*and actively destroys/dismantles anything one could remotely be proud of having their tax money go to.
I’d gladly fund NASA and scientific research any day of the week, but nooooo gotta feed the poor poor billionaires.
but noooo gotta feed the poor
HUH?!
poor billionaires
Aaaahhhh.
My city can’t afford housing or transit but just spent $150 million building a stadium for live nation. Free taxpayer funded stadiums for corporations to profit from, yay!
“Live Nation Entertainment is composed of Live Nation, an events promoter and venue operator, and Ticketmaster, a ticket sales giant. The two companies merged in 2010 and now control an estimated 70% of the ticketing and live event venues market.”
Calgary?
The world desperately needs more Luigis.
- issuing currency
- collecting taxes
- suppressing evidence of child sex trafficking
One of these things is so outrageously unlike the others that it makes me kinda sus of whoever decided to put them all in the same list
A charitable interpretation of “printing money out of thin air” is how they bail out corporations and landlords. Why even save if the game is so obviously rigged?
They’re mad at #2 because #1 gives them all the money they need to do #3. So why do they need my money too?
All USD is printed. Taxes are the only thing that gives USD its value.
I have a problem with the meme playing footsie with the ideas that taxes are theft and money-printing is fraud.
These are common neo-metallist arguments. And in techie spaces like the fediverse, libertarians like to sneak them into the conversation while going “How do you do, fellow progressives?” before they start pitching NFTs.
*Corrupt Government
*Has the ability to print money out of thin air with no downside.
*Forces you pay taxes anyway making you technically complicit in its crimes.
*Uses Its infinite wealth and power to openly protect child predators instead of something good because it is a corrupt government. (The most recent thing in the news cycle)
Interesting how all these things line up together when you don’t abstract these things into nothingness. It makes me very sus of the person who decide to reword these so they don’t fit on the same list.
Trump can basically print infinite amounts of dollars through the federal reserve.
As we all know, conflicts are hella expensive and often decided by who can stay solvent longer. The fact that trump can just print dollars is extremely problematic here.
I guess the necessary course of action would be to bring the dollar’s value to zero, and use an alternative currency instead (such as euro, canadian dollar, mexican pesos).
Okay but we all get that Douglas was the bad guy, right? OP??
I’m pretty sure the bad guy was the fucked-up system that tortured him into his behavior. He’s a victim as much as any of the people he hurt.
Being a victim doesn’t mean you are not also an abuser. Not all victims become abusers. We all live with the same fucked up system, but we don’t all fall down. We don’t all turn to violence and self-righteousness. Douglas was the fucking bad guy. Try watching it from his wife’s point of view.
At the time of its release, Douglas’s father, actor Kirk Douglas, declared: “He played it brilliantly. I think it is his best piece of work to date.”[26] He also defended the film against critics who claimed that it glorifies lawbreaking: “Michael’s character is not the ‘hero’ or ‘newest urban icon’. He is the villain and the victim. Of course, we see many elements of our society that contributed to his madness. We even pity him. But the movie never condones his actions.”
If you see something to be emulated or respected, you might just be fucked in the head.
I didn’t say that victims can’t be abusers, nor did I say that he was a hero.
People who’ve done harm need to be prevented from causing further harm, but it’s important to acknowledge the root cause of their behavior if you want to stop future iterations.
I think that the OP is entirely a joke, but that it comes from the very real villain of systemic injustice that pressures us all to lash out. I think one could see the film as inspirational insofar as being inspired to take violent action, but I would hope they direct their aggression towards worthy targets.
I can hear Iron Maiden’s ‘Man on the Edge’ music.
Is tax 33% in the USA? or are you not referring to the USA?
Federal taxes plus state taxes plus property taxes (if you own any) plus vehicle taxes (usually in the form of plates and fuel taxes) plus sales taxes (on anything you buy) plus who-knows-what all else.
It adds up to a good chunk of the average working person’s paycheck.
Edit: Forgot to add county and local taxes. For example, Cook county Illinois adds substantial sales taxes and gas taxes on top of state sales and and federal gas taxes.
TBH Ima put Social Security in the tax section too as I doubt people under 50 are gonna collect on it.
Hi, disabled under 50 yo person here, my only income is SSDI, Social Security Disability Insurance.
Don’t worry, us disabled folks are entirely used to our existence being entirely forgotten about.
I’m not sure what you’re trying to say here. I didn’t forget and I’m not worried, I chose to not bring it up because it’s a shitty comment thread not a research paper. Generally, SSDI is not really worth bringing up on if it is taxes or not and I’d personally argue that tying someone’s ability to live disabled to their previous work is needlessly cruel.
You said you doubt people under 50 collect on Social Security.
… Disabled people do.
Generally, SSDI is not really worth bringing up on if it is taxes or not…
Hey I mean yeah, sure, unless its your only source of income!
Not like I’ll become homeless and die within 3 to 6 months if taxes going toward SSDI suddenly get reclassified or rerouted or totally removed!
Not like that’s the case for about 6.3 million Americans under the age of 65 whose only income is SSDI!
https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/quickfacts/stat_snapshot/
sigh
…and I’d personally argue that tying someone’s ability to live disabled to their previous work is needlessly cruel.
At least we agree on that.
I’m still not sure what you’re trying to say here. I have agreed with everything you have said, you’re just really annoying about having to self insert yourself into a comment thread like you have to be the center of attention. Tell me, what happens if people under 50 now can never pull from social security for retirement? They will also face 3-6 months before homelessness and death. You immediately made it about how it’s not a tax because you’re one of those who gets to use it as opposed to pay in and never claim.
I never once argued for the removal of SSDI, I only ever brought up how tens or hundreds of millions could face very harsh retirements. For the average American worker, social security is deducted from their pay and they might never see what you now rely on.
🤡🤡🤡
Hot take: I think any involuntary expense forced on you by your government is, essentially, a tax regardless of whether it goes into government or corporate coffers, and should be included in the discussion.
Health insurance being the major example, given that’s paid for by taxes in civilized countries. Arguably, the insurance, gas, and maintenance on a car that many of us would happily trade for a functional public transportation system.
Federal Tax Rates in the US 2024-25 run from 10% to 37%.
I am guessing that not too many pay over 30% then? Also that this is in brackets, so that only the amount over certain point is taxed higher?
I am still surprised that taxes can be so high, and people require so little for it!
No one in the US pays 30% income tax. Only the top 10% have to pay more than 30%…and they’re rich enough to qualify for so many tax breaks at that point, that their effective rate is less than half that.
As a sole proprietor, yes we do.
Then you need to fire your accountant…or start taking their advice. Either way, you’re doing it wrong.
Yeah I just checked and I’m looking at around 15-16% adding together federal tax+FICA/FMHI
1/3, huh? You must be a high-earning Californian or New Yorker. I don’t think anyone else pays that much.
In California as a single person, with only the standard deductions and not deducting anything else (no health insurance or 401k) you would have to make 210k to pay 1/3 of your salary. If you pay $100 a month in health insurance premiums and put 5% into 401k then you have to make over 275k to pay 1/3 of your salary in income tax
