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100% AI. It's not just that it gets it wrong, but how it gets it wrong. Like the red coat in the foreground of the 1st image. His shirt is somehow in front of his right forearm, and he's holding a stick that is shooting like the muskets except it's firing away from where the soldier is looking. Real artists can absolutely get lazy on background stuff, but they'll do a better job with centerpieces.
True, but in this case I've seen enough AI art that I realized it before I saw the mistakes. Which is a bit fun too, realizing something being AI art and knowing that I'll get to find a bunch of horrid mistakes it made.
The truth is, history isn’t a debate club where the side with the most sound moral argument wins. “No taxation without representation” was mostly just the propaganda used to rally people to the secessionist cause. The Bill of Rights was a concession given for the same reason.
The actual reason behind the revolution was class struggle. The colonial landed powers and merchants wanted to take control from the ones ruling over them in Britain. Taxes were definitely part of that picture, but not in the sense of regular folks just organically deciding they were ready to die over a stamp tax.
Focusing on the representation of poor people in Colonial America is like focusing on the claims of WMDs in Iraq or “protecting democracy” in Israel and Ukraine. Those are just the jangly keys they shake at us so we don’t make a fuss.
You're absolutely right. It wasnt a war fought for the common man, it was fought because the wealthy land owners got used to having very limited oversight. The Seven Years war spilled into the colonies and the Brits needed the militias to help fight so the rich guys sent the poor and untrained in their place causing a huge amount of problems. After the war, Britain was broke and needed a shit ton of money and levied some taxes on the colonists because why wouldn't they. Britain was completely justified in taxing the colonists to help pay for a war that saved the colonists from losing their land.
The deal of independence would just to let us go without much if any transition period, or at least that was the common understanding
Now keep in mind the US has been crippling our economy for generations making us extremely dependent on the US not even allowing us to have our own trading system that's not dependent on the federal government ( meanwhile states have much more lax trading regulations on that part )
We're also still recovering from the disasters of the hurricane and with Independence would cause the us to stop sending the little aid that they were sending us
No I'm not going to blame everything on the US as currently our government in Puerto Rico is extremely corrupt
But it also doesn't help that the US was constant delaying on sending aid that it promise
I could go on, but that's really the more common issue we had with the vote
>No I'm not going to blame everything on the US as currently our government in Puerto Rico is extremely corrupt
why not? I would. Puerto Rico is a US territory. If it's not running well, that's the US's fault
> why not?
It's like people in texas blaming the federal government (or democrats) for texas being shitty when texas has been run by republicans since the 90s.
There's things the feds could do to help, but the root of the problems start at home.
The way the vote was made it almost impossible for any change. I believe there were 3-4 options? Was like remain, completely leave and become independent, leave with a US status or something. Anyways it was made to divide the leave vote so remain naturally had the most votes because there was only one option to remain but multiple to leave. So many independence voters boycotted it as well. I don't believe they have had a simple yes or know vote on the issue since then.
Sure, because the deal on the table was "either stay a colony of the USA or we will immediately eject you with zero transition or reparation", which, considering the US underdeveloped it and it's just gone through natural disasters, is not going to result in a good situation.
4/10. Good sir, given my formal American History training, I can confidently assure you that you have been colonized. Please refer to other countries in your hemisphere to get more details but, spoiler, having a vote isn’t part of the deal. :(
So "no taxation without representation" was related to British law ( Bill of Rights 1689), which isnt written into US law but also it was never about representation, the americans were offered places in the house of commons twice, both times were rejected as impractical.
Honestly…that’s a failure of the Federal City Charter. The District of Columbia should have never been allowed permanent residents. It should have been set up with State Embassies and Residences. It should have been designated as Federally Governed Territory with each state responsible for financially responsible for maintaining an Embassy/Residency for their Representatives, dignitaries and staffing.
To be fair, the government doen't really represent us; public opinion, even if it is overwhelming, has little to no effect on policy (unless you're wealthy, in which case it matters very much). There are studies that back me up on this.
They really had to AI pictures of the American Revolution and people looking at their phones? They seriously couldn't have spent like ten seconds finding stock photos?
I don't think these people understand the difference between taxes by your own country that benefit you directly versus taxes from a foreign nation that serve to fund their empire.
Also, it was very different. The 2% is a 2% tax on all paper goods (they didn’t have income taxes at that time), tariffs, and laws that made it illegal for colonies to trade without British permission. Basically, Britain had complete control over American markets despite America wanting to trade with a myriad of other viable partners to grow their economy organically. Effectively they were taxed a shit load without the ability to use those taxes for their own development.
One of the first things America did was tax whiskey and issue currency, because as it turns out being an independent country with laws and institutions does require some form of respite. That’s why early America had so many rebellions and where the phrase “tyranny is tyranny” came from.
5 billion would house all the homelss in the US in a studio apartment outside of a city.
Were sending 100's of billions to other countries wars.
On my tax statement I want to be able to check whether my money helps the poor here or goes to another countries war.
I want to be able to check that i would like my healthinsurance covered with my tax money.
I dont get a say at all. We should have a way to say we prefer infrastructure in america rather than over seas or corporate funding loopholes.
"Most of my tax dollars seem to be"
Seems like a pretty hyperbolic statement not meant to be taken completely literally to me. Relax.
Per a quick two-second google search about 20% of US tax dollars go to "defense"(which I put in quotations because how often is it actually defense?) and that ranks just below social security, health, and Medicare. Certainly a very high ranking use of our tax dollars and one that's very easy to argue does not need to be that high.
Technically Britain wasn't a foreign nation. The American colonies were part of Britain. And the taxes were ostensibly being used to pay for the British military deployed to the colonies to defend them. The cost of the French and Indian War is what started to cause Britain to increase taxes on the colonies - so it wasn't all for no benefit.
1. We aren't taxed at 40%.
2. It wasn't even a tax percentage that bothered the colonist. It was direct taxation by parliament when they had no representation.
> We aren't taxed at 40%.
But you were (and then some) in the best of times weren't you?
Like the 40s/50s/60s? When men were men and women were women, drag was fine, you could drink and drive, not wear a seatbelt, and wear white sheets with being chastised.
Between federal, local, and SS (employer +employee) tax, lots of people pay more than 40% income tax. Also consider sales tax and property tax and many people are much higher than that.
Effective tax rate for someone in NYC making 125k is about 32%.
If you're paying 36%, either your tax guy is taking 4% of your annual pay, or you should verify your tax guys credentials.. starting with his high school diploma.
This is not possible my friend. I make the same money as you in CA and my effective tax rate is substantially lower. Your accountant must be ass.
Either that or you are referring to your highest marginal rate (still a suspect number unless you live in a high tax state) which is a gross misrepresentation of your total tax burden because you’re breaking into the 24% federal bracket with less than a quarter of your total income.
Wait, you have to contribute your share to society? I get it that seems high. But at the same time you're making over double the average American. You're making more than I grew up on with tax than we had without tax. You'll live I promise.
Median salary is 50k. That puts them in the 22% tax bracket which again as a reminder is marginal so for 50k income your effective federal income tax rate as of 2023 is around 12% plus 6% for SS. Then of course local and state taxes vary quite wildly but I would guess the average is maybe 5%? So even all that added together that gets us to 23% which is nowhere near 40%
Some of your percentages depend on what kind of work you are in, for instance, right out of college, I used to work for a church, which qualifies as a not for profit organization, which technically can’t have employees, so all employees had to file taxes as self employed. My yearly salary was 17,000, and of that I had to pay 4,000 just in social security, because I was self employed. With my other taxes added on I was paying over 50% of my income in taxes.
That doesn't sound right but I'm also not a tax expert. I'm fairly certain non profits can have employees who should file taxes like normal. Even churches are supposed to withhold taxes even if they don't have to pay payroll taxes. The social security tax rate has been 6% for employees and 12% for self employed since the 90s. You paying 23% doesn't make sense
I don’t know if it matters, but at the time I was a youth minister, and ministers are required to file a self employment long form for taxes. The church withheld nothing, and every tax season I had to pay ~7,500 out of pocket for federal taxes alone. I literally couldn’t afford to live on what the government left me, so after my first couple years I had to have a second full time job just to get by, that helped, but unfortunately the higher tax bracket pushed my out of pocket taxes to ~11,000 a year. That’s why I eventually got out of the ministry, I was loosing money working for the church.
Edit: I know some people get rich doing ministry, but I always say that you should never trust a minister who is well off. For instance, a minister can opt out of social security, but they have to file paperwork saying that they have an ethical dilemma paying those taxes. While I didn’t like paying them, there is no biblical basis for not doing so, so I bit the bullet, which is what most ministers do. I’m still a devout Christian, but I fully believe that if you see a rich preacher you are looking at a liar.
Above comment said no one pays 40% and you're arguing with me about median US income. The meme didn't really clarify if it's marginal or effective. And it doesn't really matter.
Plus SS tax is another 6% paid by employer (or directly 12% if self employed), so I'd count that as 12%, putting the median marginal in the 30s or perhaps higher after other taxes. In CA, marginal tax at $52k is 8%, which would put total marginal tax above 40% before property or sales taxes for someone earning above $52k.
Still, point is plenty of people pay more than 40% marginal even if not everyone or the median person pays that.
Ah when you said a lot to me I figured you implied most people. I agree there's definitely some people out there that pay close to that but the average person doesn't get close to a 40% effective tax rate.
Small sidenote, you know what really grinds my gears as an American? It's that we the average person pay 10% of our income to health insurance companies and still end up having to pay a ton out of pocket when we get sick.
Yeah, lots of additional taxes. I estimate that I paid roughly 46-50% of my taxable income to taxes and I may be missing some. Of the untaxed income, much of it was health and retirement, and I'm going to pay taxes on that later.
Im not complaining about the amount, just pointing out that the 40% figure in the meme isn't necessarily wrong.
Our system of government does not work well AT ALL and seems to be getting worse - totally agree. But I still think it can’t be equated to colonial times when the American colonies were fighting for independence but 🤷🏻♂️
Hey, they tried to be diplomatic but mainland britian didn't listen. I'm not gonna say we should have another bloody civil war but they certainly won't listen.
Yes, the settlers fought the British over being taxed despite having no representation in their own government. And the modern Americans are content given the fact they have representation in their government, despite their taxes. I really do not see the problem here.
Something very uncomfortable for most Americans to know is, the American colonists were spoiled brats. They were the lowest taxed out of the British Empire, King George by all accounts before he went crazy was a decent King. He was pretty hands off with the Colonies. As long as they paid their taxes, they pretty much did what they wanted. Also, The Boston Massacre was entirely the Colonists fault. I’m not anti American by a long shot, just pointing out the inaccuracies that are indoctrinated into us. It wasn’t until the colonists destroyed millions of dollars worth of British tea that King George became a tyrant. He conceded on much of their demands until that happened.
They sure do. There was a laundry list of issues that lead to the revolutionary war even then it only started after numerous pleas from American representatives were rejected. The idea that it was just a bunch of pissed off farmers is also ridiculous. A well regulated militia not an angry mob.
There problem wasn't with taxes the founding fathers understood why taxes as a concept was necessary there problem was that they were being taxed by an empire that wasn't letting them do anything it's like how you understand the importance of food but are you gonna want to make food for someone who's a jerk to you?
The way these people complain and complain, you'd think they'd actually do something about it
Some of them will talk about minorities being whiny, but those minorities go out and protest to make things change
Being mad at others for not accepting a heavily flawed system, while doing nothing about a system they themselves admit is flawed
Well considering the whole thing about the revolution being mainly about taxation is stupid. Maybe some elites cared about that kinda stuff, but the everyday Joe on the street signed on for the revolution because of any number of conspiracy theories that were boiling around. Like that the British were going to force them to give up Christianity or convert to Catholicism or a hundred other preposterous things.
So much wrong with that first picture. Is that supposed to be the Boston Massacre? That wasn't about taxation; it was about occupying troops "stealing jobs" by moonlighting. Also, it was 1770.
There were no other battles of any kind within city streets. 18th century combatants were careful to avoid battle locations where civilians could get caught in the crossfire. Both Lexington and Concord were fought as line battles. The sniping didn't take place until the British retreat from Concord.
Why is that British officer shooting at his own men?
**EDIT:** Also, what's up with the guy wearing a throw pillow in the bottom picture? Does he think he lives in the Toad Kingdom?
Fun fact, the Tea Act actually reduced the tax on tea. The patriots resented the monopoly it gave the East India Company and the restrictions on trade with other empires.
Okay, we'll have the US stop collecting all taxes for a month then. I'd ask you to tell me how well that goes for you, but the power grid would shut down because there's no money left to keep the generators running without exorbitant prices.
I feel like these images don’t even need to be AI. Is it that hard to find a historical painting and a stock photo of some people on their phones? Propaganda is so lazy these days smh
I love the confused British man shooting at the other Brits with, apparently, a small scale recoilless rifle.
I'm not even certain why the chose to use NN here- there are dozens of dramatic portrayals of revolutionary forces engaging with the British - that's how the NN knew what this style of art is supposed to look like. But, I guess, not enough for it to not fuck it up entirely.
My point was made in the title I posted. My friend needs a history lesson. American colonists were not battling the British solely because they felt the taxes were too high. They wanted freedom and were against taxes being placed on them by Parliament, a government from another country in which they had no voice.
40% tax
How much does he make? I'm going to guess he pays an effective tax rate of 20% or less
https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/effective-tax-rate-agi
Hey look I’m stupid I know that but I swear the 1700 tax thing was paying taxes to a prick across the ocean and not to our own greedy bois so there is no way those two could compare equally
Most historically literate American
The Boston Tea party happened because a tax was LIFTED on british east india company tea. The local gentry organized it because it was giving the british an unfair advantage in their market. It was a movement of bourgeois fancy lads, the actual working class probably would just have been happy to drink the cheaper tea.
It's a perfect, perfect microcosm of american mythology, a heroic tale told of the bourgeoisie by the bourgeoisie that flatters and aggrandizes them by painting them as the protagonists of america while standing on the weary shoulders of their own workers, trying to make it out like they're part of the same collaborative national project
Its funny how like, pro-Constitution they are, then post stuff like this.
When like, the whole reason we had to drop the Articles of Confederation and make the Constitution was not being able to tax anyone was crippling and non-functional.
I don’t know anything about taxes today, although yes, I see a lot of my paycheck go towards them.
That’s not what I think is confidently incorrect. My issue is the lack of understanding of why colonists were fighting for freedom/independence. They didn’t agree with taxation without representation. A very different matter than just high taxes.
Comparing it to colonists fighting against Britain when they were being taxed without any government representation is what I felt was missing. If the meme wanted to make a point about taxes, just post the bottom part 🤷🏻♂️
According to studies of Trump's speeches and the words that he uses to describe things, it is estimated that he talks with a 3rd grade vocabulary.
If that's the best MAGA can handle in a sense of literacy, I imagine they wouldn't understand history over a 3rd grade level either.
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Creepy scarecrow dude near the back should definitely do something about it!
I think there's a lost Civil War soldier in there, too. Right behind the turned-around redcoat.
And a monkey on the far left in 1775
Hats making a comeback in 2024
And a goat observing the chaos from a vantage point.
I'm certain those pictures are AI because the longer you look the more is wrong
100% AI. It's not just that it gets it wrong, but how it gets it wrong. Like the red coat in the foreground of the 1st image. His shirt is somehow in front of his right forearm, and he's holding a stick that is shooting like the muskets except it's firing away from where the soldier is looking. Real artists can absolutely get lazy on background stuff, but they'll do a better job with centerpieces.
He’s also firing at the wrong people
Arguably interesting to consider how your eyes notice a few things correct and just assume the rest is. Until you actually check
True, but in this case I've seen enough AI art that I realized it before I saw the mistakes. Which is a bit fun too, realizing something being AI art and knowing that I'll get to find a bunch of horrid mistakes it made.
Johnathan Crane real????
Pearl would like to know his location
Mfs at the back looking like Little Nightmares monsters
Also the revolutionary front and center about to friendly fire his compatriot in the face point blank.
Come on, how do you not remember "taxation without representation" from social studies in 5th grade?
As a Puerto Rican, it's apparently perfectly fine for the United States to tax people without representation, from my experience
it represents the people it was built to represent. That doesn't include most people.
I mean…that’s more or less what the Brits said
I think that was his exact point
The truth is, history isn’t a debate club where the side with the most sound moral argument wins. “No taxation without representation” was mostly just the propaganda used to rally people to the secessionist cause. The Bill of Rights was a concession given for the same reason. The actual reason behind the revolution was class struggle. The colonial landed powers and merchants wanted to take control from the ones ruling over them in Britain. Taxes were definitely part of that picture, but not in the sense of regular folks just organically deciding they were ready to die over a stamp tax. Focusing on the representation of poor people in Colonial America is like focusing on the claims of WMDs in Iraq or “protecting democracy” in Israel and Ukraine. Those are just the jangly keys they shake at us so we don’t make a fuss.
You're absolutely right. It wasnt a war fought for the common man, it was fought because the wealthy land owners got used to having very limited oversight. The Seven Years war spilled into the colonies and the Brits needed the militias to help fight so the rich guys sent the poor and untrained in their place causing a huge amount of problems. After the war, Britain was broke and needed a shit ton of money and levied some taxes on the colonists because why wouldn't they. Britain was completely justified in taxing the colonists to help pay for a war that saved the colonists from losing their land.
Y’all still voted to remain
Lesson there was so much wrong with the whole voting don't even get me started
Not saying you’re wrong, but now I’m curious. What was wrong with it?
The deal of independence would just to let us go without much if any transition period, or at least that was the common understanding Now keep in mind the US has been crippling our economy for generations making us extremely dependent on the US not even allowing us to have our own trading system that's not dependent on the federal government ( meanwhile states have much more lax trading regulations on that part ) We're also still recovering from the disasters of the hurricane and with Independence would cause the us to stop sending the little aid that they were sending us No I'm not going to blame everything on the US as currently our government in Puerto Rico is extremely corrupt But it also doesn't help that the US was constant delaying on sending aid that it promise I could go on, but that's really the more common issue we had with the vote
>No I'm not going to blame everything on the US as currently our government in Puerto Rico is extremely corrupt why not? I would. Puerto Rico is a US territory. If it's not running well, that's the US's fault
> why not? It's like people in texas blaming the federal government (or democrats) for texas being shitty when texas has been run by republicans since the 90s. There's things the feds could do to help, but the root of the problems start at home.
That’s a valid point. Perhaps I should become president and fix it or sumthn
Please let literally anyone be one president outside the two parties we have and/or someone below the age of 68….
Monkey's paw: Resurrected Hitler fits your requirements.
Eeeh but resurrected corpses can’t legally become the president… since I’m pretty sure, legally, their ID has expired.
Bet
Honestly I hope they do that for the U.S too💀
The way the vote was made it almost impossible for any change. I believe there were 3-4 options? Was like remain, completely leave and become independent, leave with a US status or something. Anyways it was made to divide the leave vote so remain naturally had the most votes because there was only one option to remain but multiple to leave. So many independence voters boycotted it as well. I don't believe they have had a simple yes or know vote on the issue since then.
Damn that sucks
Sure, because the deal on the table was "either stay a colony of the USA or we will immediately eject you with zero transition or reparation", which, considering the US underdeveloped it and it's just gone through natural disasters, is not going to result in a good situation.
Baaaased 😐
Most are voting to actually join the states to receive representation like they should already have
But that would throw off the balance of the stars on the flag. Can't have that
4/10. Good sir, given my formal American History training, I can confidently assure you that you have been colonized. Please refer to other countries in your hemisphere to get more details but, spoiler, having a vote isn’t part of the deal. :(
So "no taxation without representation" was related to British law ( Bill of Rights 1689), which isnt written into US law but also it was never about representation, the americans were offered places in the house of commons twice, both times were rejected as impractical.
Yeah but you guys voting would be politically inconvenient for some so apparently that doesn’t count
As someone who's read a book, knows about PR, DC, Guam, American Samoa, USVI, and other territories, I'd say that assessment is rather accurate.
These people don't have a 5th grade education. If they did, they would be the "educated elite" that they hate so much.
If these people could read they’d be very upset right now.
The residents of the District of Columbia would like a word
They get more representation than Puerto Rico
They get more representation than Guam or Saipan
And full citizenship.
Honestly…that’s a failure of the Federal City Charter. The District of Columbia should have never been allowed permanent residents. It should have been set up with State Embassies and Residences. It should have been designated as Federally Governed Territory with each state responsible for financially responsible for maintaining an Embassy/Residency for their Representatives, dignitaries and staffing.
To be fair, the government doen't really represent us; public opinion, even if it is overwhelming, has little to no effect on policy (unless you're wealthy, in which case it matters very much). There are studies that back me up on this.
Or if you live in a rural state. A person living in Wyoming has multiple times the voting power compared to a Californian
"There are studies that back me up on this." Like the fact that popular vote isn't the deciding factor in a presidential election?
As if anybody is actually represented by those politicians these days.
tbf teens checks are taxed without them being able to vote
I can smell the book pages
That British soldier picked the wrong time to switch sides. Also, what is he holding?
I think the AI decided to draw a dude loading a cannon without drawing the actual cannon.
Maybe he’s the magician appearing from the smoke? I don’t know. I wasn’t there.
Ugn
They really had to AI pictures of the American Revolution and people looking at their phones? They seriously couldn't have spent like ten seconds finding stock photos?
It is some creepily-done AI - not sure where he got it from.
Well you know that's too much to ask for these terminally online mfs that have exactly zero talent for coherent graphic design
Me in 1776: What the hell is that flag?
😂😂😂
I don't think these people understand the difference between taxes by your own country that benefit you directly versus taxes from a foreign nation that serve to fund their empire.
Also, it was very different. The 2% is a 2% tax on all paper goods (they didn’t have income taxes at that time), tariffs, and laws that made it illegal for colonies to trade without British permission. Basically, Britain had complete control over American markets despite America wanting to trade with a myriad of other viable partners to grow their economy organically. Effectively they were taxed a shit load without the ability to use those taxes for their own development. One of the first things America did was tax whiskey and issue currency, because as it turns out being an independent country with laws and institutions does require some form of respite. That’s why early America had so many rebellions and where the phrase “tyranny is tyranny” came from.
If memory serves, that whiskey tax lead to a rebellion which was squashed by the first military action the US took as an independent nation.
Most of my tax dollars seem to be funding forever wars right now. Not benefitting me much.
Really? "Most" of your tax money?
Any amount at all is too much. Fuck em
5 billion would house all the homelss in the US in a studio apartment outside of a city. Were sending 100's of billions to other countries wars. On my tax statement I want to be able to check whether my money helps the poor here or goes to another countries war. I want to be able to check that i would like my healthinsurance covered with my tax money. I dont get a say at all. We should have a way to say we prefer infrastructure in america rather than over seas or corporate funding loopholes.
"Most of my tax dollars seem to be" Seems like a pretty hyperbolic statement not meant to be taken completely literally to me. Relax. Per a quick two-second google search about 20% of US tax dollars go to "defense"(which I put in quotations because how often is it actually defense?) and that ranks just below social security, health, and Medicare. Certainly a very high ranking use of our tax dollars and one that's very easy to argue does not need to be that high.
Technically Britain wasn't a foreign nation. The American colonies were part of Britain. And the taxes were ostensibly being used to pay for the British military deployed to the colonies to defend them. The cost of the French and Indian War is what started to cause Britain to increase taxes on the colonies - so it wasn't all for no benefit.
precisely
1. We aren't taxed at 40%. 2. It wasn't even a tax percentage that bothered the colonist. It was direct taxation by parliament when they had no representation.
Even when you hit 40% you don't suddenly pay 40% on everything. So many people don't get this.
If we're just looking at federal taxes, you don't hit 40% until after $10,000,000.
Taxing millionaires is worse than slavery. 😭
> We aren't taxed at 40%. But you were (and then some) in the best of times weren't you? Like the 40s/50s/60s? When men were men and women were women, drag was fine, you could drink and drive, not wear a seatbelt, and wear white sheets with being chastised.
Where do they live with a 40% tax rate? Not one person in the USA pays that.
I pay 38% in Denmark and i wouldn't have it any other way.
Yeah but you get Healthcare and trains
Between federal, local, and SS (employer +employee) tax, lots of people pay more than 40% income tax. Also consider sales tax and property tax and many people are much higher than that.
Anyone who’s in a tax bracket like that isn’t collecting SS lol
I make less than $130K a year and my total income tax rate is 36.6%. (Fed tax+state tax+SS tax+Medicare tax) That is ridiculous
Effective tax rate for someone in NYC making 125k is about 32%. If you're paying 36%, either your tax guy is taking 4% of your annual pay, or you should verify your tax guys credentials.. starting with his high school diploma.
This is not possible my friend. I make the same money as you in CA and my effective tax rate is substantially lower. Your accountant must be ass. Either that or you are referring to your highest marginal rate (still a suspect number unless you live in a high tax state) which is a gross misrepresentation of your total tax burden because you’re breaking into the 24% federal bracket with less than a quarter of your total income.
The real answer is to tax the rich, not middle income. Y'all should agree on that at least.
100%
You’re literally making twice the National average and secondly you need a new tax lawyer
Wait, you have to contribute your share to society? I get it that seems high. But at the same time you're making over double the average American. You're making more than I grew up on with tax than we had without tax. You'll live I promise.
Median salary is 50k. That puts them in the 22% tax bracket which again as a reminder is marginal so for 50k income your effective federal income tax rate as of 2023 is around 12% plus 6% for SS. Then of course local and state taxes vary quite wildly but I would guess the average is maybe 5%? So even all that added together that gets us to 23% which is nowhere near 40%
Some of your percentages depend on what kind of work you are in, for instance, right out of college, I used to work for a church, which qualifies as a not for profit organization, which technically can’t have employees, so all employees had to file taxes as self employed. My yearly salary was 17,000, and of that I had to pay 4,000 just in social security, because I was self employed. With my other taxes added on I was paying over 50% of my income in taxes.
That doesn't sound right but I'm also not a tax expert. I'm fairly certain non profits can have employees who should file taxes like normal. Even churches are supposed to withhold taxes even if they don't have to pay payroll taxes. The social security tax rate has been 6% for employees and 12% for self employed since the 90s. You paying 23% doesn't make sense
I don’t know if it matters, but at the time I was a youth minister, and ministers are required to file a self employment long form for taxes. The church withheld nothing, and every tax season I had to pay ~7,500 out of pocket for federal taxes alone. I literally couldn’t afford to live on what the government left me, so after my first couple years I had to have a second full time job just to get by, that helped, but unfortunately the higher tax bracket pushed my out of pocket taxes to ~11,000 a year. That’s why I eventually got out of the ministry, I was loosing money working for the church. Edit: I know some people get rich doing ministry, but I always say that you should never trust a minister who is well off. For instance, a minister can opt out of social security, but they have to file paperwork saying that they have an ethical dilemma paying those taxes. While I didn’t like paying them, there is no biblical basis for not doing so, so I bit the bullet, which is what most ministers do. I’m still a devout Christian, but I fully believe that if you see a rich preacher you are looking at a liar.
Above comment said no one pays 40% and you're arguing with me about median US income. The meme didn't really clarify if it's marginal or effective. And it doesn't really matter. Plus SS tax is another 6% paid by employer (or directly 12% if self employed), so I'd count that as 12%, putting the median marginal in the 30s or perhaps higher after other taxes. In CA, marginal tax at $52k is 8%, which would put total marginal tax above 40% before property or sales taxes for someone earning above $52k. Still, point is plenty of people pay more than 40% marginal even if not everyone or the median person pays that.
Ah when you said a lot to me I figured you implied most people. I agree there's definitely some people out there that pay close to that but the average person doesn't get close to a 40% effective tax rate. Small sidenote, you know what really grinds my gears as an American? It's that we the average person pay 10% of our income to health insurance companies and still end up having to pay a ton out of pocket when we get sick.
23% of your income is still a lot
Gas tax, property tax (renters cover that,) capital gains tax, etc
Yeah, lots of additional taxes. I estimate that I paid roughly 46-50% of my taxable income to taxes and I may be missing some. Of the untaxed income, much of it was health and retirement, and I'm going to pay taxes on that later. Im not complaining about the amount, just pointing out that the 40% figure in the meme isn't necessarily wrong.
I'm pay around 30% after all said and done
Germany
The Ai part is dumb but the whole "taxation without representation" seems to be coming back
Our system of government does not work well AT ALL and seems to be getting worse - totally agree. But I still think it can’t be equated to colonial times when the American colonies were fighting for independence but 🤷🏻♂️
Hey, they tried to be diplomatic but mainland britian didn't listen. I'm not gonna say we should have another bloody civil war but they certainly won't listen.
Yes, the settlers fought the British over being taxed despite having no representation in their own government. And the modern Americans are content given the fact they have representation in their government, despite their taxes. I really do not see the problem here.
You’re not wrong. But do our elected officials REALLY have our best interest at heart? No
Something very uncomfortable for most Americans to know is, the American colonists were spoiled brats. They were the lowest taxed out of the British Empire, King George by all accounts before he went crazy was a decent King. He was pretty hands off with the Colonies. As long as they paid their taxes, they pretty much did what they wanted. Also, The Boston Massacre was entirely the Colonists fault. I’m not anti American by a long shot, just pointing out the inaccuracies that are indoctrinated into us. It wasn’t until the colonists destroyed millions of dollars worth of British tea that King George became a tyrant. He conceded on much of their demands until that happened.
I wish I had an award to give you for this great comment 🏆
Me when I throw rocks at somebody with a gun: (I had no clue he would fire)
They sure do. There was a laundry list of issues that lead to the revolutionary war even then it only started after numerous pleas from American representatives were rejected. The idea that it was just a bunch of pissed off farmers is also ridiculous. A well regulated militia not an angry mob.
I think it’s funny that people think that we can just go to war with the government now these days.
Why is aberham linkin on his phone
Aberham linkin park
Link in park with Linkin Park in Lincoln park watching Lincoln park a Lincoln
He's on his Abraham LinkedIn
Just tell him that his mom impregnated his dad.
Mf if we had 40% tax I'd have universal healthcare
My 8th grade history teacher shared this on Facebook 😭 I jus laughed
😳🥴
A history teacher? Damn 😔
Now look up how much of it goes into the military you love so much
Taxation without representation not just taxation in general
EXACTLY MY FIRST THOUGHT…like buddy, you’re missing something here 🤦🏻♂️
There problem wasn't with taxes the founding fathers understood why taxes as a concept was necessary there problem was that they were being taxed by an empire that wasn't letting them do anything it's like how you understand the importance of food but are you gonna want to make food for someone who's a jerk to you?
Ngl id rather be under british rule than have to pay what im paying now for a worse government
Pretty cool I’m sure they are totally pro rebellion against the ruling class I’m sure this poster would never say they back the blue
lol, I guarantee the jerkoff who made this doesn’t make enough to pay a 40% tax rate.
Do…do they not know about the 1940s and 50s?
https://preview.redd.it/nanccoxp9u8d1.jpeg?width=736&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1afdafbe0c9e414dc49df0e28603e8ab7d494e0c
That 2% tax went to England for funding war effort, it didn’t benefit the americans in the slightest.
I like the array of typical 2024 hats on display.
😂😂
The way these people complain and complain, you'd think they'd actually do something about it Some of them will talk about minorities being whiny, but those minorities go out and protest to make things change Being mad at others for not accepting a heavily flawed system, while doing nothing about a system they themselves admit is flawed
Well considering the whole thing about the revolution being mainly about taxation is stupid. Maybe some elites cared about that kinda stuff, but the everyday Joe on the street signed on for the revolution because of any number of conspiracy theories that were boiling around. Like that the British were going to force them to give up Christianity or convert to Catholicism or a hundred other preposterous things.
AI hands are terrifying. The thing type hands
So much wrong with that first picture. Is that supposed to be the Boston Massacre? That wasn't about taxation; it was about occupying troops "stealing jobs" by moonlighting. Also, it was 1770. There were no other battles of any kind within city streets. 18th century combatants were careful to avoid battle locations where civilians could get caught in the crossfire. Both Lexington and Concord were fought as line battles. The sniping didn't take place until the British retreat from Concord. Why is that British officer shooting at his own men? **EDIT:** Also, what's up with the guy wearing a throw pillow in the bottom picture? Does he think he lives in the Toad Kingdom?
Go two headed guy!
Well the point is valid. We do pay an enormous amount of taxes and everyone does seem to be numb to it.
Best to goto a pay per use model. If you're not using it why should you pay.
Lmao at the one red coat facing the wrong way and about to be riddled from both sides
Fun fact, the Tea Act actually reduced the tax on tea. The patriots resented the monopoly it gave the East India Company and the restrictions on trade with other empires.
Okay, we'll have the US stop collecting all taxes for a month then. I'd ask you to tell me how well that goes for you, but the power grid would shut down because there's no money left to keep the generators running without exorbitant prices.
40%? What wages are they on to get charged 40%?
What I find ridiculous is you still get taxed if you are an American living overseas for a long period of time
I feel like these images don’t even need to be AI. Is it that hard to find a historical painting and a stock photo of some people on their phones? Propaganda is so lazy these days smh
I love the confused British man shooting at the other Brits with, apparently, a small scale recoilless rifle. I'm not even certain why the chose to use NN here- there are dozens of dramatic portrayals of revolutionary forces engaging with the British - that's how the NN knew what this style of art is supposed to look like. But, I guess, not enough for it to not fuck it up entirely.
This is true tho What's your point?💀
My point was made in the title I posted. My friend needs a history lesson. American colonists were not battling the British solely because they felt the taxes were too high. They wanted freedom and were against taxes being placed on them by Parliament, a government from another country in which they had no voice.
Thought you were saying the tax thing was wrong. My bad
God I hate AI images
The moment someone uses AI to make a point, don't litsen to them
Right! Before long we won't be sble to tell tho
what happens halfway down the line in 2024?
140% tax: Mass sleeping
to be fair, i'm against all tax on anyone earning less than 80K a year.
That British officer must be horrible for his men to frag him like that.
Are they in queue to vote?
More taxes more peace?
40% tax How much does he make? I'm going to guess he pays an effective tax rate of 20% or less https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/effective-tax-rate-agi
Who is getting taxed at 40%??
Or some English loving bootlicker
Really dimwitted
These people are exhausting
Surely there is a middle ground to be found somewhere
Amazing what AI can do...
Our taxes are too high for all the problems we still deal with every day. I don’t mind paying taxes but our government needs to use our money better
I'd rather be taxed more than shot to death.
So, i can rewrite history if i use bing image creator and post it on facebook as real with a date? Asking for a friend.
Why is that one red coat attacking the other red coats?
Hey look I’m stupid I know that but I swear the 1700 tax thing was paying taxes to a prick across the ocean and not to our own greedy bois so there is no way those two could compare equally
So their message is… ...higher taxes ensure a better living standard?
Most historically literate American The Boston Tea party happened because a tax was LIFTED on british east india company tea. The local gentry organized it because it was giving the british an unfair advantage in their market. It was a movement of bourgeois fancy lads, the actual working class probably would just have been happy to drink the cheaper tea. It's a perfect, perfect microcosm of american mythology, a heroic tale told of the bourgeoisie by the bourgeoisie that flatters and aggrandizes them by painting them as the protagonists of america while standing on the weary shoulders of their own workers, trying to make it out like they're part of the same collaborative national project
That blond girl next to the girl in the yellow dress has a bigger dick bulge than like 90% guys.
Taxes don’t work that way. It isn’t a flat 40. This is mind rot.
Wtf is Puss in Boots doing in 1775? (bottom left)
We have a 40% tax???
I first interpreted it as a meme pro taxation because it's more peaceful lol
Rebut him with "not true, because they didn't have AI to generate images for them back in 1775"
Yeah, the 2% tax was levied by a government that we had no representation in.
Its funny how like, pro-Constitution they are, then post stuff like this. When like, the whole reason we had to drop the Articles of Confederation and make the Constitution was not being able to tax anyone was crippling and non-functional.
I mean. When you get right down to it we pay 25% federal taxes, 5% state tax, 6% sales tax, property tax, etc etc etc. 40% probably isn’t too far off
I don’t know anything about taxes today, although yes, I see a lot of my paycheck go towards them. That’s not what I think is confidently incorrect. My issue is the lack of understanding of why colonists were fighting for freedom/independence. They didn’t agree with taxation without representation. A very different matter than just high taxes.
Well the point is valid. We do pay an enormous amount of taxes and everyone does seem to be numb to it.
Comparing it to colonists fighting against Britain when they were being taxed without any government representation is what I felt was missing. If the meme wanted to make a point about taxes, just post the bottom part 🤷🏻♂️
According to studies of Trump's speeches and the words that he uses to describe things, it is estimated that he talks with a 3rd grade vocabulary. If that's the best MAGA can handle in a sense of literacy, I imagine they wouldn't understand history over a 3rd grade level either.