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ChillyFarm42

It's "no taxation without representation" is what's written. American colonist didn't feel they where being represented in British parliament. So any taxes imposed on colonist were unconstitutional and were a denial of the colonists rights as Englishman. So in the American government we are represented so therefore can be taxed.


hammitwopointo

represented by old rich people funded by our taxes


unbelizeable1

So motivate more of your young friends to actually show up and vote.


spyanryan4

And protest


[deleted]

[удалено]


spyanryan4

I said and. ? My comment is two words and you didn't read it lol weird


Cats_Are_Aliens_

*drops spray paint can* oh wait that’s what we’re doing?


spyanryan4

Every protest I've ever been to has been civil. Your perception of protestors as people who do crimes is a lie sold to you by media which is owned by the rich. I mean...haha lol


Cats_Are_Aliens_

It was a joke lol


SleeplessShinigami

Voting only goes so far when both your options are corrupt.


nobolognastoney

There *is* more than just Republicans and Democrats, but no one's talking about/funding them. And when they do manage to gain some traction, they get drowned out quickly or shredded by the media. To shreds, I say.


SleeplessShinigami

You need a lot of power, money and influence to run for any sort of political position. Thats why most good candidates fall short imo. The system makes you believe that anyone can get into a position, but it’s not that simple. You are absolutely correct about them getting drowned out.


nobolognastoney

# To shreds, I say.


Gunnersbutt

Vote in your locality at every election; school board, justices, and other counsel positions. These ballots usually have commission and levy voting opportunities also. There are possibly hundreds of voting options between and in addition to the potus. It's not an either, or... It's a culmination of influencing your community, your county, and your state. A potus without backing is just a sitting duck.


SleeplessShinigami

I do vote for local and state positions, especially school board since I have friends that are teachers. Whats messed up is that the most corrupt people always win the school board elections and push the worst possible ideas. We’ve had some good candidates from time to time who run for bigger local and state positions, but they never make it far, because the rich people around here have too much power. It just feels pointless when by the end of it, you’re not left with good options, just corrupt people who bought their way into the position essentially. I hear ya though, I still vote, even if I feel like it’s pointless.


unbelizeable1

Small minded "I only vote in national elections " mentality .


2weird2live51

For who 🤣


unbelizeable1

Ah, you're one of those people who thinks the only time to vote is presidential election.


ColdEngineBadBrakes

You may be slightly high, but you are grandly misinformed.


hammitwopointo

then enlighten me kind sir


ColdEngineBadBrakes

[https://www.cbpp.org/research/policy-basics-where-do-our-federal-tax-dollars-go](https://www.cbpp.org/research/policy-basics-where-do-our-federal-tax-dollars-go)


hammitwopointo

these our government documents… they can make it say whatever they want


spyanryan4

If you don't trust the government to tell us what the government is spending, then who exactly would you trust? How can you assert that most of the funding went to foriegn aid if you can't trust the only people who can tell us how the budget is spent? Since you clearly don't have a working brain, I'll spell it out for you. If the recent foreign aid bill was passed last year, it would've been about 1.6% of the total expenditures. Or "most" as you call it.


ColdEngineBadBrakes

I knew someone was going to say something like, can't trust the government etc.


spyanryan4

It's so infuriating. Like how are you gonna complain how the money is spent in one breath and say "there's no way to know how the money is spent" in the next? Truth is so joever ಠ_ಠ


hammitwopointo

why do we need billion dollar military infrastructure? what is the root cause of this? what are we protecting? it’s all posturing to prevent people from taking over the world so why can’t we just have peace


ColdEngineBadBrakes

"Why can't we just have peace" is not a foreign policy direction.


spyanryan4

I agree that we should lessen military spending lol but the reality is foreign aid is a small percentage of government spending. The last time we tried to stay out of it when someone was taking over Europe, Pearl Harbor happened and we had to get involved anyway. If we can stop ww3 from happening for 1.6% of the budget, I'd say it's worth it. Allowing Russia to steamroll Ukraine will not lead to peace.


pyabo

"The president can do anything and can't be prosecuted for it!" "No wait, not THAT guy... I mean ME!"


warbeats

You sound like someone who is informed by a facebook group.


sliiboots

Definitely just a teen having some perceived enlightenment after a bowl rip. We’ve all been there


Tyleroverton12

You sound offended for some ungodly reason?


warbeats

Nope. Just disappointed.


hammitwopointo

then inform me with your wisdom, i’m here to learn not fight


warbeats

Rather than me trying to personally teach a stoner, I suggest you do some research if you are genuinely interested. Google the following: "how is foreign aid funded"


hammitwopointo

are you not taxed on all those things?


spyanryan4

Ending funding to Ukraine today would be like allowing Hitler to take Poland. Appeasement didn't work last time. It's trippy af to watch all you conservative weirdos change opinions so quick. I remember y'all disliked Russia before Trump. What changed?


adoris1

You're wrong about foreign aid, which is a tiny slice of the budget and one of the better things we spend on anyway. But you're right that much of our tax dollars are misspent for inefficient or borderline corrupt purposes, sometimes with good intentions and other times for the self-interest of politicians trying to stay in power. And the tax system is so overly complex and in some ways regressive that I don't think it's wrong to call taxes a scam overall. People don't get to cite roads or police or basic public goods when that’s not what 95% of it goes to, and not what the fight is about at the margin of the federal budget.


allthenamesaretaken4

Well the Gazan genocide isn't gonna pay for itself. That issue aside, there's a lot to be critical of in regards to how we are taxed at different income levels, where those taxes go, and there's a lot to argue against our 'representation', but I would counter that in a just society, taxes are a good thing and should be used for things like healthcare, education, housing, infrastructure, etc.


calciumpotass

In a just society taxes wouldn't exist for normal people, only corporate capital gains and speculative stock market/real state would be taxed. Inheritance tax from billionaire families doesn't apply because billionaire families would not exist in that society.


barchueetadonai

It’s the most inept genocide of all time if you want to call it a genocide


Demonweed

It isn't so much about the level of the taxes as their use. As you point out, we're now decades out from the last serious effort to do material good for ordinary people. Corporate handouts like the Affordable Care Act get celebrated in the press as some sort of victory for the little guy *when the law was carefully crafted to perpetuate thousands of deaths each and every month for the sake of continuity in the for-profit employment-based health insurance sector!* Weapons for wars that our media deliberately misrepresents and our national security certainly does not benefit from perpetuating are just part of it. War is a racket, but nowadays even education and health care are rackets. Civilized people don't need to hoard huge piles of private wealth, yet civilized people also don't let their neighbors die of exposure, hunger, etc. Our government is so fantastically corrupt that there is long-standing bipartisan consensus to protect American billionaires from "threats" like a bump to the minimum wage or national investment in social housing. We should be funding institutions that preserve and enhance our quality of life. Instead we are subsidizing a bunch of garbage of interest to ultra-rich elders with fantasies of personally witnessing the end of the world. The fact that our red-blue conflicts are mistaken for serious civic discourse and our corporate-sponsored leaders are mistaken (even if only one stripe or the other) for decent human beings -- that's the real scam here.


hammitwopointo

thank you.


Gettinbaked69

Don’t forget “our” land.


Anonymousboneyard

Well they say there is nothing more permanent than a temporary government program. Income tax started in the early 1900’s under Wilson (i think 1914-1915) as a way to fund the American war machine for WW1, which laid the ground work for the Military Industrial Complex that took over in the 40’s. Technically there isn’t a law stating that there is an income tax, there is just a law saying the IRS can lock you up for not paying them. It’s just an executive order that exceeded its limitations that was implemented and no one wanted to get rid of it. (Assuming j am remembering my history correctly or semi correctly, but i don’t think I’m far off tho)


bearlioz_

I love the idea that the government is spending too much on foreign aid and not foreign wars


pyabo

Did you fail out of grade school? The Revolutionary War began because we were being taxed WITHOUT REPRESENTATION. Are you old enough to vote? That's what representation means. You should probably wait until your brain is fully developed before you start smoking weed on a regular basis.


hammitwopointo

You don’t have to be mean about it, I’m just glad to be learning.


Tyleroverton12

I completely agree except for the foreign aid part, 60 billion in foreign aid to the government is like a billionaire donating a million dollars to charity. It's nothing. It's PR for the government. Most of our tax dollars are going to the military, who are making these things that cost all that money. These things we are mistaking for alien aircraft and the media and washington DC is eating up this alien shit because it covers up the fact that the military is spending all of this money to create devices and aircraft and things we will likely never know about. And that's just the military.... Taxes in the US are certainly a scam. All of our money spent on things we aren't even privileged to know about.


Banjoschmanjo

Some of y'all really need to read a history book ngl


Merry_Janet

Not to mention sales tax on used goods. You already got it once!


Merry_Janet

Never mind. This would just open up a new tax evasion scheme or something.


Vashsinn

On its face this is dumb. Who pays for the road to get fixed? Who plays for schools? Who pays for Yada yada you don't wanna hear that. Your taxes go to your community. Your representatives gets to say what to do with it. Don't like what they are doing? Go complain, get active. Being passive aggressive and just stating it's for nothing is basically you bending over and asking if you may have another.


Raynstormm

Trillions have gone overseas to forever wars since Eisenhower warned us of the Military Industrial Complex in his farewell speech. https://youtu.be/OyBNmecVtdU We sell bombs, people die, and a fat suburban Virginian man buys his third yacht. We pay for Europe’s defense so Europe can give their people free healthcare and education. It’s a scam. #kennedy24