All of the talk in the media about “the 1%” has provoked me to thought. What is the definition of “rich”? I suppose it depends on who you are…
- If you are poor (which I define as “living from paycheck to paycheck”). the definition of rich is “anyone with more money than me”.
- If you are middle-class, rich is “anyone who can afford to retire”
- If you are rich (which I define as “not having to work, and having the freedom to do what you want), rich is “anyone who can afford to leave”
And that’s where all this “tax-the-rich” thinking all falls down – the rich can afford to move away from taxes. And once they move away, they – and their money, business and investments – will not return.
And if you believe that it is the Government’s job is to hold them down and extract the contents of their pockets to “distribute fairly”, then you are nothing more than a thug; well-meaning, perhaps, but a thug nonetheless.
Jun 19, 2012 @ 12:25:57
Well said. That’s the thing most people don’t get. If you tax the rich more, they will invest their money in tax-free investments if they invest their money in anything domestic. Nancy Pelosi: “It’s actually better for the economy to give money to the poor (through welfare and unemployment checks), because they spend it. The rich sit on their money.” So, how do the rich save their money? Do they invest it? Do they put it in a bank? Do they put it in their mattress? To believe Pelosi’s statement, one has to believe they do the latter, for only then would it not be better for the economy to allow individuals to keep more of their money. Also, if Nancy “gives” poor people more money, who’s money is she giving them? Where does that money come from? As you said, it’s to distribute our money “fairly” as she sees it. Americans around the nation are congratulating one another that she doesn’t have the power to dictate how our money is distributed, and we’re all hoping that we keep it that way.