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0 pointsgozur889y ago0 comments

>Americans gain huge benefits from the taxes paid by prior generations. The entire US system is the envy of much of the world--and how did it get that way? Americans paying their taxes.

This always amuses me. Previous generations didn't pay for things with taxes. They paid with debt. All those (crumbling) things that are "the envy of much of the world"? I and people my age paid for, decades after they were built. Just like future generations will pay for the things being constructed now.

>Whether or not you have kids--you must pay property taxes that fund your local schools. Unfair? Hardly. Those schools don't come out of thin air--taxpayers who came before you paid for them. Stop your whining.

How is that not unfair? Why should I have to pay for your kids to be educated just because you live near me? Educate your own damn kids. And if not, well, the world needs ditch diggers too.

> If you are a US citizen and you get in trouble somewhere on earth, the US government will come to your aid. That's what you're paying for...

Anybody who's actually been in trouble can fill you in on the limits of this fantasy. Assuming by "get in trouble" you mean get arrested, the US government will do things like contact your family, verify that you are a US citizen, and try to find you a lawyer.

If you're mistreated they will file a formal complaint with the host government. And I'm sure that's incredibly helpful.

In short, the US government will do pretty much what every government everywhere does for its nationals that "get in trouble".

>That's what you're paying for, in addition to paying for the next generation of Americans to have schools, roads, public utilities and the like.

This is all state and local stuff, except for highways. What does it have to do with the federal government?

>Really, whining about having to pay your share--no matter where you have run off to--is ridiculous.

The problem with this attitude is a lot of us have paid our share and your share too. There's a limit to the amount of rapaciousness a person should be expected to tolerate. Particularly if I'm living in another country, driving on that country's roads, sending my kids (if I had any) to that country's schools, etc.

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british_india9y ago

I see you're experiencing some cognitive dissonance. You can't understand how it could actually be fair for you to have to pay for the services that remain available to you as a holder of a United States passport. Funny, you're claiming that the US is such a hellhole--well some parts of it are but still, why oh why are so many people from around the world clamoring to get to the United States? Because its infrastructure is so corroded? I don't think so.

They want to come here because the United States--at its best--is a perfect example of the benefits that come when people pool their money together to pay for roads, electric and water utilities, the court system that enforces contracts and makes modern life and business possible, the FDA that allows you to feed your children without worry, the EPA that sometimes acts as a watchdog. All of these things come when the vast majority of Americans pool their tax dollars and pay for these things. So, if you are a US Citizen--who went to school here--then you have already benefitted from all these things and it is only just and proper that you now take your turn to contribute during your life. If you don't want to--by all means renounce! Ingrate!

So, seeing that you flatly oppose the idea of a public school system, reveals that you're just a closet anarchist who is such a sociopath that you don't even want kids educated. Hmm. What do you think happens to uneducated kids? They can't get jobs and they rob your house. So, your 'cant' "Why should I have to pay for your kids"--is an example of Low Effort Thinking. You have exposed yourself as a Low Effort Thinker. Don't be flattered. Your "ditch digger" comment was precisely on the level of stupidity as was Marie Antoinette's "let them eat cake" comment.

So, you admit to the long laundry list of things that the US government will do for you. That's enough. Is Portugal, for example, going to come to your aid in lieu of the US. Is Panama? No government at all is going to help you unless you pay them.

In case you hadn't noticed, states all exist within the United States. If the US Federal government keeps a standing army--then the US States benefit from its existence. If the States levy taxes that educate the citizens of their state--then the US Federal government benefits directly. The taxes paid to the Feds and the States are mutually beneficial: fungible. So, it is meaningless to claim these are "state" expenses that don't exist in the exact same place as the overall nation.

I find it quite amusing that you somehow believe that you have paid these vast sums in taxes. I'm sure you're a diligent tax dodger at every opportunity. So--do, please, renounce.

If you inherited your wealth then you're a parasite.

If you earned your wealth in the US, again you did not do it in a vacuum. If you started a company, then you tacitly benefitted in the extreme from the pooled taxes. No matter how much in taxes you paid, you gained many more times in benefits than you paid.

That's why, from the time of the Ancient Greeks, the concept of a progressive tax system, where the percentage paid in taxes increases as a taxpayer goes up the income scale, has been seen as fair. Ben Franklin himself personally worked twice to get this exact same progressive tax system implemented. He mentions his hard work and belief in the idea of a progressive tax system twice in his autobiography.

No, if your viewpoint just makes you look like another Low Effort Thinker.

gozur88OP9y ago

>I see you're experiencing some cognitive dissonance.

I see you're not afraid to insert your foot at the very start.

>You can't understand how it could actually be fair for you to have to pay for the services that remain available to you as a holder of a United States passport.

What services could you possibly be talking about here? The holder of a US passport has exactly one service from the US government that's worth anything at all - the right to travel to the US.

>Funny, you're claiming that the US is such a hellhole...

So here is where I started skimming. If you're not going to respond to what I say, the book you've written here has little meaning.

But I did get a laugh out of this:

>If you inherited your wealth then you're a parasite.

Projection. If I've inherited my wealth (sadly, not true in my case), that's between me and my parents. People who think they have a right to other peoples' wealth because it exists and they want it are the parasites.

It's a shame The Daily Worker went out of business, or I'd know a reliable place to find this kind of drivel.

And BTW, a person who's entire political philosophy is based on envy doesn't have room at all to call anyone a Low Effort Thinker.

british_india9y ago

Services: help from the consulate. Ability to return to the US without getting a visa. Ability of your children to return at will to the US and benefit from our universities at a much lower rate than do non-citizens. Your backup plan.

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