Wow, I’m glad someone else did the grunt work…
February 25th, 2007…I’ve been feeling pretty lazy recently when it comes to writing, but this is one of those things that galvanizes me into action:
“Your real tax rate: 40%
Income taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, Social Security and Medicare taxes, ’sin’ taxes and the rest add up to a virtual flat tax nationwide.”
Folks always seem to bellitle Europe for its ’socialist’ tendencies, mock and riddicule them for paying so much in taxes just for trifiling things like, oh, universal health care…those stupid Europeans pay 50% of their income in taxes! Those fools!
I’ve always suspected that most US citizens also pay 50% of their income back into the governement, but the convoluted path the money takes makes it ’seem’ not as severe…you know what it really covers up? The fact that we pay so much and get so little from our government. Consider the flood of money that heads into the federal coffers…what does the federal government provide you that you can see with your own two eyes? I bet it doesn’t look like half your income…you know why? One of those ‘little things’ that the government wants you to so desperatly believe to be vital…
The world military spending is about one trillion dollars a year (I don’t believe that counts Iraq as the Bush administration has been very careful about disclosing the full and true cost of the war, might bump world expenditures to one and a quarter per year). A trillion is $1,000,000,000,000…that is a shitload of zeroes…a trillion is also a thousand billion and a million million…but don’t worry, one trillion is a small number…our government has about $46 trillion in outstanding debt, one trillion is a modest figure…
Of the one trillion dollars a year we as a species spend on sanctioned murder, half of the expenditures come from the USA. We spend $500,000,000,000 a year or so on bombs, guns, and all sorts of other constructive items that benefit society and the world in general…
The next closest expenditures? About 5% each, for the UK, France, Japan and China…wow, scary stuff…good thing we spend so much or else those guys might invade us tomorrow! Thank you, Mr. Government!
So. China, the ‘most’ likely of the bunch to invade us tomorrow is heavily dependent upon us for trade income to fuel their factories and pay their wages. They know, FUCK, everyone knows that mutual destruction is ensured by any significant military engagement between superpowers…no one is going to try anything stupid anytime soon…
The government and the gigantic corporations which supply the arms are completely in bed together: meet the Military Industrial Complex.
The public doesn’t realize how much the government steals nor how little they return to the common good.
As long as the rich corporations can raid the purse at will and control the goverment and media, nothing will change.
Yes, god bless our defense contractors…and say hello the the American Empire…
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At least our military isn’t yet completely insane, simply inefficient and corrupt to the point of madness…
Staggering.
You know, I’m all for having a military. Hell if it wasn’t for the military where would bf2 be? Anyway, everyone should be able to defend themselves. However, I also believe we have to take a look at the competition and realize their limits. By putting limits on them, we can then limit ourselves. I agree with staying a head of the pack, but we don’t need to be so far ahead.