There are a couple of things that crack me up about this self-righteous dickishness.
First, no one ever considers that they're lucky. You think that somehow your success is indicative of a normal experience. If course, no one arrogant enough to write that post could ever bring themselves to realize that some factors beyond their immediate control were necessary.
But fine, I get that, it's human nature.
The funny part is that you're arrogant enough to rip on everyone who doesn't share your wealth, and yet you don't attribute the disparity to your skill. What if you're just better?
But TraneWreck, everyone's equal. It's very politically incorrect to say that some people might actually be more capable than others.
I make a lot of money because I attended a top ten law school. I got into that school because I sat down and took the LSAT with tens of thousands of other people and scored in the 99th percentile.
Good for you! I couldn't afford to go to university.
How much do you pay in income taxes every year?
My form of arrogance says that I'm talented (for the sake of this response--obviously I had the great advantage of parents who stressed education...etc.) and that's why I'm well off. I don't expect others to follow my path because they can't, no matter how hard they work.
That's fine. My path however is open to anyone who wants to work hard. I use as evidence the millions of other uneducated small business owners, many of them immigrants like myself.
I have a foolproof system for success. Work hard, very hard. Save your money. Start businesses in areas you've been working in with your saved money. Rinse and repeat. Maybe you'll never make a million dollars but I guarantee you'll survive and likely prosper in a place like the USA.
The funny thing is it's not about skill, it's about attitude and work ethic. There's plenty of millionaires from cleaning carpets or washing windows.
But here you are basically saying that anyone can do what you did. It's not that impressive, you just have to fill out a few bits of paper. If your blind-slandering of everyone going through tough times in the worst job market since the 30's wasn't enough to lose you any respect, the fact that your success is so very uninteresting more than does the job.
I don't expect that everyone will have the same level of success as me. However, people's financials are in their own hands. The average person does as good as job with their finances as they do with their weight. Americans do seem to be learning these lessons right now.
I agree it's completely possible to get caught in a situation not of your own making due to circumstance that makes it very difficult to make a living. These current economic times are certainly like that. I certainly feel bad for people, especially kids, who are having a hard time making ends meet through no fault. Contrary to popular opinion here I do support things like unemployment insurance. However, I also think that a system which is too easy to get on can cause dependency and is bad. I have several relatives who have lived their whole lives on welfare and who work occasionally under the table for extra money. IMHO these people would be productive members of society if they didn't have the crutch.
Lot's of people work hard, not that many are talented.
I see a lot of people claiming they are working hard but strategically they aren't making the right decisions. I suppose strategy is a form of talent as well but there is plenty of ways to learn about business. Some of them are kidding themselves as well about how hard they are working.
However, I do agree that talent is a factor. Most of my rich buddies are fairly smart people. I would argue a talent for working with people is probably more important than advanced technical skill for making money.
Thus, I'm happy that my abilities can help put food on people's tables or make sure they can buy their kids clothes or whatever. It's not a big deal for me to pay a little more. Maybe I just set aside some of the creature comforts that I indulge in. No more Direct League pass, or whatever. It's a small sacrifice and if you really were a macho tough guy, you would shrug it off.
Look, I agree. It's not a big deal to pay a bit more in taxes. To me it's not the taxes, it's how they are spent. If I thought that not extending the tax cuts *would actually solve a problem* I would be all for it. I don't want to give the fools in Washington another dime with their current policies. They will just continue to piss it away on wars (and a lot of other things).
And, of course, the dirty little secret is that by ensuring that the population has money and skills (through education), we ensure that there are people who can afford my services.
I totally agree but you need to show me the big picture on how the government getting more revenue from me actually fixes anything. That's the disconnect here.
Both in an altruistic sense and from pure self-interest, progressive taxation and strong social safety nets are preferable.
I still don't think we need progressive taxation. In fact I would rather see a consumption tax and get rid of income tax completely. I would also be fine with some sort of federal property tax. Income tax to me is unnecessarily invasive. Again, I know I'm in the minority here is having more of a libertarian view on this stuff. I just don't think the fed needs to be as large as it is, period.
I agree that some sort of social net is necessary but I don't think we've developed a good system yet. Ultimately as productivity increases I think a minimum income type setup could actually work. We may not have a choice as there just may not be the jobs available to keep everyone working in the future. If the choice is starving mobs or higher taxes, I'll take higher taxes every time. But don't expect me to not want to explore alternatives before giving in and accepting a massive government.
