Then why are people with no car paying taxes to build roads for you? Why are ignorants paying for schools so you can educate yourself? Why are people the gun nuts paying taxes so the police can protect you? If you get a serious disease and can't afford treatment, who'll pay?
Not only that, but you don't want anyone else to be either.
Why are you expecting me to have a bleeding heart for the rich?
There's a difference between not caring about them and actively wanting to destroy them.
I never said I wanted to destroy the rich, I just said they should pay taxes like I do.
Why are you defending them?
Because many of them are the kind of risk-takers that economies need. It's called entrepreneurship. I also recognise that many of them wouldn't bother investing here if the State decided it knew how to use their money better than they do.
It's understandable if you're rich, if you're not, it's pathetic.
For reasons of simple economic expediency. I recognise their economic value, even if you do not.
They have economic value. But workers have it too. Without a population that is educated, healthy and wealthy enough to consume, the entrepreneurs are useless.
I work for one after all. He's created 50 or so jobs (mostly exporting high technology equipment, so of net benefit to the country), initially risking his own money to get the business going (around 25 years ago).
Ah, the good boss anecdote. For every one of those I can find hundreds of "bad boss" anecdotes.
The kind of attitude you're expressing here is the kind of attitude expressed forcefully by the trade unions in the 1970's. I do believe we ended up cap-in-hand at the IMF for a bailout loan. I would rather cut the state back than experience that kind of national humiliation again.
IMF? Where do you think the absurd ultra-capitalist, anti-labour model of governance is going to lead us?
Truth is, the corporations and the rich don't want to pay their share of the bill, but they keep demanding the governments to pay for their privileges.
The most profitable companies in my country are privatised public service companies and big-ass government contractors. The latter have to do some actual work to get their business done, the former just have to sit and watch the money pour. Both of them offer very well paid positions in the Board of Directors for former politicians, their sons and nephews. Nobody can say shit because, you know, "they're private now, they are entitled to do whatever the fuck they want", says the Dogma.
All our agriculture and industry was shut down in the name of the "United Europe" and now we import everything from Germany, France and Spain. And then, when shit hits the fan, we're told that it's our fault for living like maharajas. In a country where 20% of the population is officially poor, we have to put up with this shit while they shutdown schools and hospitals to save money to rescue banks and buy submarines from Germany.
There's no way you don't want it. The majority has opted for it when they voted for Obama. And socialised medicine can't possibly work if it's an optional system, everybody must have it. If you don't like democracy you can move elsewhere.
Public means it's yours too. Stop being a self-centred whiner and participate in your society. If you don't like your public services, strive to improve them. At least you can try, if they were corporate owned there was nothing you could do.
In the USA, where social benefits are very low and there's a reliance on charity to fill the gaps, the income disparity is huge. So, as you see, trickle down economics don't provide a decent income distribution, and charity doesn't compensate for lack of distribution. These are two myths the corporate media propaganda machine and the biased economist drones are pushing down our throats for decades.
The wealthy part of the population will never distribute any of their wealth without being forced to do it by a decent welfare state. Trickle down economics don't work because those who have money will only invest it to get more of it, so they offshore it and/or speculate in order to make better profits, not re-invest it and create jobs. They're in the business of greedy accumulation, not job creation.
The represented European countries where corporate taxes are very low compared to personal taxes are all in the toilet. Rich countries like UK, USA and Belgium have high taxation rates. So, it seems like low corporate taxation:
Doesn't provide such a nasty environment that make business run away.
Doesn't prevent a country from going bankrupt, precisely the opposite.
If Obama didn't have to cave in to the mouth-foaming right-wingers, you could have a socialised system like we do. I assure you nobody ever got fined for paying his doctor in cash round here.
If they're successful in the UK it's because they have an environment for business that allows for that. They are integrated in a society and must contribute to it, like everybody else does.
I'm not rich, I'll never be. Why are you expecting me to have a bleeding heart for the rich? If they want to leave, please go. Why are you defending them? It's understandable if you're rich, if you're not, it's pathetic.
We don't need to collapse it, it's already collapsed by not charging the rich taxes and not redistributing. And if the rich want to leave, I'll fetch the red carpet.
Hey, shut up? Haven't you listened to the pundits on TV? The problem is the EXPENSE, because the European workers have been living like maharajas for decades. We shouldn't tax the rich, it's against the Free Market Dogmas!
You should have heard them, the pundits are saying this for years non-stop, and they all say the same thing verbatim, so there's no way you missed it.
There's nothing I loathe more than charity. We can have an organised society that provides those who need. Why would we have a society based on the good will of the rich that give the poor some crumbs sometimes for auto-promotion?
Sure, what do we need science for? Also, what do we need teachers and police for? We need the money for important things, like:
Bailout broke banks that will give the money to overpaid CEOs that will transfer it to the Cayman Islands.
Support a bunch of banks and corporations that make billions a year but pay almost no taxes. Now, this is an expensive luxury we indulge ourselves, but it's worth it. I just love being generous.
Send troops to remote countries that the USA had the tremendous stupidity to invade. It's not like they should be left alone dealing with their own shit, should they?
Privatise all profitable public companies at a bargain price and keep the unprofitable ones, all in the name of the Free Market dogma.
Close our public hospitals in the name of "cut costs" and contract private health services that cost the State 10 times more (but it's a great business for the minister's friends and family.
Shut down our own industry and import all our shit from Germany, that in return will lend us money for it and then slap us for being in debt.
Of course not. By then, the deregulation of finance and commerce, the privatisation of public services, tax cuts to the ultra-rich and the elimination of labour regulations will have already turned planet Earth in a paradise, like they've been promising us for 30 years. Just hang on a little more, heaven is just around the corner.
I have only seen Segways being used by security guards in malls. I can't understand, people have the opportunity to exercise for free, but they chose to ride an expensive toy the whole day and have their arteries clogged with cholesterol. You can add to this the fact that security guards chain-smoke like there's no tomorrow.
Fortunately, Segways are too expensive for the average guy in my country. In countries with high income like the US, I guess the Segs are commonplace, putting a few more percent in the obesity epidemic.
Of course, those were government unions. And, under the fascist regime, the government depended on the National Congress, which members were corporate representatives. The bottom line is that the unions belonged to the corporations. Quite fun, no?
Actually, it's the exact opposite. Compulsory union membership was one of the distinct characteristics of Fascist regimes, here in Europe. When we overthrew our Fascist regime in 74, the unions were immediately token over by the workers and the Fascist drones that controlled them were fired. Compulsory membership was revoked, by the "rotten scum" you call "liberals".
In my country, being a computer engineer is regarded in most places like "make applications with Visual Basic and Access". If I had followed that path, I'd be in a management position right now.
Instead, I prefer to do more technically-challenging stuff so I'm irreplaceable but I'm stuck in my position forever. Lots of people look at me sideways because they don't understand how I'm still doing engineering at my age. They think I spend the whole day creating forms.
Now, I have two options, either I emigrate to a country where engineering skills are better regarded or try to move into project management. Not that I like it, but I have mouths to feed.
Slashdot Mirror
Then why are people with no car paying taxes to build roads for you? Why are ignorants paying for schools so you can educate yourself? Why are people the gun nuts paying taxes so the police can protect you? If you get a serious disease and can't afford treatment, who'll pay?
Not only that, but you don't want anyone else to be either.
There's a difference between not caring about them and actively wanting to destroy them.
I never said I wanted to destroy the rich, I just said they should pay taxes like I do.
Because many of them are the kind of risk-takers that economies need. It's called entrepreneurship. I also recognise that many of them wouldn't bother investing here if the State decided it knew how to use their money better than they do.
For reasons of simple economic expediency. I recognise their economic value, even if you do not.
They have economic value. But workers have it too. Without a population that is educated, healthy and wealthy enough to consume, the entrepreneurs are useless.
I work for one after all. He's created 50 or so jobs (mostly exporting high technology equipment, so of net benefit to the country), initially risking his own money to get the business going (around 25 years ago).
Ah, the good boss anecdote. For every one of those I can find hundreds of "bad boss" anecdotes.
The kind of attitude you're expressing here is the kind of attitude expressed forcefully by the trade unions in the 1970's. I do believe we ended up cap-in-hand at the IMF for a bailout loan. I would rather cut the state back than experience that kind of national humiliation again.
IMF? Where do you think the absurd ultra-capitalist, anti-labour model of governance is going to lead us?
Truth is, the corporations and the rich don't want to pay their share of the bill, but they keep demanding the governments to pay for their privileges.
The most profitable companies in my country are privatised public service companies and big-ass government contractors. The latter have to do some actual work to get their business done, the former just have to sit and watch the money pour. Both of them offer very well paid positions in the Board of Directors for former politicians, their sons and nephews. Nobody can say shit because, you know, "they're private now, they are entitled to do whatever the fuck they want", says the Dogma.
All our agriculture and industry was shut down in the name of the "United Europe" and now we import everything from Germany, France and Spain. And then, when shit hits the fan, we're told that it's our fault for living like maharajas. In a country where 20% of the population is officially poor, we have to put up with this shit while they shutdown schools and hospitals to save money to rescue banks and buy submarines from Germany.
There's no way you don't want it. The majority has opted for it when they voted for Obama. And socialised medicine can't possibly work if it's an optional system, everybody must have it. If you don't like democracy you can move elsewhere.
Public means it's yours too. Stop being a self-centred whiner and participate in your society. If you don't like your public services, strive to improve them. At least you can try, if they were corporate owned there was nothing you could do.
In the USA, where social benefits are very low and there's a reliance on charity to fill the gaps, the income disparity is huge. So, as you see, trickle down economics don't provide a decent income distribution, and charity doesn't compensate for lack of distribution. These are two myths the corporate media propaganda machine and the biased economist drones are pushing down our throats for decades.
The wealthy part of the population will never distribute any of their wealth without being forced to do it by a decent welfare state. Trickle down economics don't work because those who have money will only invest it to get more of it, so they offshore it and/or speculate in order to make better profits, not re-invest it and create jobs. They're in the business of greedy accumulation, not job creation.
Lower taxes? What do you mean? Check this .
The represented European countries where corporate taxes are very low compared to personal taxes are all in the toilet. Rich countries like UK, USA and Belgium have high taxation rates. So, it seems like low corporate taxation:
If public services don't work in the USA, maybe it's time to fix your country first. Something's wrong with it.
If Obama didn't have to cave in to the mouth-foaming right-wingers, you could have a socialised system like we do. I assure you nobody ever got fined for paying his doctor in cash round here.
So, what are you complaining about?
And you think Microsoft will let that one through?
If they're successful in the UK it's because they have an environment for business that allows for that. They are integrated in a society and must contribute to it, like everybody else does.
They can all go fuck off, as far as I'm concerned
Moronic.
I'm not rich, I'll never be. Why are you expecting me to have a bleeding heart for the rich? If they want to leave, please go. Why are you defending them? It's understandable if you're rich, if you're not, it's pathetic.
No, it certainly doesn't. Where did you get that idea?
We don't need to collapse it, it's already collapsed by not charging the rich taxes and not redistributing. And if the rich want to leave, I'll fetch the red carpet.
Not to mention the fact that the rich are mobile and able to move to wherever taxes are lowest.
They can all go fuck off, as far as I'm concerned. Good luck trying to make their incomes in the Cayman Islands, that produce nothing.
If you want to raise more money from the rich, you should tax them less, not more.
That's completely unfunded wishful thinking. It has the same meaning as a religious mantra.
You make your income in the UK, you pay taxes there. The rich make their money in some place, they should pay their taxes there. What's your point?
Hey, shut up? Haven't you listened to the pundits on TV? The problem is the EXPENSE, because the European workers have been living like maharajas for decades. We shouldn't tax the rich, it's against the Free Market Dogmas!
You should have heard them, the pundits are saying this for years non-stop, and they all say the same thing verbatim, so there's no way you missed it.
There's nothing I loathe more than charity. We can have an organised society that provides those who need. Why would we have a society based on the good will of the rich that give the poor some crumbs sometimes for auto-promotion?
Sure, what do we need science for? Also, what do we need teachers and police for? We need the money for important things, like:
We have to know our priorities. Science, pheu!
Finally, a Slashdot innovation: RTFS!
Dude, get your units straight? Metres and then miles? Be consistent, 5000 miles are 8000 Km! Is it that hard?
How about a law against rampant stupidity?
Of course not. By then, the deregulation of finance and commerce, the privatisation of public services, tax cuts to the ultra-rich and the elimination of labour regulations will have already turned planet Earth in a paradise, like they've been promising us for 30 years. Just hang on a little more, heaven is just around the corner.
I have only seen Segways being used by security guards in malls. I can't understand, people have the opportunity to exercise for free, but they chose to ride an expensive toy the whole day and have their arteries clogged with cholesterol. You can add to this the fact that security guards chain-smoke like there's no tomorrow.
Fortunately, Segways are too expensive for the average guy in my country. In countries with high income like the US, I guess the Segs are commonplace, putting a few more percent in the obesity epidemic.
Of course, those were government unions. And, under the fascist regime, the government depended on the National Congress, which members were corporate representatives. The bottom line is that the unions belonged to the corporations. Quite fun, no?
Actually, it's the exact opposite. Compulsory union membership was one of the distinct characteristics of Fascist regimes, here in Europe. When we overthrew our Fascist regime in 74, the unions were immediately token over by the workers and the Fascist drones that controlled them were fired. Compulsory membership was revoked, by the "rotten scum" you call "liberals".
In my country, being a computer engineer is regarded in most places like "make applications with Visual Basic and Access". If I had followed that path, I'd be in a management position right now.
Instead, I prefer to do more technically-challenging stuff so I'm irreplaceable but I'm stuck in my position forever. Lots of people look at me sideways because they don't understand how I'm still doing engineering at my age. They think I spend the whole day creating forms.
Now, I have two options, either I emigrate to a country where engineering skills are better regarded or try to move into project management. Not that I like it, but I have mouths to feed.