Okay, here's an interesting bit of numberplay that I came up with, based on this statistic:
Imagine if 60% of the people in the U.S. lost everything, every dime they had, all of it. That's something on the order of 180 million Americans, all flat broke. Guess how much money we would have to tax the wealthiest 3 million folks in this country to replace every last dime of all those destitute souls?
13%.
That's right. Without touching the money of the top 2 to 39% most wealthy people in the U.S., we could replace the wealth of the bottom three fifths of the nation, by taking away less money from the very top than one would normally add to the check at a restaurant* (if you'd like to think of the majority of the nation as a tip for the meal that was the United States).
Now tell me again how unfair the tax system is to all those rich folk.
Addendum:
You realize, that the numbers say that the wealthiest 1% of the country has almost 8X the amount of money as over half the nation combined. I dont care how you twist it, there is no justification that can support that kind of imbalance. That is not a reward for being smarter or luckier or more willing to take risks, that's just ridiculous, and I dont think anyone can become that wealthy without behavior that is questionable, if only on an ethical level.
* Yes, I know it doesnt really work that way.
3 comments:
'm all for taxing the rich more but in the US it seems to be very anti-American to say so, and stupid ideas like punishing success get thrown around.
Also, from afar, America seems to like inequality, keeps the have-nots aspirational, keeps their noses to the grindstone. Just look at how Bush passed tax cuts for the superrich with the help of the averagely poor?
Genius!
Dave,
Just because many of the ancestors of these rich people acquired their wealth by lying, stealing, and killing, doesn't mean that people who work for a living should get a humane, social bailout. Sheesh.
@ DHG: I've got a Russian coworker who uses that "punishment for success" line. By those standards, though, shouldnt we allow bank robbers who get away to keep the money and avoid jail? I mean, they successfully stole money, right? For that matter, I successfully do my job, and am regularly punished by a tiny paycheck. Ask most people and they'd tell you that they would happily trade a million dollar salary for even a 50% tax rate (and the dirty truth is that the tax rate will always be factored in when calculating pay at that level).
@ Pryme: What's good for the gander*...?
* (Obviously, we're not the gander, since they get to fuck things, and we're the ones being fucked.)
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