I really think that this is much more complicated than people think. A flat tax percentage oversimplifies it.
Like was said before, it seems that many people think poverty is a result of laziness and lack of determination. And in all honesty it is sometimes. But in many times it is not. Many are born into poverty and never get out. Don’t misunderstand this, either, poverty is more than just how much money you make.
I’m going to go ahead and expose myself here. I was the result of a teenage pregnancy; my mother was 15 when I was born. We moved a lot, and I grew up with a lot of different “dads”(read: live-in boyfriends). Life was hard from the moment I was born. My mother got food stamps and WIC among other government aid.
Now, I don’t really know if my mom was lazy or ever tried to get us out of poverty, but we never did get out. She is dead broke today and lives with an abusive boyfriend.
I think most people would agree that education(not necassarily traditiotnal schooling) is the key to wealth, but it takes more than just offering programs. Children born poor have many distractions that hinder their advancing in society.
Growing up like this affects every part of your life. I like to think I was a bright kid, but I had trouble in school because I was always hungry. I was often tired and distracted, too. Living in a poor neighborhood, you have to worry about drugs and crime.
I’m sure that most kids want to learn how to get out of this life, but they have no idea how to do it. I dropped out of high school when I was 17 and I was working 2 jobs. I thought this was the way to go and I was getting somewhere. I finally had some money and could buy some nice things.
It took me 4 years to find out this wasn’t the best way to go. I burnt myself out working 65-75 hours a week for 3 years, doing shitty, low-paying jobs.
Not only that, but I never learned responsible financial management. No one in my family ever had credit cards or car payments. I filed bankruptcy when I was 21.
One other result of growing up in poverty is the high number of teen pregnancies. There are many reasons for this, but the fact is that poor children are much more likely to bear children before they reach 21. This definately puts a grinding halt to any advancements in society.
What I am trying to say is that while you may think that when you are getting taxed more, it is to help the irresponsible parent. I see it as a way to help the innocent child born into this unfortunate situation. Granted, if the parent is a horrible parent, then the child still loses.
I’m sure many people know examples of people that made it out of poverty and now lead good lives and prosper. But for every one that does make it, how many do you think get let behind to continue the cycle? I know I’m not “out” yet.
Let me sum up where I am in life. After I filed bankruptcy when I was 21, I joined the Marines. Now, the military does offer a lot of good programs and educatioanl tools to help children become better citizens.
I’m 28 now and I have been out of the Marines for 2 years now and moved back to Wisconsin because of lower cost of living. I am taking classes at the community college and slowly working my way through college. I still struggle with my bills occasionally, but I get by. And my kids are in a better place than I was at their age.
Looking back, I don’t mind not having nice toys or clothes or games growing up, but I do wish we didn’t move around so much. I wish I knew more about becoming a responsible adult. I wish someone told to not worry about material possesions until after you get some schooling and settle down.
I wish I knew more about saving and the importance of it.
But now I know a lot more, and I know to teach my children these same thimgs. There are programs out there to help poor children and teenagers, but most of them are too distracted with their own everyday struggles to even notice.
Maybe I rambled a little here, but I wanted to point out that other peoples’ tax dollars were important for me to make it in life. My mom rarely had a job as I grew up and we needed government aid to survive. Was my mother lazy? Maybe. I don’t know. But either way it wasn’t my fault, and I needed those tax dollars, too.
“Why should my $90,000 be taxed at a higher rate than the person making $30,000” A couple reasons, I think. There are children that need your help. It is irresposible to say the parents need to do more to help their own kids. You’re right, they probably do need to do more, but should the children suffer? Should I have been left behind to continue the cycle of poverty?
Secondly, by living in a country that allowed you to prosper and attain wealth, I do believe that you owe a little bit more to the country. I know you worked hard to get where you are and busted your balls to get your money, but you were afforded that opportunity by living in America.
There’s faulty logic in saying that you have no drive to make more money if you are gonna get taxed more. You still make more money. You may lose a higher percentage, but you’re still making more. If you don’t like it then don’t make more money. Your perogative.
Many will say I only feel this way because I “only” make $30-35 a year. I think I feel this way because of how I grew up and what I’ve seen. I am by no means well-off, but I still give both time and money to charity. I wish everyone was charitable and willing to share, then this would probably be a moot argument.
I wish it were simple enough where we could identify the “lazy ones” and exclude them from receiving any aid or relief. Then we could give only to those who really needed for whatever reason. But, unfortunately it’s not that easy, and the fact is there are people in need are there are people with no desire to get out of poverty. I don’t know who’s who. If you do, then maybe we solved this argument.
Thanks for reading.
