Originally Posted by blaise (Post 9670274)

She should use it for other things.
"I'm a child of former slaves who had a system imposed on them. I had a speed limit imposed on me. Someone did the math and it came out that I was going 70 in a 55. And I sit before you trying to figure out how to pay a speeding ticket?"

Originally Posted by houstonwhodat (Post 9669778)

“I am a child of former slaves”

Originally Posted by the_spatula (Post 9670510)

PREFACE: I do not agree with Lauryn Hill's reparations excuse for not paying taxes, HOWEVER...

I think the average (white) citizens of our society sometimes lack perspective when it comes to the history of African Americans in our country.

1787: the Constitution of the United States is drafted. The 3/5 Compromise declares that black slaves are considered 3/5 of a person to help bolster voting bloc in southern US.

1870: 15th amendment passes giving blacks citizenship/right to vote.

*This means that less than 150 (only 5 generations ago) years ago blacks WERE NOT EVEN CONSIDERED PEOPLE BY OUR CONSTITUTION (they were 3/5 of a person - which is insanely dehumanizing, dudes).

1880s - 1960s: Much of the United States is hell-bent on keeping blacks out of mainstream society. Jim Crow laws are adopted, Plessy v Ferguson (separate but equal) rules, Ku Klux Klan forms up, etc.

WE ARE ONLY TWO GENERATIONS REMOVED THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT (many of us were raised by parents who were raised in a systematically [and socially accepted] racist world).

If you don't believe that blacks have been systematically disadvantaged throughout the VAST majority of our nation's history then you do not know your history.

It takes time to overcome all of those things. Racism is still alive and well in our country (as has been repeatedly proven on this board). We have come a long way as a society, but there are still a lot of demons from our nation's past that need to be exorcised.

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut (Post 9670593)

The tax burden in this country is overwhelmingly supported by the richest 10%. It's not even a close question as that 10% provides about 70% of our tax income. Hell, the top 1% alone covers a little over 1/3 of America's revenue stream. And that's actually a greater percentage than they paid 20 years ago.

Meanwhile, approximately 47% of America's lowest income earners don't pay taxes at all.

You may think that the rich should have to pay a greater share of their income - fine, whatever. But the bottom line is that the rich essentially subsidize 2/3 of this government. The middle class handles about 30% of it and 1/2 the country doesn't do jack shit to carry their burden.

Ignorance like yours is why we can't have a serious discussion about anything in this country.

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut (Post 9670593)

The tax burden in this country is overwhelmingly supported by the richest 10%. It's not even a close question as that 10% provides about 70% of our tax income. Hell, the top 1% alone covers a little over 1/3 of America's revenue stream. And that's actually a greater percentage than they paid 20 years ago.

Meanwhile, approximately 47% of America's lowest income earners don't pay taxes at all.

You may think that the rich should have to pay a greater share of their income - fine, whatever. But the bottom line is that the rich essentially subsidize 2/3 of this government. The middle class handles about 30% of it and 1/2 the country doesn't do jack shit to carry their burden.

Ignorance like yours is why we can't have a serious discussion about anything in this country.

Originally Posted by morphius (Post 9670649)

The top 5% controls nearly 72% of the money, so 2/3 of the taxes seems like a pretty decent deal.

Originally Posted by morphius (Post 9670649)

The top 5% controls nearly 72% of the money, so 2/3 of the taxes seems like a pretty decent deal.

I'm not sure what the point is with this argument.

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut (Post 9670663)

Eh, it's not even an argument really.

Like I said, there are arguments to be made that the rich should pay more. I don't necessarily agree with them, but they certainly exist.

But the idea that they simply don't pay is asinine. On a volume basis, it's the wealthiest earners in this country that fund the government.

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut (Post 9670663)

Eh, it's not even an argument really.

Like I said, there are arguments to be made that the rich should pay more. I don't necessarily agree with them, but they certainly exist.

But the idea that they simply don't pay is asinine. On a volume basis, it's the wealthiest earners in this country that fund the government.

Originally Posted by Donger (Post 9670669)

Bump has some rather interesting ideas about the way our country works.

Originally Posted by Donger (Post 9670669)

Bump has some rather interesting ideas about the way our country works.

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut (Post 9670675)

If there was any way I could control where my tax dollars went, I'd allocate them all towards keeping weed illegal just to piss him off.