Taxes
Today Professor Fenley said something that really caught my attention.
Now I’ve recently stated my newly formed nationalistic and patriotic views and I still stand by them, however I did lose a bit of faith in America with something that Professor Fenley explained (with his trademark chuckle I might add).
We are ending the humanities (IDS) course with a bazillion notes on how each of the 13 colonies formed and we were talking about their English origins. Do you recall the boycott of taxes that led to the American Revolution? You know, how we dumped tea into the Boston harbor in resistance against higher tax prices? What American history books have left out is the fact that while the English were settling here and helping the already established English colonies, they were offering protection and whatnot to the colonies. The tax that they imposed on us was in payment for the costs that that protection was having on THEIR economy.
So basically we were paying for part of the English’s protection and supplies with those taxes and what do we do? Refuse to pay them.
I hate it when people complain about taxes. I hate it I hate it I hate it. If you are around me and you have a complaint about taxes, keep it to yourself. It’s selfish to complain about them because they pay for the roads we drive on and the social security that we are given when we get old and the salaries for policemen and etc. Who else is supposed to pay for all of that? The government? This is our country and it is right that we pay for part of it.
On Tuesday Professor Cole was explaining how in the 80’s taxes were at 70%. So 70% of your salary was going to the government. If you made 10 million dollars a year, you would have 7 million taken off and you would be left with a measly 3 million. 3 million is still more than anyone should have per year but I mean imagine seeing 10 million dollars in your bank account one day and then 3 million dollars in it the next.
I’m not sure what the tax rate is now, but Professor Cole said that in the 80’s it went from 70% to 35%. So 3.5 from 10 million means you have 6.5 million left instead of the prior 3 million. I think the rate is even lower now, despite people’s complaints. Probably more around 25%.
We are the ones that are using the roads and the buildings and things and I like that our goverment wants to build things for us and protect us and whatnot; I think it’s a lot more than what some other countries get (cough cough Middle East).
Eventually things have to be paid for. It is our country so shouldn’t we be happy to take part of the cost from our own pockets in return for not living like they do over in the beast of the middle east?
3 years ago