Television: It's a post-apocalyptic dystopia where the less fortunate must fight to the death while the rich gawk and cheer! Woman: Is this a review of "Hunger Games?" Man: No... the Ryan budget!
Not necessarily for it, however there will always be social classes even in socialism. You will never achieve true socialism. The government can not sustain and will eventually experience a financial crumble. Take a look at Europe right now and what progressive socialism is doing for them.
I am not against all socialistic ideas, I just don’t want our government to cross the line and take us beyond no return as BHO is doing now.
How far do you want to take it? (0-Infinity) one social class, everybody that works gives all their money to the government and then gets redistributed. Does that seem right? Let’s say you work hard and earn a $100K a year and give all to government and get back $50K. Your neighbor doesn’t work and gets $50K every year from the government. This eventually encourages people to not be productive and give to the government. You end up witth no workers, no taxpayers and a lot of leaches.
So to respond to your statement, yes, I am for social classes because the alternative is destructive.
“At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child – miserable, as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied, demanding, ill-disciplined, despotic and useless. Liberalism is a philosophy of sniveling brats.” — P.J. O’Rourke
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that’s what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. ‘Since you are all such good customers, he said, ‘I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. What happens to the other six men – the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his ‘fair share?’ They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
‘I only got a dollar out of the $20,’ declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, ‘But he got $10!’
‘Yeah, that’s right,’ exclaimed the fifth man. ‘I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I!’
‘That’s true!!’ shouted the seventh man. ‘Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!’
‘Wait a minute,’ yelled the first four men in unison. ‘We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!’
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important.
They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
I too watched Bill Maher and thought he was funny until he took a left wing political view. So it goes both ways, except for SNL…
First of all, I am for safety nets for those that need them, NOT for those that abuse them and there are plenty that do that, to the point that this country can not sustain much longer
My “Capitalist thing?” This my friend is “OUR” country and without capitalism you may not have been born. Capitalism breeds our country! It pays the taxes, hires the people!!! WHAT PART OF THIS DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?
Do you understand, without capitalism there will not be any SAFETY NETS!!! There will not be any money for the poor. THINK ABOUT IT!
Where is the money going to come from if there is no commerce? It doesn’t grow on trees.
cjr53 about 12 years ago
Like in Rome?
Ellen Gwynne about 12 years ago
Great cartoon. Good to see that people see the implications of the books.
josefw about 12 years ago
Stay on your talking points! The more you repeat an untruth the more drones will believe it.
joe vignone about 12 years ago
93% of the gains in the last 10 years went to the top 1%. If that isn’t class warfare then I have a vaginal probe I’ll let you have cheap.
Dtroutma about 12 years ago
The Ryan plan is catapults and burning pitch aimed at the middle class and the poor.
josefw about 12 years ago
Not necessarily for it, however there will always be social classes even in socialism. You will never achieve true socialism. The government can not sustain and will eventually experience a financial crumble. Take a look at Europe right now and what progressive socialism is doing for them.
I am not against all socialistic ideas, I just don’t want our government to cross the line and take us beyond no return as BHO is doing now.
How far do you want to take it? (0-Infinity) one social class, everybody that works gives all their money to the government and then gets redistributed. Does that seem right? Let’s say you work hard and earn a $100K a year and give all to government and get back $50K. Your neighbor doesn’t work and gets $50K every year from the government. This eventually encourages people to not be productive and give to the government. You end up witth no workers, no taxpayers and a lot of leaches.
So to respond to your statement, yes, I am for social classes because the alternative is destructive.
josefw about 12 years ago
Thanks to you, I found this quote!
“At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child – miserable, as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied, demanding, ill-disciplined, despotic and useless. Liberalism is a philosophy of sniveling brats.” — P.J. O’Rourke
josefw about 12 years ago
BAR STOOL ECONOMICS
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that’s what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. ‘Since you are all such good customers, he said, ‘I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. What happens to the other six men – the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his ‘fair share?’ They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
‘I only got a dollar out of the $20,’ declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, ‘But he got $10!’
‘Yeah, that’s right,’ exclaimed the fifth man. ‘I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I!’
‘That’s true!!’ shouted the seventh man. ‘Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!’
‘Wait a minute,’ yelled the first four men in unison. ‘We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!’
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important.
They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
josefw about 12 years ago
Married 33 years, don’t need to ask the average woman. However no complaints in my non married years.
Why are you always looking for a negative instead of a positive? (no need to answer, I know.)
josefw about 12 years ago
They kept coming back for more!
josefw about 12 years ago
Where do I start with this one?
I too watched Bill Maher and thought he was funny until he took a left wing political view. So it goes both ways, except for SNL…
First of all, I am for safety nets for those that need them, NOT for those that abuse them and there are plenty that do that, to the point that this country can not sustain much longer
My “Capitalist thing?” This my friend is “OUR” country and without capitalism you may not have been born. Capitalism breeds our country! It pays the taxes, hires the people!!! WHAT PART OF THIS DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?
Do you understand, without capitalism there will not be any SAFETY NETS!!! There will not be any money for the poor. THINK ABOUT IT!
Where is the money going to come from if there is no commerce? It doesn’t grow on trees.