Myths Of The Rich

[Sonny Clark]

Why the Toxic Myths Rich People Believe About the Poor Are So Dangerous.
Inequality and regressive tax policies hurt everyone, even rich people.

[ American politics are dominated by those with money. ]
[ Middle- and low-income Americans are facing far higher state and local tax rates than the wealthy. ]
[ A comprehensive analysis by the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy finds that the poorest 20 percent of households pay on average more than twice the effective state and local tax rate (10.9 percent) as the richest 1 percent of taxpayers (5.4 percent). ]
[ The 10 states with the largest gap between tax rates on the rich and poor are a politically and geographically diverse group -- from traditional Republican bastions such as Texas and Arizona to Democratic strongholds such as Illinois and Washington. ]
[ Those in the poorest 20 percent of Washington households pay on average 16.8 percent of their income in state and local taxes, while Washington's 1-percenters pay just 2.4 percent of their income. ]
[ In September, Standard & Poor's released a study showing that increasing economic inequality hurts economic growth and subsequently reduces public revenue. ]

Why the Toxic Myths Rich People Believe About the Poor Are So Dangerous Alternet

The "hurt" is actually on the poor, but we all pay dearly for inequality. As the gap between the rich and the poor widen, the economy suffers in may ways. Taxes are not the only inequality that's having a negative affect on our economy. Inequality of opportunities also play an important part in the separation between those of wealth and those less fortunate and dependent on some form of assistance.

We could go down the list from education to social bias and prejudices when determining the many factors for gaps in incomes and opportunities. Taxation is generally tied to income, but as we can see, not all taxes are meted on an equal basis. Wealth should not be punished, rather it should be considered in proportion to the non-wealthy.

The question is, "are we being too harsh on the wealthy?"

 

[william the wie]

Effects are being mistaken for causes:

A hunger for learning ever more will usually get you richer and normally leads to greater education but degrees do not result in wealth is one example.

 

[Sonny Clark]

Effects are being mistaken for causes:

A hunger for learning ever more will usually get you richer and normally leads to greater education but degrees do not result in wealth is one example.

In many cases, yes. No one can deny the importance of an education. But, not everyone has the same opportunity to further their education. Some are not capable of learning on a high level. There are many circumstances to consider before a lack of education can be blamed for wealth inequality.

 

[william the wie]

Effects are being mistaken for causes:

A hunger for learning ever more will usually get you richer and normally leads to greater education but degrees do not result in wealth is one example.

In many cases, yes. No one can deny the importance of an education. But, not everyone has the same opportunity to further their education. Some are not capable of learning on a high level. There are many circumstances to consider before a lack of education can be blamed for wealth inequality.

yeah , dropouts like Bill Gates or Bobby Flay ain't never going to amount to much.

 

[Sonny Clark]

Effects are being mistaken for causes:

A hunger for learning ever more will usually get you richer and normally leads to greater education but degrees do not result in wealth is one example.

In many cases, yes. No one can deny the importance of an education. But, not everyone has the same opportunity to further their education. Some are not capable of learning on a high level. There are many circumstances to consider before a lack of education can be blamed for wealth inequality.

yeah , dropouts like Bill Gates or Bobby Flay ain't never going to amount to much.

Some make it big, and some don't. There are exceptions to every rule.

 

[CultureCitizen]

Most of the rich man I know owes its economic status to the society, in very different ways : he lived in a country where the rule of law allowed property protection, or allowed oligopolies or monopolies or allowed consumption using credit, or had great profits because labour was cheap. I think it is fair that thay pay back some of what society gave them: law , peace, education, property rights , affordable labour.

 

[william the wie]

let the games beginm

 

[candycorn]

We should have a diamond-shaped economy with few rich, few poor and a broad group in the middle. What we are ending up with is an hour-glass shaped economy with a lot of affluent, a lot of poor and few in the middle but more importantly, the comfortable are insulated from losses and the poor are insulated from elevating. There is a reason things are like that and it has nothing to do with luck of the draw. The wealthy have crafted society to benefit them as best they can. This is why stock dividends are taxed at a lower rate than regular income one works for.

As for the question at hand, Well, it's like everything else; nobody notices or cares much when a dog bites a man. That is what is supposed to happen. When a man bites a dog, then it makes headlines. For every magnificent thing that one wealthy person does, there is a story like Monsanto or (if you prefer), GM that gets treatment from Uncle Sam that a small business owner would never dream of asking for; much less receiving.