Sources and Sinks

[Tim May]

The jabber about how poor people are actually paying for the successful 
is beyond belief. All sorts of arguments are being made about how poor 
people somehow pay for the infrastructure the wealthy exploit.

And the chestnut about how tax breaks aid the wealth disproportionately 
is once again brought out.

(Yeah, if Alice was paying $50K in taxes and the taxes are cut to $40K 
she "benefits more" than Bob the Wino who got no tax benefits because 
he paid no taxes. Which misses the point about Alice's high taxes in 
the first place.)

This is why the "Tax Freedom Day" approach is more useful. Tax freedom 
day is of course the day when the average American or Brit or whatever 
has stopped working for the government and has the rest of his income 
for himself. For most years, this is estimated to around May-June. That 
is, for almost half of a year a typical taxpayer is working for the 
government.

Not a perfect measure, as it averages together folks of various tax 
brackets, including the many in America who pay nothing (but it doesn't 
assign a negative number to those who receive "net net" money from the 
government). And it fails to take into account the double taxation 
which a business owner faces: roughly a 50% tax on his profits, then 
when the profits are disbursed to the owners of the corporation, 
another 35-45% tax bite. For a business owner, he is effectively 
working for the government for the first 70% of every year. Which means 
only October-December is he working for his own interests.

Jabber about how poor people are actually receiving fewer tax benefits 
than rich people misses the point of who's working for whom.

Alice, an engineer or pharmacist or perhaps a small business owner, 
works between 40% and 70% of her time to pay money into government.

Bob, a crack addict collecting "disability" or welfare or other 
government freebies, works 0% of his time for the government/society. 
("Dat not true. I gots to stands in line to get my check increased!")

Alice is a source, Bob is a sink. Talk about how Alice gets benefits 
ignores the fact that she's working for the government for a big chunk 
of her life. Bob is not. Alice is a slave for the government, and 
"society," so that Bob can lounge in his mobile home watching ESPN and 
collecting a monthly check.

(I'd like to know why all of the folks here in California who are 
getting "benefits" and "services" are not at my door on Saturday 
morning to help me with my yard work. I'd like to know why finding 
reliable yard workers has become nearly impossible in the past couple 
of decades. "Will work for food" signs are a fucking joke...try hiring 
one of those layabouts to actually do some work for food and watch the 
sneers, or watch them threatening to fake a work injury if a shakedown 
fee is not given to them. These people should be put in lime pits.)

When you hear John Young and Tyler Durden nattering about the "persons 
of privilege" are reaping the rewards of a benificent government, think 
about Alice and Bob and ask yourself who'se doing the real work. Ask 
who're the sources and who're the sinks.

"From each according to his ability, to each according to his 
need...and I've got a game to watch on satellite...and where's my 
check?"

--Tim May
"The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any 
member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm 
to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient 
warrant." --John Stuart Mill