The government should have been overthrown 100 years ago, but they were cunning and created the Welfare State to buy the people off and make them dependent on them.
When the Welfare State goes bankrupt, we'll return back to that long overdue overthrowing.
@Tfmonkey Nah, it isn't about overthrowing the government, it is about people not giving enough of a shit to be INVOLVED in their government.
"I elected you to deliver on those sweet campaign or party promises, go do that, I trust you"
That is why we have the problems we have. The bills are even online for everyone to read and SEE how we get shafted, but nobody does.
In short, you get the government you deserve.
@chrislw most people don't pay a net tax. They get "screwed" by taxes, but get their money back and then some in benefits. Sure, they would like to pay less taxes, but more free shit is fine too.
As long as people get more from the government than it costs them, it's rational for them to support bigger government.
This is why the Welfare State going bankrupt is significant. People will see their taxes skyrocket or benefits be cut, which will unbalance the equation.
@Chimi_Chuang_Tzu @chrislw those are all state taxes, so it depends, but I'm not talking about state taxes.
@Tfmonkey @chrislw
TFM , I've seen and understand your tax bracket quintile chart but does this account for all the other taxes we pay, i.e. sales tax, property tax, license fee's / taxes etc.? Don't we pay a much higher tax rate when all those things are added in?