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Idk why everyone is dismissing this article because it was written by aljazeera. aljazeera is an extremely respectable and credible news organization and a lot of different people are reporting on this.
There are plenty of other news sources talking about it too so I'm thinking it may be true. If it is that is shocking and fucked up. Why the hell are these people worried about their money and paying taxes if I had that much money I would be giving it back to society or try to help form jobs with it. Some people don't deserve any of the money they make.
Still not convinced of the legitimacy, not of the reporting, but of the study. I find it hard to believe that double the US GDP is in offshore accounts from the wealthy people of the world, in the article it said that most of the money/assets off shore were from 100,000 people so we'll take 20 trillion...so 20,000,000,000,000/100,000 is 200,000,000. I doubt that many people have more than 200 million dollars total, let alone in offshore accounts.
I need roads, police, fire protection, a military, schools, health care, people to clean up the streets, public parks, government subsidized food/farming...The reasons go on, and on, and on...
So you propose anarchy and selfish greed as our form of government? Think about it. taxes are very justified to help society function smoothly and as a group effort.
Also, not surprised at all by the Aljazeera bashers. Someone please tell me why it should not be credited as a truthful and respectable news source? Is it because it has Arabic in it's logo? Give me an answer.
I prefer Aljazeera or the BBC to the super biased, sensationalistic propaganda BS that most American news networks put out.
What he said, Aljazeera is an extremely credible news source. Leave it to an american to claim that they're a terrorist organisation or news network solely based on their name. Ignorant much? Not that surprised.
just how any new organization does. They gain a reputation by being staffed by good journalist, providing objective, factual stories, and just running a tight ship.
did you even think about this? its a simple social contract, you live in a society and benefit from its roads, water, protection, justice system, fire department blah blah blah you have to pay for it. You can't just freeload off the government. If you really don't want to pay taxes then you can go out in to the woods and live in a tent.
good for them, they found a loophole to save money and they used it, id do the same. the super rich are taxed up the fucking butt hole so i definitely dont blame them.
haha wtf al jazeera is pretty much the most legit news organisation there is.
^just think for a second of all the things you have that were directly funded by taxes and stfu with that stealing bullshit, it's called a social contract if you're that opposed to it you can freely move (vote with your feet).
No social contract exists. The social contract that statists always talk about is unilateral and requires only one side of the contract to agree to it. The contract implies consent and needs no explicit consent and may change at any time without notice. The social contract is also enforced with violence by the party that initiated the contract .
Who gives a shit where they keep their money? They made financial decisions with bigger numbers then I use, oh good heavens no! If they want to avoid taxes that they deem unfair, and can do so legally, good for them, none of my business. Or wait is this thread about aljazeera/Arabic news authenticity...? I don't even know how many humps a camel has.
dude we're talking about offshore accounts... there's countless internet millionaires, drug lords, war lords... shit, all sorts of black market things i'm sure. i dont think its that staggering a statistic
Nobody is taking your money by force. In an ideal world, all taxes paid are taxes paid willfully.
As an American citizen, and member of civil society, you have complete control over how much money you want to give back to the community, where your money is being spent, and what you want to spend it on.
You decide all of this by voting. If you don't want to pay taxes, then vote for a candidate that has a very low tax rate, or no taxes at all. If you want to help the overall wealth of your country to grow, and you want living standards to be comfortable for as many people as possible, work very hard and give a lot of money to your government. Taxes are an investment.
If you are absolutely disgusted by taxes, then pack your bags and move to Greece, where it is optional for every citizen. I heard it's really nice this time of year!
Mobile won't let me quote, so @skijunkitdtm: I'd say its the poor who want the rich people taxed more to pay for their welfare and foodstamps and such.... The middle class/ those doing fine on their own can relate to paying taxes, and larger percentages seem unfair then. Is my take. Seem like a legitimate statement? I can relate to being mad about people wanting my money, and making rules so they can have more of it!
So you are disillusioned and faithless of all institutions?
Nice, I like that. Very spirited. Unfortunately you have no chance of enjoying life in civil society, so I suggest starting a life of nomadic solemnity in order to preserve your sanity.
How can you talk about the credibility of certain news sites and then cite the Huffington Post? I am thoroughly confused.
Nonetheless, I don't understand how this is happening. The US government cant tax wealth anyway so simply having money in offshore accounts wouldn't be avoiding taxes.
Exactly, I hate people who say, "We as Americans shouldn't need to pay taxes." its like hold on a minute there how the fuck is our country supposed to function and get close to balancing the budget when we are already in a trade deficit. I think that it is a citizens duty to pay taxes. Living in a nice country comes with a price. It isn't free. If you want to end up like Greece don't pay taxes.
I... I just... cant even begin. You're hopeless. Most people protest high taxes, you're protesting the core idea of taxes. If you want a running society, you need taxes. Maybe right now we're getting taxed too much, sure maybe, but they are necessary.
the middle class is most certainly NOT doing fine.take a drive through neighborhoods that are truly middle class, not the upper-middle class neighborhoods you're thinking of, and you'll see what I'm saying.
"Yeah I just spent a good portion of my like working and earning money, now since I have more than the average person I'm just gonna give it all back!"....
This shouldn't be that shocking (other than the fact that it's so much) rich people don't want to have to give back 70 cents on every dollar they earn.