Fight Poverty! Raise taxes?

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boldlygo said:
nice parish…affordable housing…my neighbors have horses…good schools…plenty of jobs for anyone who wants to work…I’ll never be rich, but that was never my goal…life is good!!
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Ah that’s it! Everyone should just move to northeast and north central Ohio. It’s just that easy! And have horses too.
 
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RCIAGraduate said:
How do you think we can reorient the system to help address that major issue, a lot of people may simply don’t have family to fall back on or are handicapped or set back by their experiences with family like growing up in a dysfunctional household? Policy wise, what can be done for that?
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The reason why there are such problems is that people have just lost hope. It may take 10 generations to create hopelessness, it may take 10 generations to heal. That’s not to say that some exceptionally gifted persons may rise out on their own, but that’s like a “rock star” talent that we can’t and shouldn’t expect. Plain ordinary people should be able to succeed, decently. Taxes on the wealthier is the source of capital to fund that investment.
 
JoeFreedom said:
So when everyone makes equal pay what do we do about the person who slacks off or works harder?
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I don’t think anyone remotely said that everyone ought to make equal pay. The implication was that when you make nine TIMES as much as the median income, you are in a better position to pay taxes than those who make far less in spite of their hard work. You would have no just reason to resent it, provided the funds are used for the general welfare. For instance, if taxes are used in a way to make the working class more secure, this also helps those who need the labor of working people for their enterprises to be successful.
 
Then who decides “how much is too much” or “how many times more the other guy makes than you is too many times”? Is 9 times too much? Or is it 5? Maybe 2? What’s fair? Why should they need all that extra money?

Our human envy of others’ money gets in the way because they don’t use it charitably the way we want them to and so we enact laws to make them give it away.
 
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JoeFreedom said:
Our human envy of others’ money gets in the way because they don’t use it charitably the way we want them to and so we enact laws to make them give it away.
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So called “others’ money” was gathered amongst other people (society). If other people don’t have any money, you can’t get any either. Your ability to wheel & deal and skim off the top does not make it yours. That portion that results in others in your society to live in poverty, is your debt; what you choose to give above that debt, is what you may call charity.

Taxes have been cut for the wealthy for the last 40 years. It isn’t working.
 
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So everyone who has more money got it through shady unethical or criminal means?! Whoa.

Show me proof where taxing more causes prosperity.
 
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JoeFreedom said:
So everyone who has more money got it through shady unethical or criminal means?! Whoa.
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Not my opinion. (I hope there are effective laws against such practices.)

We elect people to serve the good of society.

40 years of cutting taxes to the wealthy resulted in a prosperity gap. Let’s try something different this time, for the good of all. It makes sense that where everyone has money to spend, prosperity flourishes. That’s the premise of the economists who won the Nobel Prize this year.
 
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JoeFreedom said:
So redistribute the wealth?
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No, the premise is to grow the economy, for a wider participation. It perfectly aligns with Pope Leo XIII on social justice in Rerum Novarum. Catholics at least, should be promoters of this.
 
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By taxing the greedy overly wealthy more and redistributing their wealth. Unless I’m dense please tell where I misunderstand your premise.
 
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Yes… more taxes is the way to go. Far too much wealth is concentrated among the few. There is no good reason for not having great healthcare and no poverty in the US. Tax the top, close the loopholes
 
My parents had nothing when they were first married. My mom worked to put my dad through trade school. They lived within their means and never realized the power of compounding. My dad, when he had a chance to work overtime, worked and never spent that money. Vacations were a day’s outing. I was the first in my family to go to college. I did work and have student loans. But I also majored in a subject that could allow me to live on my own and pay off my student loans. When I married my husband, I worked to put him through graduate school. He worked hard and was hired by a good company. Neither of us wanted the big house, the fancy car. We live in a modest house with my son. We save as much as we can, but we donate first. The generation after me just want everything to be top notch. Why? I rather be judged on what I did to help others rather than what I have accumulated. I am not trying to brag. I just want us to keep our value system and pass it to my son.
 
Sarcelle said:
We are in the midst of another Industrial Age, the fourth Industrial Age. A lot of people will get left behind. They need help and as Christians we are obliged to help them.
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It may be that the entire economic “system” may need to change. It may be that there will simply not be a requirement for the volume of labour required these days or in days past.
 
vsedriver said:
There are 3 causes of poverty:

lack of education
refusal to work
children out of wedlock or abandoned by a parent.
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While increasing education may enable individuals to Improve their jobs, one cannot migrate all the people in low end jobs up the scale. Low end jobs still need to be done. The economic system we have creates many jobs that pay poorly.
vsedriver said:
taxes won’t fix those problems. Anyone who works hard enough to amass a fortune, legally, deserves to keep their fortune and not have it stolen by the government or by a mob who vote to take their money.
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Higher taxes on the wealthy may help by enabling, for example, healthcare systems that are more affordable or better regulation in the industrial space, or reduced cost of education through government assistance.

If governments taxing you too much is a problem, then that’s a challenge for the political process.
 
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vsedriver said:
we live in the richest country in the world. There is no reason for anyone to starve in the USA.
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The wealth is incredibly concentrated in the US. Hopefully we don’t judge the health of society or the justness of the economic system by the level of starvation - though if it is high, we can be sure there is a problem!
 
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vsedriver said:
You can’t outsource plumbers, electricians, carpenters, etc.

Education needs to channel people into jobs that can’t be outsourced or automated.
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Technology has dramatically reduced the call on tradespeople. Modern vehicles require only a fraction of the servicing (motor mechanics) of the past. The typical house requires much less carpentry (name removed by moderator)ut than previously. It’s not just about automation.
 
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