Brits and Americans have opposite attitudes about the morality of taxation - Polidicks

Wow, even UKIP supporters (our furthest-right group) think the duty to contribute to tax trumps the right to personal wealth, though it's closer than with any other party

In the way they asked the question, I don't see how you couldn't answer "Yes, you have the right to keep the money you earn".

[QUOTE=UncleJimmema;46429107]And brits wonder why we threw all that good tea off the sides of a ship :P[/QUOTE] Protesting an act that made the British East India Company have a monopoly on tea in the colonies?

[QUOTE=AlexConnor;46429565]Well, the taxes were to pay for a war the colonists have heavily contributed to starting, and the reason for ineffective representation is that Benjamin Franklin (the representative) lied to both sides, deliberately provoking trouble as a means to gain power from the ensuing conflict... He literally went and told the British Government that the Colonists were OK with the taxes while said Colonists were bitterly protesting these taxes to him, then told the Colonists that London was ignoring him.[/QUOTE] While I can't speak for your claim specifically, the Founding Fathers really were greedy, individualistic dicks who realized they would make more money without Britain being there, so they used propaganda to incite the lower classes (who were mostly helped by Britain if anything) and the middle classes to go to war. Sure, some of them believed in freedom and all that, but it isn't ironic that many were slave owners. That was by design. They didn't give a hot damn potato about "freedom" or "democracy" (especially because Britain had both at the time anyways), they just wanted to make more money and not have to pay out to the British government. And on the subject of the OP, it doesn't surprise me. From day one this country has been founded on self-centeredness, just like I said above. People want to believe that you can pull the proverbial bootstraps and make yourself money and power, and that anyone who did did so by their own ingenuity and should be rewarded. They view life as a great big competition, which also helps drive the consumerist attitude (if you buy this shit, you will be [I]cooler[/I] than the next guy!) Someone in another thread said it best when (I am paraphrasing here) "the naivety of the American Dream is that we all believe it is only a matter of time until we are rich". That is one of the biggest reasons Americans hate taxes; they think it is somehow violating the American Dream. Although I agree, taxes here do feel like a waste since they go to the twisted, mangled bureaucracy that seems to vacuum up money without giving anything in return. But that isn't a case of whether or not we should have taxes (hint: we should. No government has ever been successful without taxes in some form), it is a case of how we spend them and how efficient our government is at allocating it. The problem isn't taxation itself, it is the government collecting the taxes.

I believe in greater taxation of the rich for the simple reason that an extra unit of income to a rich person gives him less enjoyment than if it were to be given to a poor person. A rich person can get an extra $10 and it wouldn't matter much because most of his needs and wants are basically already fulfilled, but give it to a low-income earner and it can mean his meals are taken care of for a couple of days. Not to mention all the other unquantifiable miscellaneous benefits of having a society that has less people under a poverty line such as reduced crime rates and social unrest.

[QUOTE=Pantz Master;46429633]In the way they asked the question, I don't see how you couldn't answer "Yes, you have the right to keep the money you earn".[/QUOTE] Pretty much, that sounds like a phrase the republicans would make up actually.

In my personal experience, the fundamental difference between the way that the right and left looks at taxes comes down to something like this: The right asks the question, "How much money should the government take?" The left asks the question, "How much money should the person keep?" [editline]6th November 2014[/editline] The person on the right might say something like, "The government doesn't need any more money, therefore they should leave the people alone," while the person on the left might say, "That person doesn't need any more money, therefore they should give it to the government."

[QUOTE=Pantz Master;46429633]In the way they asked the question, I don't see how you couldn't answer "Yes, you have the right to keep the money you earn".[/QUOTE] And yet, most people in the UK didn't, and neither did a good chunk of Americans.

If most of my taxes wasn't going towards military contractors then I'd be completely alright with being taxed more, but nope congress is stupid. I don't understand why more than 50% of taxes to the federal government is spent on the military if we aren't in a war.

[QUOTE=ilikecorn;46428241]I wouldn't have a single problem paying higher taxes for more services. If the police would show up in less than 30 minutes, if the government actually paid for my healthcare, if our wealthfare systems would actually help those who couldn't help themselves; I'd be completely and totally fine paying higher taxes. But they don't. And as such I pay taxes that go to get eaten by the military and various "pet projects" with Congress, meanwhile the poor stay poor as shit and the rich get richer. Since my money isn't going to those who could actually use it; I'd rather I just get to keep it and spend it as I see fit.[/QUOTE] This a major reason that I am right wing about economy. The government is just too incompetent. Give them money to build a road and that road will cost 30% more than it should, and then they'll keep raising that money when it's finished to go into some new project that nobody asked for.

Literally what started the American Revolution.

[QUOTE=Jager_57;46430043]This a major reason that I am right wing about economy. The government is just too incompetent. Give them money to build a road and that road will cost 30% more than it should, and then they'll keep raising that money when it's finished to go into some new project that nobody asked for.[/QUOTE] I'm left wing about economy because companies will cut corners to get something done as cheap as possible and the roads will suck ass. But at least their profits margin will be larger right?

[QUOTE=sgman91;46429795]In my personal experience, the fundamental difference between the way that the right and left looks at taxes comes down to something like this: The right asks the question, "How much money should the government take?" The left asks the question, "How much money should the person keep?" [editline]6th November 2014[/editline] The person on the right might say something like, "The government doesn't need any more money, therefore they should leave the people alone," while the person on the left might say, "That person doesn't need any more money, therefore they should give it to the government."[/QUOTE] This just comes across as a paraphrasing of one of Reagan's jokes about the USSR and the USA.

[QUOTE=Helix Snake;46428236]what the fuck is wrong with my country?[/QUOTE] A more liberal economy. Not sure if that's wrong, or a bad thing, I'm not an ecomologist.

[QUOTE=Tetsmega;46430179]Literally what started the American Revolution.[/QUOTE] I don't remember the US government taxing themselves causing themselves to go to war with england over their taxes

Until the USGov fixes their shit where I feel safe where my money goes, I'll keep whatever I earn.

I suppose I can understand this issue in the United States, but people who are fervently anti-tax in countries where taxes are actually used with a degree of efficacy I simply can't understand. Especially now where younger people are shit out of luck for a lot of opportunities and populations are aging, it makes more sense than ever to try and repair and restructure the welfare state to deal with these long term problems,; rather than idealistically fighting against it because "muh freedums".

No shit, remember what caused us to break off in the first place? [sp]Apart from the king and soldiers just being assholes at the time[/sp]

That radical marxist obama is not getting my money I'm giving it to the angels of the medical insurance

The main problem I have with taxation is the money ends up going places you may not want it to, like as some people have pointed out, exorbitant military spending. I wouldn't mind a system that lets you specifically allocate what your money goes towards, to the point that you can deny any of it going towards military spending and say, put a very large amount of it towards paying it towards the healthcare and education sectors. The logistics of it would probably be awful, at least until citizen to government correspondence is handled online. When I look at stuff like the NHS, I don't mind taxes so much. When I look at America's military spending, the BBC and the GCHQ, I don't like taxes so much. I REALLY do not like that people are being made to fund an organisation that spies on them regardless of innocence.

[QUOTE=Helix Snake;46428924]Yes, so unfortunate they're stuck under the oppressive jackboot of not going into debt every time there's a medical emergency[/QUOTE]Know how to avoid that? Superglue, duct tape, and dental floss. Add a pair of hemostats, a needle-nose pliers, some iodine, and a magnet and you've got a poor man's surgical kit. I wish I could say "I learned how to patch myself up in my garage because I'm a rugged manly man" but in reality I'm just poor and didn't have a choice. On the bright side, when the apocalypse comes and all the doctors get kidnapped by motorcycle bandits in leather fetish gear, I'll be fucking [i]set.[/i] Thanks, America!

Well about the taxation thing, i would agree if my taxes was sent to help pay for public works like schools, better roads, and development of better highways and transportation. But was sent to help some free loader that doesn't have a job, then i would get pissed