Income Inequality.

[Mark Charles Compton]

Do you want to go a deep dive of how we all use different models of fair in the end?

My model:

When all parties involved are equally dissatisfied on the subjective level.

Can't make em' all happy, you can bring everyone down to the lowest dudes level. Question is, do we want to?

 

[Shadow Wolf]

How about this for a radical solution:

No income tax. There are plenty of other avenues of tax revenue, how much does income tax even really make up of the total pool? Just shooting ideas out there.

It made a difference when the upper bracket was taxed at 90%.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Thank you for ur input. Cheers

I thought the 70,000 thing was your claim.
There's still, however, your statement that apparently you think it's neat to get something like carpal tunnel syndrome and not actually make it above the poverty line while you got it.

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

My model:

When all parties involved are equally dissatisfied on the subjective level.

Can't make em' all happy, you can bring everyone down to the lowest dudes level. Question is, do we want to?

Well, you can stil make it flatter than other places in the world. We still have differences in Denmark, but in general it is better to be poor in some places of the world than others.
It seems that to some people it is a dichotomy between how it is in the USA or we are all total equal. There are places closer to equal/better for the poor/middle classes than the USA and still not we are equal.

 

[exchemist]

Let's pause for moment and understand that I'm not trying to make a point here. This thread began w/ a simple note saying essentially that all was well and immediately we got a pile of of folks unhappy about, well, something. I never had a point to be backed up. I only wanted to find out just what this mysterious something was.

--and his is what mystifies me. Everyone want's change that will result in "more" and "down" followed by a reply of the mistaken belief that the rich don't pay income tax. Reality is that the higher income brackets pay far more per person than everyone else. Do keep in mind is that imho this is not only a good thing but it's inevitable.

So my bottom line here is that the problem here is not folks like me who try to find out what solution is being proposed, but rather too many folks clamoring merely for the sake of clamor.

The US has the largest income disparities of any developed nation. There are reasons to expect that very large disparities lead to both hardship and a fraying of social cohesion. The latter might ring a few bells.

 

[Pete in Panama]

I thought the 70,000 thing was your claim.

That was my quoting iirc the BEA, I even posted a link. Like, maybe they're wrong? We got to live w/ the fact that the $70K number is what they reported.

...your statement that apparently you think it's neat to get something like carpal tunnel syndrome and not actually make it above the poverty line while you got it.

huh. I honest don't remember having said that.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

huh. I honest don't remember having said that.

I said I worked my way to the operating room without even getting out of poverty. Your reply was "whoa, NEAT!"

 

[Pete in Panama]

The US has the largest income disparities of any developed nation. There are reasons to expect that very large disparities lead to both hardship and a fraying of social cohesion. The latter might ring a few bells.

Forbes says that the richest person in the world is Bernard Arnault and he lives in Paris France. Therefore France has the world highest income disparity. Of course, if he were to move to Luxembourg then Luxembourg would then have the world's highest income disparity. I honestly don't see how that would make the average Frenchman better off.

 

[Pete in Panama]

I said I worked my way to the operating room without even getting out of poverty. Your reply was "whoa, NEAT!"

Ah, I misunderstood what u were saying. I thought you meant that you became a doctor working in the operating room who gave all his money to charity. I didn't realize that you were a penniless patient being operated thanks to donated funds.

My bad.

 

[Pete in Panama]

...there is no objectively correct answer for this.

That was my take too but that sure doesn't stop a lot of folks here from spouting out all sorts of answers.

 

[Heyo]

How about this for a radical solution:

No income tax. There are plenty of other avenues of tax revenue, how much does income tax even really make up of the total pool? Just shooting ideas out there.

I did propose that previously (Tax the Dead!). It wasn't received as well as I imagined.

 

[Heyo]

Forbes says that the richest person in the world is Bernard Arnault and he lives in Paris France. Therefore France has the world highest income disparity. Of course, if he were to move to Luxembourg then Luxembourg would then have the world's highest income disparity. I honestly don't see how that would make the average Frenchman better off.

You are comparing wealth to income, apples to oranges.

 

[Pete in Panama]

You are comparing wealth to income, apples to oranges.

Quiet down, I can't allow Shadow Wolf to hear you.

OK, ur right. Wealth and income are different. Two problems. One is that the left ignores that and they're all outraged when a billionaire looses money for a year and pays no income tax. Why can't I ignore it too? The other problem is that finding the person in the world w/ the biggest income is hard if not impossible, but there are many ways of getting the richest person.

So heck to be the richest person u got to rake in lots of dough so I get to cheat --why not?

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Ah, I misunderstood what u were saying. I thought you meant that you became a doctor working in the operating room who gave all his money to charity. I didn't realize that you were a penniless patient being operated thanks to donated funds.

My bad.

That was with private insurance that left me with bills that left me broke.
I the time I got donated funds was when I was a full time white collar professional, on call 24/7, dealing with high risk patients, and still I qualified for low income assistance with those bills.

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

That was my take too but that sure doesn't stop a lot of folks here from spouting out all sorts of answers.

Then both answers, namely that income disparity is relevant or irrelavant, are subjective.
But the next step is that if I claim something is objective and it is subjective, have I then claim something, which is false?

 

[Pete in Panama]

That was with private insurance that left me with bills that left me broke.
I the time I got donated funds was when I was a full time white collar professional, on call 24/7, dealing with high risk patients, and still I qualified for low income assistance with those bills.

What caught me aback on ur post is the ironic paradox ur situation seemed to pose in my big hollow head.

On the one hand my heart goes out to u because I'm so glad that I'm not undergoing your hardships. I do wish u all the best and you'll be remembered in my prayers. On the other hand there are so many people in the world who'd see u as being so very blessed. You have a roof over your head. You're in America and you're comfortable w/ English. You have clothes. My bet is u have food. Where I live here in Panama there are Venezuelans on the street that don't have those things, they're out peddling sweets to scrounge up money for their trip north. My thinking that there are probably millions of people in the world who'd be sooo envious of your situation.

Go figure.

 

[Mark Charles Compton]

My thinking that there are probably millions of people in the world who'd be sooo envious of your situation.

Billions.

~2 Billion w/o clean running water and ~900 million w/o electricity. According to a link I posted on an earlier comment.

 

[Stevicus]

What caught me aback on ur post is the ironic paradox ur situation seemed to pose in my big hollow head.

On the one hand my heart goes out to u because I'm so glad that I'm not undergoing your hardships. I do wish u all the best and you'll be remembered in my prayers. On the other hand there are so many people in the world who'd see u as being so very blessed. You have a roof over your head. You're in America and you're comfortable w/ English. You have clothes. My bet is u have food. Where I live here in Panama there are Venezuelans on the street that don't have those things, they're out peddling sweets to scrounge up money for their trip north. My thinking that there are probably millions of people in the world who'd be sooo envious of your situation.

Go figure.

Is that aspect really so important, as to how different people's lives compare with each other or who's envious of whom? I've noticed this as a recurring line of argumentation, tending to revolve around anecdotal comparisons like you're making here.

Panama is a capitalist country, so using the same line of argumentation, there's no reason for them to have to leave or scrounge up money for their trip north.

We also have plenty of people in America living on the streets, scrounging for whatever they can to eat another day.

 

[Pete in Panama]

Then both answers, namely that income disparity is relevant or irrelavant, are subjective.
But the next step is that if I claim something is objective and it is subjective, have I then claim something, which is false?

Very profound and intricate questions. I'm having a hard enough time trying to find out what solutions are being suggested among all this complaining.

 

[Audie]

Very profound and intricate questions. I'm having a hard enough time trying to find out what solutions are being suggested among all this complaining.

For Americans like anyone else you
make up your mind, take your chances,
pay the price.
Sometimes get the rewards.

But money won't protect you from fate.

I can feel sorry for the unfortunate, help
sometimes, but you, me, or the man behind
the tree can't make life fair.

People with themselves to blame or who just
got unlucky seem to think radical politics
will help, but it wont.