Quote:
Originally Posted by Topspinmo
Musk paid more taxes that 1000 villagers. Probably 10,000
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It is the tax rate of the upper-level taxpayers that IS the problem. They could and should be paying at a higher rate than they currently are. This is DANGEROUS because now the money to run the Federal Government must come from the US middle-class. This WEAKENS the middle class. A weak middle class is bad for ANY country. It stifles competition and decreases upward mobility. In the 1950s the US had a strong middle class (which is us, we owe our semi-luxury life here in TV Land to OUR STRONG MIDDLE CLASS AND UPWARD MOBILITY that we enjoyed back then) In the 50s the US had greater upward mobility than the UK - now it is reversed. And many people are not even aware of that fact. The US is today ONLY about 20th or 30th on world lists of qualities of social strength and welfare.
......WE enjoyed all the benefits of a strong middle class, but 20-year-olds today do NOT have that benefit. They will have a tougher life than we had. For those who wonder how and why this happened, you can just look for the changes in tax policy that NOW benefits the upper class at the EXPENSE of the middle class. The rich HAVE gotten richer from 1950 to today. There are other factors,YES!, but tax changes are a BIG factor and often overlooked.
.......There are more Elon Musk types around today than in the 1950s and also many, MANY more millionaires (even if the cost of living changes are taken into consideration). Because of this middle-class weakening, the US is more vulnerable to social disruption of various kinds from external forces like dark media and Russian trolls, internal forces like white supremacists, and wealthy individual cult-like strongmen. A strong middle class is KNOWN to be necessary for democracy to flourish!