Nearly half of US households pay no fed income tax

[bcc423]

This makes it increasingly difficult for poor people to work hard, save money and bootstrap themselves to the middle class, as had happened in most of the 19th and early 20th century.

I think things always were bad, just not for everyone.

The whole outlook on how things used to be great, but now turning to shit is flawed.

Until very recently (on a historical scale), there was a huge number of people in the US who comprised the "underclass." All minorities, recent immigrants, etc. And no protection against discrimination, unfair hiring practices and a lot of other stuff. That made is possible to squeeze more from the underclass to allow the "middle class" afford a better life for themselves.

The prosperity of white middle class of the previous century was established thanks to limitations of who could get what jobs.

For every white collar (white) manager who got paid more than their contribution to the economy (output value) there was one black/latino/oriental person who would never even be considered for that position in the first place. That reduced the number of applicants and tipped the supply/demand market of the labor forces in favor of the whites.

And let's face it, when people talk about the good old days, they usually refer to the white middle class, not to the entire population of the country.

Add to that, the WW2 which gave the US a huge competitive advantage over the rest of the world, and the Cold War which put the US in a position of being able to dictate terms of economic development in a way that protected its own interests above all else.

That allowed the country to finance itself for many decades.

And now, both of those factors have decayed.

On the outside, more and more countries refuse to play by US'es rules. So the country can no longer finance itself as it did in the past. That makes it worse for all people living in the USA. But in addition to that, inside, more and more minorities get higher on the socioeconomic ladder. Which makes it even worse from the perspective of the white majority.

So to "them", it looks like things are really turning to shit with each passing day.

It's not about overspending, it's not about too much consumer credit. It's just how things are supposed to be.

 

[bitsdawg]

Fuck I would buy into a flat rate system just to save me the headache come tax day. It will never happen because the IRS/government enjoys the fear and confusion they perpetuate with their ridiculously complicated system.

I agree with this, or the federal sales tax idea for the same reason. I figure I lose about a week every year just messing with taxes. This would gain me that time back.

Actually the federal sales tax seems attractive - if it would work like our state income tax - i.e. things like actual groceries or RX drugs may not be taxed so it would not be more of a burden to very poor people because everybody needs to eat. Maybe some luxuries would be taxed at a bit higher rate.

But there is a big industry : CPAs, tax lawyers, Tax preparers, etc. who would have to find some other way to make a living. Sometimes I wonder if any of these sensible solutions get pushed aside because of industry politics.