Quote:
Originally Posted by dogzilla
If we get a significant percentage of the freeloaders that do not pay income taxes, currently in the range of 46% of the US population, then those of us who do pay taxes can have our taxes reduced since more people are paying their share.
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A few of those people are the unemployed, but I wonder if they counted kids, retired people on a fixed Social Security income, prisoners and the disabled just to make their number bigger as a shock value.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dogzilla
No. Most of the countries on that list are in Europe. Considering the history of Europe over the last 2000 years I wouldn't use Europe as a model of success for anything. I certainly would not view the socialist state model in Europe as a success at all.
If they are not paying taxes that sure sounds like the definition of freeloading.
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I think they lead happier, less-stressful, and more enjoyable lives. They aren't nearly as paranoid about losing their job, getting more than the next guy, and scamming the system to get away without paying taxes.
And this gets to a bigger economic question, why do we need a 0% unemployment rate with everyone working 50+ hours a week? We have made great advances in technology to eliminate millions of jobs. One farmer can now do the work of dozens a hundred years ago. A solar and wind farm can run with much lower manpower requirements than a coal power plant. Electric vehicles made out of non-rusting parts could eliminate millions of jobs from people repairing and maintaining existing cars to oil drillers and refiners. There will be some jobs temporarily as these things ramp up, but when you look at it as people should work from 25-35 and have enough to retire after 10 years. And in 50 years, when AI and machines do 95% of the jobs (24/7/365), we will need an economic system that allows people to survive without working or 'owning' anything.