Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - The gap between the rich and the poor: how do we reduce it?

skizziks · 04-26-2011, 06:22 PM

the best way to reduce the gap is to redefine "rich" and "poor." technically, i would be considered a "have not." i don't have much, because i choose to not have much, and if i can't afford it, i don't have it. i don't feel any need to acquire more things or raise my "social status." people can look at me and think i'm just a poor schmuck working in a bike shop, but while they are working and dealing with stress to make their $200,000 a year so they can take a vacation two weeks a year and still work while on vacation, i'm drinking with friends, going to parties, and riding bicycles.

the options you present, charity, social welfare, subsidies for the poor...they aren't viable to me. forced charity only incurs enmity towards those you are forced to help. people with lots of money, those considered "successful," amassed lots of money either through hard work or sheer luck, but either way, progressive tax is punishing those who are successful. i am for a flat tax. we are all the same, we should be taxed all the same. why should those with lots of money have to pay more just because they have more money? they earned it, why should they share if they don't want to.

a higher minimum wage would be great, but it can hurt the small business owner. i'm not for that either.

so i go back to redefining "poor," re-educating people, teaching youth that to be "rich" you have to work hard, and it takes time to amass wealth, like, many many years. if you don't have a 99 foot plasma tv and a humvee and a boat you aren't poor, and you don't need those things, you get them because you want them, and if you want them, work and save and then you have earned them. we also have to teach people that those who work in "shitty jobs" are just as important, if not more so, than those with white collar jobs.

if the cabbages don't get picked, you don't eat cabbage. yet we relegate those jobs to illegal immigrants because those jobs are "beneath" us. that is backwards.

oh, and the poor in america are doing quite well compared to the poor in other countries (in general, there are always exceptions). it's all relative. i live alone in an apartment that would fit two families in other countries.

you want the gap to be reduced? give the poor incentive to work harder and make more money, or be content with what they have. bring people up, instead of forcing people to come down.

04-26-2011, 06:22 PM	#15 (permalink)
skizziks Insane Location: out west	the best way to reduce the gap is to redefine "rich" and "poor." technically, i would be considered a "have not." i don't have much, because i choose to not have much, and if i can't afford it, i don't have it. i don't feel any need to acquire more things or raise my "social status." people can look at me and think i'm just a poor schmuck working in a bike shop, but while they are working and dealing with stress to make their $200,000 a year so they can take a vacation two weeks a year and still work while on vacation, i'm drinking with friends, going to parties, and riding bicycles. the options you present, charity, social welfare, subsidies for the poor...they aren't viable to me. forced charity only incurs enmity towards those you are forced to help. people with lots of money, those considered "successful," amassed lots of money either through hard work or sheer luck, but either way, progressive tax is punishing those who are successful. i am for a flat tax. we are all the same, we should be taxed all the same. why should those with lots of money have to pay more just because they have more money? they earned it, why should they share if they don't want to. a higher minimum wage would be great, but it can hurt the small business owner. i'm not for that either. so i go back to redefining "poor," re-educating people, teaching youth that to be "rich" you have to work hard, and it takes time to amass wealth, like, many many years. if you don't have a 99 foot plasma tv and a humvee and a boat you aren't poor, and you don't need those things, you get them because you want them, and if you want them, work and save and then you have earned them. we also have to teach people that those who work in "shitty jobs" are just as important, if not more so, than those with white collar jobs. if the cabbages don't get picked, you don't eat cabbage. yet we relegate those jobs to illegal immigrants because those jobs are "beneath" us. that is backwards. oh, and the poor in america are doing quite well compared to the poor in other countries (in general, there are always exceptions). it's all relative. i live alone in an apartment that would fit two families in other countries. you want the gap to be reduced? give the poor incentive to work harder and make more money, or be content with what they have. bring people up, instead of forcing people to come down. Last edited by skizziks; 04-26-2011 at 07:40 PM..