scientology. Many ideologies that people hold to are shams but harmless (look at aromatherapy). Whether it is true or not is irrelevant and a straw man argument. The issue here is whether the organisation is causing harm and whether that harm that it does is intrinsic.
Explain to me what is wrong with that. Why is it unfair?
That's why I don't buy the regressive argument. You sound like we are doing something greatly immoral by making that a reality, and I just don't get it.
Poor people are responsible for their levels of income. By and large, that is true. Very few of them can actually come up with good excuses as to why they could not get good grades, go to college, medical school, and then intern for a couple of years, and make a good living as a doctor.
The few edge cases that you can come up with a poor person was truly held back by things outside of their control, I can come up with examples of where children in poor environments rose up and overcame the challenges they were presented with and became great successes.
When I was much younger I believed that everybody in the right environment could achieve greatness and do anything they wanted. I have learned that is just not true. Some people are meant to be ditch diggers and be poor. Don't misunderstand, I don't hate the poor, and I do wish to give them what is necessary to survive. I am a charitable person and have no problem financing programs to give help to those who truly deserve it and will take advantage of it. I will not unfairly reward them for being poor. At the end of the day I truly believe that the vast majority of them cannot blame anybody but themselves for being poor.
Why we would even use your argument to keep a tax system going that is already gamed and unfair to the poor, while also being active and invasive and ripe with abuses is just astounding to me. There is theory and there is practice. In practice the system now makes the poor and middle class pay more taxes than the rich and ultra-wealthy. That is not a delusion, but a fact. Every single rich person I have ever met talks about offshore bank accounts, offshore corporations, methods to achieve zero tax liability, etc., etc., etc. These people are not paying taxes. Not paying taxes. Zero Taxes. Please integrate that data into your arguments. Sales taxes can be gamed, but golly gee, is the system not being gamed the fark out of it right now?
The other argument I make, that rarely gets answered, is if we just make all the food, or necessities, in grocery stores tax free and reduce the taxes paid by the poor to zero DOES THAT NOT MITIGATE YOUR CONCERNS??
P.S - Your argument about the blu-ray players is not a justification to not use systems based on sales taxes. Sure it can be abused, but there are abuses in the current system, and we can find those people and put them in prison just like we do now. That is something we can deal with. At least ask yourself if you really think all the people getting away with not paying taxes right now are meeting justice.
That's a weak justification for supporting a system that is inherently unfair. Bob should be taxed at the same rate as Joe, because according the American ideals, we were all created equal.
Apparently not. Bob gets to be taxed higher because Bob makes more money, for whatever reason.
It's not fair and pretending that is fair, is just bullshit. Of course, for you its a means to an end. For Bob to support Joe, with the attempt of bringing parity between Bob's and Joe's incomes. There is another word for that, and it is Communism. Which is even stranger since Communism is about making things equal for everyone, yet Bob is the one getting the shaft. It makes my head hurt.
Bob deserves to keep that 20% extra that he was taxed simply because he made more. Your argument is no different than why some people burn buildings down for the insurance money. "The Insurance companies can afford it man! Besides they are screwing everyone anyways". Or how about we just rape people in comas? After all, they won't feel it and won't mind. Or how about I find some fat guy and steal half his sandwich because he can "afford" to only heat a half a sandwich?
Yeah, it's really kind of an offensive argument. Which reminds me of something I heard about in Peru from somebody that visited there. They were in a market and asked why they were charged more than the person who just walked away. It translated to the color of their eyes and skin, which upon further questioning came down to that the white people with blue eyes in Peru can afford to be charged more. Let's keep crap like that going nice and strong for the next 1,000 years on this planet. Let's see how that works out.
As for you social commentary that cannot and should not apply to taxes. Otherwise, let's just make laws where you can slap Bob and throw feces at him while he tries to make his way through life. Even the Bob's who studied and worked damn hard to get where they are in life.
Ohhhh, and lest you forget. When you create a system that is inherently unfair towards a group of people and punishes them, things get ugly. There is resentment and bitterness. You can't have a system that unfair and expect people to just live with getting the shaft their whole life. They will fight back.
Guess how the Bob's do it? :)
Yep.... They rig the game so they get back that %40 percent with a rigged taxation system that allows them do it. Congratulations. Now Joe get's screwed harder.
Believe it or not, but proponents of a fair taxation system that involves consumption based taxes while ignoring income are NOT out to screw Joe. In fact, our goal is to finally make things easier on Joe, while making them fair for Bob.
Of course you can ignore what I said and keep your bitterness towards Bob and all of his money and keep pushing for Bob to be punished at every turn for his success.