Alceste
Vagabond
Who paid their college tuition?
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for those people who love to hate on the wealthy...
- Thread starter Octavia156
- Start date
Who paid their college tuition?
You make excellent points MM but the bottom line is, my kids believe in the system and do not have a fatalist attitude.
It's hard for me when people tell me how good I had it compared to them. Let them start out at the age of 19 with a M16 in their hands and sleep with the snakes in the rain and believe you will not see another birthday. Many of my generation died in a war they did not want to fight nor wanted to join the military.
Yeah, we had it real good. :no:
Come back from a war and get treated like crap and endure a recession with no jobs.
The recession we are in is not the only recession this country ever had.
Well I agree with you that some people are doomsayers, fearmongers, naysayers, negative nancies -- whatever. But not all people who point out problems with a system are just doom and gloomers. The first step to recovery is to admit there is a problem: sometimes when people seem to be complaining, they're actually trying to be part of the solution. I agree that not all of them are.
I also don't think this is a matter of "who had it better or worse." What's important is just how to make it better.
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InsurgoInsurgiInsurrect
Member
It is not their original thought right? They are just literally cutting and pasting an argument they agree with. Why they agree with it is not really mysterious usually but I always recommend trying to figure out their exact view point because most of the time it is pretty delusional and entertaining.
The big think comes for them if they understand the opposing argument without having to spell it out for them which is usually not possible.
McBell
Unbound
The author of the OP might not be the originator of the fictional story in the OP, but the author of the fictional story in the OP is still guilty as charged.
Alceste
Vagabond
I feel like a lot of this nonsense comes from right wing spam emails. It's obviously copied but there's no attribution, and they always make very vague claims about the source. "An economy professor". Mmm-hmmm. No name? No institution?
I think the Koch brothers themselves might be furiously typing these things out and sending them to everyone who has ever signed up to access information on a US libertarian website.
How do we make it better? First and foremost we don't give up. The recession has to pass eventually. What can a person do to improve their lot in life? Make a plan for one thing. I don't believe I would borrow a bunch of money to attend college and pursue a Liberal Arts degree for one thing. Technical schools find their graduates gainful employment. People should polish their marketing and interview skills and most of all network with successful people. You might want to work for nothing and do a temporary position to gain experience and show off your skills to get your foot in the door of a great company and live at home with your parents for a while. If your determination gets noticed, it could result in being the next person they hire making great money. The sacrifice might just pay off in spades.
It's called delayed satisfaction and sure beats working for low pay all your life. You should be flexible and be willing to relocate. Each job should be a stepping stone to your next job that you really want.
Tell you what, Rick. We have broken into profit the last two months (knock on wood). It's promising right now, but if we are able to draw a paycheck one day that allows the hubbie to quit his bread-and-butter job I will personally drive down to see you and treat you to dinner of your choice. Just to let you know that you were right.
And trust me, I REALLY want to prove you're right.
Is that fair?
something to consider about wealth inequality and equal chance... a bit of a personal testimony
My family was upper middle class and could afford to pay for my college( i went before i was ready)
then we became lower middle class. did not have the money to pay for college nor did i qualify for finical aid.
Were now living pay check to pay check and i qualified for maximum finical aid. of course now school will be a struggle as i work full time have inatiquate funds for school supplies food hard time paying bills etc.
finally consider this school prices have gone up but grant aid has stayed stagnate.
My family was upper middle class and could afford to pay for my college( i went before i was ready)
then we became lower middle class. did not have the money to pay for college nor did i qualify for finical aid.
Were now living pay check to pay check and i qualified for maximum finical aid. of course now school will be a struggle as i work full time have inatiquate funds for school supplies food hard time paying bills etc.
finally consider this school prices have gone up but grant aid has stayed stagnate.
My understanding is that your story is not unique, and that it's quite common.
darkendless
Guardian of Asgaard
I pay more tax than my partner earns. If I earnt $2000 less annually i'd fit into a lower tax bracket and actually earn more money.
People say to me often that as a high income earner I should pay more tax because I don't need it. I often find it frustrating that I sacrifice more of what I earn than others simply because I am more educated and have a better job. While they left school and pursued a career without a degree I slaved away at subway serving tools through university to make my way and marketed myself for months to get my job.
The job I do is risky and if I get things wrong my livelihood is on the line. I am open to losing my right to provide a service as well as criminal charges if mistakes are made. For this reason I disagree with being taxed so much. I am paid to do a job that is unforgiving. The higher the risk, the higher the reward. The government however doesn't see it that way and takes about 20% of my gross earnings. Trying to get ahead in life isn't easy and heavy taxation doesn't help.
When I work at night and get double time my tax rate increases to a third. Instead of earning $100 and getting $80 after tax, I only get $66. I also get taxed on any travel expenses I pay for on my own and get reimbursed for by my employer.
I realise that things are a lot tougher in the USA but as someone who gets slogged for tax each fortnight I can tell you that it hurts us as well, it's not just the breadliners. For those of us who are just over the line into the next tax bracket it hurts to see so much get taken from the pay cheque.
People say to me often that as a high income earner I should pay more tax because I don't need it. I often find it frustrating that I sacrifice more of what I earn than others simply because I am more educated and have a better job. While they left school and pursued a career without a degree I slaved away at subway serving tools through university to make my way and marketed myself for months to get my job.
The job I do is risky and if I get things wrong my livelihood is on the line. I am open to losing my right to provide a service as well as criminal charges if mistakes are made. For this reason I disagree with being taxed so much. I am paid to do a job that is unforgiving. The higher the risk, the higher the reward. The government however doesn't see it that way and takes about 20% of my gross earnings. Trying to get ahead in life isn't easy and heavy taxation doesn't help.
When I work at night and get double time my tax rate increases to a third. Instead of earning $100 and getting $80 after tax, I only get $66. I also get taxed on any travel expenses I pay for on my own and get reimbursed for by my employer.
I realise that things are a lot tougher in the USA but as someone who gets slogged for tax each fortnight I can tell you that it hurts us as well, it's not just the breadliners. For those of us who are just over the line into the next tax bracket it hurts to see so much get taken from the pay cheque.
Alceste
Vagabond
Doesn't Australia work the same way Canada does? We all pay the same amount of tax on the same proportion of our income. The highest earners pay the highest tax bracket, but not on their entire income - only the income that exceeds the top end of the next highest tax bracket.
If you were here, you'd only be paying higher taxes on that last $2000, so you would still be earning more than if you gave it up entirely to get into the next tax bracket down.
Some people here have difficulty understanding how that works, and also believe that if they only made a couple dollars less a year they could save thousands in taxes and therefore make more money, but that's not the case.
One more reason for public education through college.
MY gf and I were talking about we think the european model would be great/ what do our uk members think of the sysytem?
darkendless
Guardian of Asgaard
Going through my tax for the last 2 years (in between receiving a pay rise from work) my gross annual income has slightly increased whilst my pay rise was worth $5k.
I think you're right and the main issue is that i'm getting taxed heavily on the add-ons to my salary such as allowances for travel and equipment as well as penalty rates.
Over here, they tax people making 250K @ the same amount as billionaires. 
Your money is no good in Kentucky. :sorry1:Tell you what, Rick. We have broken into profit the last two months (knock on wood). It's promising right now, but if we are able to draw a paycheck one day that allows the hubbie to quit his bread-and-butter job I will personally drive down to see you and treat you to dinner of your choice. Just to let you know that you were right.
And trust me, I REALLY want to prove you're right.
Is that fair?
I would love to have dinner with you some day. :yes:
darkendless
Guardian of Asgaard
Over here, they tax people making 250K @ the same amount as billionaires.
I have conflicting thoughts on this topic. Whilst on one hand I think everyone should have the same tax rate and feel it unfair to tax people more simply because they're in a position to make more, i recognise that public money has to come from those that can afford to lose it. You can only tax the breadliners so much. The cost of living isn't a straight line but it's not far off.
I honestly don't know what to think. As I said i'm always sore over paying sop much tax given how hard I worked to get to where I am.
It is like penalising success and rewarding failure.
darkendless
Guardian of Asgaard
I think in a similar thread last year I said the same thing and was absolutely crucified for it