What do you think of “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need”?

mycowardice on October 20, 2008 at 11:59 PM

You didn’t ask me, but in that statement I see someone angling to make me a slave. Force me by law and/or force to provide for those who will not provide for themselves.

No thanks.

Anyone has the opportunity to succeed here. The only barriers to success in the USA are an eager willingness to work hard and smart, and the socialist democrats looking to steal all they can and give it to those who choose not to work or be productive.

techno_barbarian on October 21, 2008 at 12:16 AM

I ask because our tax system, whether the one proposed by McCain or Obama works just like that. We are taxed according to how much money we make, i.e. from each of us according to our abilities. I was wondering how you reconcile our reality with such a statement.

So for example, if you make 20k per year, even if you “share” of taxes would be 30k, we don’t ask you to pay 30k.

mycowardice on October 21, 2008 at 12:19 AM

You seem to be an alinsky-ite.

This is a comment from the AOL Straw Poll that was linked above. It’s a bit long, but I found it very illustrative and useful.

Have a look.

A350Chevy6712:29PMOct 17th 2008

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.

But what about 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 got’

‘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, ladies and gentlemen, 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.

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
University of Georgia

Pretty much says it all.

techno_barbarian on October 21, 2008 at 12:27 AM

That system is as marxist as the initial one. What system would you recommend?

mycowardice on October 21, 2008 at 12:32 AM

A tax that was evenly levied on everyone. Flat 10% would be more than fair. But everybody pulls the weight equally, percentage-wise.

From other threads I’ve seen that it’s not possible to actually reason with you. You advocate for socialism. I’m a capitalist who consistantly pulls more than his own weight. I’m one of those people who don’t really like to place limits on themselves. You know, just an Average American? I openly resent and disparage socialism. It kills incentive, chokes economies, and cripples nations. History is littered with examples and lessons.

The socialist movie doesn’t have a happy ending. Obama is not going to make it all better.

techno_barbarian on October 21, 2008 at 12:48 AM