I was just thinking a bit about taxes and fair shares and one of Jesus' parables popped into my head. See, the church has a flat tax system, or at least, the evangelical church does. Each member of the church is supposed to voluntarily give 10% of their income, which the church is very adamant that God will return to you with interest. I remember hearing stories from clearly well-off Sunday-school teachers telling of how they "used to struggle a lot financially" but would still find ways to make it fit in their budget, and now they were comfortable. This was a story told to children, mind you, and with adult retrospect I can think of some additional context I'd like to ask for in that story.
You may be privy to or unfamiliar with how the ultra-wealthy are taking advantage of the system. Either way, you’ll find this report by @ProPublica to be staggering. The facts are clear: there is a class war, and we’re losing.
“…it demolishes the cornerstone myth of the American tax system: that everyone pays their fair share and the richest Americans pay the most.”
Parallels Between Archaic Entrepots and Modern Offshore Banking Centers
By Michael Hudson, originally published by Resilience.org May 10, 2024
"...To create such enclaves has been an objective of mercantile capital through the ages. It patronizes the world’s politically weakest areas as long as they do not do what real governments do: regulate their economies. The search for “neutral territory” expressed itself already in the chalcolithic epoch, many millennia before private enterprise developed as we know it. The result of this impetus is that neolithic towns...and the biblical cities of refuge share the following important common denominator with today’s offshore banking centers: Instead of being centers of local governing, legal, and military power, they were politically neutral sites established outside the jurisdictions of local governments..."
NEW: IRS Audit of #Trump Could Cost Former President More Than $100 Million
The #tax agency concluded in its long-running investigation that Trump effectively claimed the same massive write-off twice on his failed #Chicago tower.
It is funny, in Spain if you want to legally trade your own services, say you make websites, then you have to become "autonomo" - like self-employed, and pay between 60 to 100 euros a month taxes even if you make no money as self-employed. hahaha. That after you will have to pay a lawyer some 60 more euros a month to deal with the shitload of papers and nonsense.
You know these "taxes" in theory seem like a decent idea: take a bit of money from each citizen, to then put that money into healthcare and other things that will be free for these "citizens".
In practice it is shitshow of corruption and making the rich richer. And a huge pain in the ass for everyone. I would not mind contributing 20% of my "income" to a tribe if I get free healthcare and other benefits, but only if it was made simple and you could see the effect of your contribution.
Spain seems like the capital of papers and nonsense. But the entire world is like that one way of another...
Such a wasted time on the most "unique" planet in the universe. Deal with papers, try to survive, be busy with nothing things... No thank you!
So yeah, in a trade based society is not enough to "trade", you have to do it in a particular way. And if you are poor you are entirely fucked to begin with anyway.
Billionaires don’t like Ottawa’s capital gains tax hike, but you should: It’s an overdue step toward making our tax system fairer
“We don’t think it’s fair that a teacher or electrician pays taxes on 100% of their income while a multimillionaire pays taxes on only 50%,” said Trudeau
Macron a passé un savon à Attal pour avoir annoncé un projet de taxation des "rentes". Le président, "ulcéré" par la tournure du débat sur le déficit public, lui a interdit à lui et à ses ministres de prononcer ce mot, relate Le Point. Il ne faudrait pas s'aliéner ces meilleurs soutiens...
Crazy to me that TFG (a.k.a. he who will not be named here) and others at top of the Republican Party have convinced so many working class followers that they are the low tax party. They're not — unless you're either wealthy or a corporation: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-era-tax-cuts-set-160750197.html
Trump Vows to Lower Prices. Some of His Policies May Raise Them. (www.nytimes.com)
Donald J. Trump has not released a detailed economic plan. But three of his key proposals would push prices up, economists say.