What percent of YOUR income are you willing to give up for government services?

reply to post by grapesofraft


None. I voted for Ron Paul because he makes more sense than any candidate I have ever seen...plus, he's cute!

I think taxes on peoples income should never exceed 30% total, no matter the circumstances. I would like a flat income tax actually, maybe 10 or 20%, on all citizens, and it should be automatic, people shouldn't go through any tax paperwork and BS every year. (basically every employer in the country is responsible for doing it automatically. only business owners would have paperwork, and the IRS would exist to make sure the CEO's and such all pay their fair share. The IRS could earn bonus revenue based on how much money they find is being fraudulently withheld by taxpayers. Lets say some CEO withheld 10 million in taxes, the IRS hits him for 11 million, they send 10 million to the gov, plus a 10% IRS maintenance fee)

Things we should have: Free education (including college), free healthcare for all citizens.

Things we should not have: Bailouts of any kind, constant warfare (we should maintain a defensive military, and reprisals should be swift, effective, and cheap. None of this occupation bull# like we are doing in Iraq), education or healthcare for illegal immigrants, sending aid to foreign countries. (we should fix our problems at home before we give a damn about anyone else)

Food - I think it should be paid for, however I don't think we should have Monsanto and other megacorps running things anymore. Our food should be neurotoxic-pesticide free, not be genetically modified, and small farms and businesses should not have to pay any extra fees, taxes or paperwork to do business. We need to lay down some ground rules to keep our food supply healthy, and keep competition healthy for small businesses.

Our water supply should be completely flouride free.

Housing - Im not sure on this one. I know the housing market has been manipulated, but to be honest I don't study it that much. Maybe more people should buy their homes and not take out absurd mortgages? I don't think homes should be free, however I do think basic shelters should be available to the homeless, and for all of them. They shouldn't be fighting over spots or sleeping on top of each other. (This does happen at some places)

Car Insurace - I have strange ideas about this. I believe civil lawsuits, where you sue people for money, should be done away with. If someone has really hurt you that bad, they should face criminal charges and a prison sentence. If you got injured in a car, and the other driver is responsible, he needs to take responsibility for injuring you, and be punished, and this shouldn't automatically entail paying you $$$. If the injury is severe or results in death, he could go away for a long time. If the injury is minor, maybe a fine or misdemeanor charge, but no money for you. As far as car damage is concerned, insurance should be optional, and should only cover your own car, not the other driver's. I like to think that this kind of system favors responsibility and personal accountability over the mindset of automatically punishing everyone else for "their" wrongdoing. People today are way too eager to sue at the drop of a hat.

At a corporate level, I have even stranger ideas. I don't like the idea of patents. I think technology should be developed for the sake of progress, and if humankind figures out how to make or do something, the people making or doing that thing should be the people who are most cost-effective at doing it, not the people sitting on the patent.

For an example, Microsoft can make and sell Xbox 360's for $150. Lets say Sony can make and sell the same thing for $100, but it doesn't red-ring (burn out) like Microsoft's does? No one is saying M$ can't make their version, I'm saying let capitalism run its course. The corps should compete based on efficiency, quality, and price, and not wage patent-warfare with each other. The consumers would decide who makes what better, and that company would profit.

What do you think?

I would be incredibly happy in the US to give 50% away for all those things the cannuk stated above. We already give about 40% and get nothing in return. Between 30% federal and state, then add on sales (9% in N.O. and on everything including food and clothes), vice tax, fuel tax, property tax, etc, it comes to around 40-45% and yet....our police cant keep crime down, our public education (only available in high school) is incredibly ineffective, our roads are falling apart, our healthcare is unaffordable, and its almost impossible to get clean healthy wholesome organic food at all. Essentially we pay 40% of our income in taxes for...nothing.

If it actually went to helping people, I'd say idk 40-50%?

How things are now - I'd give 0% if I could.

I dont want any of these "services" and I never have.

I dont want some entity whose so large they live outside the realm of legality to put a gun to my head and demand I give up what is mine.

I have never had any use for government and I never will. My family has never had any use for government going back at least 6 generations and we are not rich. We've always been blue-collar laborers and tradesmen. Government has only gotten in our way. Smacked us down when we tried to stand. Government is wholly evil and anyone who supports it's existence or it's practice of extortion is complicit in the slave trade and should be hanged for their crimes against humanity.

Why cant I and people like me simply "opt out" and sign some document stating we forsake all of these "services" in exchange for the immediate stoppage of alll government thuggery and extortion? Seems simple enough. Really, my meager percentage of this multi-trillion dollar pit is so important that without it government would have no choice but to imprison me and/or shoot me dead? The real reason I cant "opt out" is because liberty is contagious and government fears it would spread.

There is nothing righteous or good about government extortion. Anyone who believes otherwise is a slave glad to wear their chains.

The question was not "what would you think its right for the government to take" the question is "what would YOU be willing to give".....

Essentially its asking how much of your work you would willingly contribute for the advancement and betterment of society. Obviously you would give nothing, and honestly that should be your right. It must be known, however, part of being human is to be social, and society, before it is hijacked by government, is all about people with similar ideas getting together to form blanket securities for each other. This must naturally balance the work that goes into the blanket security with the amount of free time we have to pursue our own interests, which has gotten way off kilter in ours. At any rate, humans are not human in individual pieces...then we are only animals.

Some native american tribes believe that it is only through other people that we discover our humanity, that an organism is made up of person/family/tribe and without each we are not whole, and that a person is born an animal, but becomes human when they find ways to contribute to the group. I think this shows a pretty interesting and deep understanding of what it is to be human.

Here in the US, the media and our society have worked hard to press into us the myth of the "rugged individual" american....and this has surely led to the destruction of the family model and the self absorbed psyche of most americans (you do you and i'll do me) which has slowly brought us all apart to the point where many people have and desire no interaction with one another, whiling away the time in their little home caves watching tv and fooling on the computer. This has surely spread fear, mistrust, and hatred among us, and a continuation of this silly independent human (a sure contradiction in terms) will only lead to more estrangement and alienation.

I am willing to give up 25% TOTAL which would includes all taxes: Sales Tax, Income Tax, City Tax, County Tax, Property Tax, School District tax, vehicle tax, etc.