How many of you anti-socialists bought a lottery ticket?

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

Then I'm confused as to what the purpose of your thread is.

By the way, you did not answer my question. Social programs are aside from a system where about half the people do not pay into the system.

Is it fair that half the population pays nothing for a system they completely benefit from?

a reply to: ketsuko

I've already told you the purpose of the thread and I have stated it several times throughout to others as well. If you care to look back on the thread, and even my initial reply to you, you will find the purpose of it.

Where are you getting this number that half of the population doesn't pay into the system? As of December only about 5% of the population is unemployed. So where are you getting this 50% from? Anyone who is employed pays income taxes.

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

Where are you getting this number that half of the population doesn't pay into the system?

They get it from Mitt Romney and Glenn Beck and Fox News and Rush Limbaugh et al....
and then repeat it back as though it is truth.

I think. But, yeah - what do I know??

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

... And promptly get everything withheld back again as a tax return. If your withholding is smaller than your tax return then you have no tax liability and thus did not actually pay income tax. Just because you have to file does not mean you actually paid.

Do you pay attention when you file to the numbers?

Mitt Romney got vilified for speaking the truth about the 47% - they actually do not pay any income tax by the time all is said and done.

dailysignal.com...

taxfoundation.org...

www.nbcnews.com...

Five myths about the 47 percent
................



Gah. Fine. I'll post the first of the myth-busts.......

[Myth #] 1. Forty-seven percent of Americans don’t pay taxes.

The most pernicious misconception about people who don’t pay federal income taxes is that they don’t pay any taxes. That oft-heard claim ignores all the other taxes Americans encounter in their daily lives.

a reply to: ketsuko

And why is that?

Roughly half of Americans who pay no Federal income tax do so because they simply don't earn enough money. The other half doesn't pay taxes because of special provisions in the tax code that benefit certain taxpayers, notably the elderly and working families with children.

Source

Who's fault is it that these people don't earn enough money? The ones who don't pay them enough.

And the elderly and working families with children? Are they not allowed to have a little extra money in their pockets to support themselves throughout the year?

You don't think of "why" they don't pay income tax, you just automatically assume they're freeloaders.

Are you also assuming that they do not pay taxes on every purchase they make? Because they do, so them "not putting anything back into the economy" is bogus.

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

Just because you declare it to be so doesn't make it so.

Just because you file doesn't mean you actually put in more in income tax than you take out.

So, if socialism is the mutual pooling of resources for the benefit of the community, then how does the community survive if too many do not pool anything in but take full measure out?

If your community is 10 people and all pool in 100, then all take 100 out. If only seven can pool 100 and three can pool 75, everyone takes out 92.5. The seven are slightly less well off, but the three are better off. If five can pool 100, three can pool 75 and two can't pool anything, everyone takes out 72.5. Now everyone except for the two who put in nothing are less well off at 72.5. Still if the two who can't put in anything are truly disabled, a compassionate society can cope and the three who only put in 75 might be inspired to put in more.

But think about what happens if the ones who put in 100 start to slip because they aren't getting nearly 100 back out or if more people decide it's easier to put in nothing? Just having one person put in nothing is much more damaging to your pooled resources than just having someone who slips. Jamestown colony discovered this the hard and almost starved to death.

a reply to: ketsuko

Just because you declare it to be so doesn't make it so.

No, you're right!
The thing is, the facts bear out what I am saying - it isn't just me "declaring it." Darlin'.

Just because you file doesn't mean you actually put in more in income tax than you take out.

*GASP* Really? ????

You're telling me about taxes? I started working for wages 42 years ago.....I know about tax returns and taxes and withholdings and deductions and statu-------------------..........gah. I'm not going to bother presenting my credentials (as in - credibility quotient) to you - because, you just don't listen.

I could say night has fallen outside your house right now, and you'd STILL argue with me.

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

Nope it's night. I don't live in Antarctica.

a reply to: ketsuko

WTF?

IT IS NIGHT OUTSIDE YOUR HOUSE. You live where it is now dark: 8:54 pm. CST.
NIGHT HAS FALLEN.

It's DARK outside.
Sun has set.
Daylight has fled.

See how you are???

It Is Night Outside Your House.
Period.

My declaring it doesn't make it so - but it remains a fact nevertheless.





Ooohhh!! You're trying to be funny!! Right?

Yeah - well, you trying to be funny doesn't make it so.

Have a good NIGHT.

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

Wow, you are so determined to get irked that even when I agree with you ... you get ticked off.

You, darlin', are letting your true colors show.

There is one huge difference that makes the lottery nothing like socialism. No one forces you to contribute or buy a ticket to feed the winners. I've never bought a lottery ticket in my life BTW.

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1Me...But I don't bother unless the kitty hits a billion..

What a stupid OP. If the lottery were socialist, everyone would be forced to contribute to the "pool" and everyone would win an equal portion of the "pool". Take from those who have...give to those who don't. And in the mean time...the government takes a 30% to 50% of the pot. THAT is socialism.

Gambling...which the lottery is...is very capitalistic.

a reply to: WeAreAWAKE

It's very much a risk v. reward game. The risk is huge because the odds of realizing any reward are miniscule even though you aren't risking very much if you only make one play. However, the enticement is that if you hit it big, the reward is all out of proportion to the amount you risked.

Most people who are smart with their money realize that the odds of hitting it aren't worth it and save their money. And the phenomenal sizes of the jackpots indicate the most of us aren't smart with our money.

Given that socialism is the haven of the chronically risk averse, the lottery is the last thing I would call socialist.

a reply to: WeAreAWAKE

I didn't articulate my argument very well in the OP but have since clarified my position in later posts in the thread. If you care to read them then I don't think you'd think the OP is as "stupid" as you seem to think right now.

Sorry for the misunderstanding, I should have clarified my position a little better.

I buy one every week. I never win, i just like to dream a little before the draw boots me in the china dolls again.

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

A swing, and a miss!! Kekekek

Omg, this thread is making my face hurt.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: WeAreAWAKE

It's very much a risk v. reward game. The risk is huge because the odds of realizing any reward are miniscule even though you aren't risking very much if you only make one play. However, the enticement is that if you hit it big, the reward is all out of proportion to the amount you risked.

Most people who are smart with their money realize that the odds of hitting it aren't worth it and save their money. And the phenomenal sizes of the jackpots indicate the most of us aren't smart with our money.

Given that socialism is the haven of the chronically risk averse, the lottery is the last thing I would call socialist.

Isn't that what I said??

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

Oh dear.

I guess you are from the "People in socialist countries eat,therefore if you eat you are a socialist" school...



You should try thinking sometime