Nurturing a Society of Need

[SoCalDem]

When the vast quantity of wealth is held in the hands of a few top-notch elite "families", the money NOT paid into the general coffers ...in the form of taxes, wages, retirement benefits for workers, health benefits for workers, etc... some of that money is then "offered", in the form of CHARITABLE "donations", usually run through private foundations...

Since its "charity", the people who RUN the charities & staff & fund them, get to "choose" just whom among us all will be on the receiving end of their largesse..and just how many flaming hoops & drug tests we will have to navigate to retain their favor...

and...

since it's "charity", the "donors" get to show off their beneficence through their wonderful catered events, replete with designer gowns, tuxedos, Harry Winston jewels, limos & the society-page editors. These generous, wonderful, people then get the added bonus of being able to assess a value of their donation, and deduct it from their taxes.. the ones they DO end up paying.

Do I want charity to stop? Of course not... But I sure would rather see the super-rich just start paying their fair share of taxes to their country, wages & benefits to their workers..

If they still wanted to donate, because they have kind hearts, then that's just ducky, but the money to help the poor , fix the infrastructure, and secure the public's future should be in the hands of the people charged with seeing to the needs of the PUBLIC..all of us..

The "middles & lowers" donate too, but their donations are often not even able to be claimed as deductions, if the people do not make enough or have mortgage interest... Many people do not itemize deductions.

Having rich folks in charge of "sponsoring" charities and foundations, also puts them in the catbird seat when it comes to POLICY. Many of these same groups also meddle in MEDIA. They have the capacity to influence policies that dictate how their money gets divvied up, how much "credit" they get for it, and then their media outlets are there to massage their images, and push their private agendas.

The common-good should be tended to by the government (funded by ALL of us), but when parts of it are parceled out to private foundations & charities, "some" government types, just figure they are "done with" funding that particular part of their responsibility...like schools, or medical care, or scientific research, etc.

We saw this when the lottery came to california.. They got it through the legislature because they sold it as a BONUS to schools.. They promised that regular funding would not be cut.. that we would have EXTRA.. Of course, when lotteries are NEW, people buy a LOT of tickets, so at first, there WAS a lot of "extra" money, and it did not take long before the state decided that we would ALWAYS have all that extra, so it was "safe" to start cutting back...and of course, when people realized that they were probably NOT going to win, and they quit buying as many tickets, the schools got a double sucker-punch..

Let the rich make as much money as they want, but make them pony up the money via TAXES... then let the government, with the general welfare of the PUBLIC..all of us, in mind, decide the policies that will benefit us all..

[CrispyQ]

1. The common good - a critical value that too many American's have turned their backs on.

In his book, "All Together Now: Common Sense for a Fair Economy" Jared Bernstein, Biden's economic adviser, says that in a just society, there is no limit to how high one can climb, but there is a limit to how low one can fall. He says that all of us paying into a social safety net is is more effective & cheaper than each of us paying for our own.

I also read an interesting article by Ben Stein. He stated that as one of the more well off citizens in this country, he expects that he should pay more in taxes. He went on to say that the rich frame the tax debate in terms of "we pay more in taxes than any group," which, he said, is true - when you look at the total of taxes paid & how much of it comes from the rich, they pay the most. However, he pointed out, when you look at the percentage of taxes the individual pays, compared to their income, the rich pay less than most groups. And just the other day I heard one of the CNN hosts parrot that exact thing - that the rich pay most of the taxes & therefore it's unfair to ask them to pay more. :eyes: It just shows the huge amount of wealth they control - fewer of them taxed at a lower rate still contributes more than all of us paying higher rates. Imagine if all that income were taxed the same as ours.

One last thing. In another thread there was a discussion about the big lie that we've been told - that if you only work hard enough you can be anything you want to be. I disagreed & said that the big lie is actually that we have a level playing field. We don't. I think of a generation of young people growing up in newly sprouted tent cities & what a huge disadvantage these kids are going to face. I'm repulsed when I hear rich assholes on TV pat themselves on the back, proud & self-righteous at their 'success', like they did it all on their own or like they started at the same place everyone else did. :banghead:

Our country's core has been hallowed out for the profit of a few & now that we're collapsing, they whine about having to pony up for the 'common good.'

Apologies - my thoughts are kind of random here. Your post struck a chord.

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BTW, I just have to ask - is that your cat & how the heck did he get in that position? I laugh my ass off every time I see that pic!

[SoCalDem]

2. Not my kitty.. I loved it when I saw it & had to borrow it

My kitties have tangled with blinds, but always managed to escape:)..even if it meant the blind "had" to come down :rofl: