Me Living In the US

*and actively destroys/dismantles anything one could remotely be proud of having their tax money go to.

I'd gladly fund NASA and scientific research any day of the week, but nooooo gotta feed the poor poor billionaires.

but noooo gotta feed the poor
HUH?!
poor billionaires
Aaaahhhh.
- Yeah, I did the same thing at first. Did the half head tilt thing and didnt finish reading and was like, uhm, am I readinnn that right? Oh.
- :P
My republican coworkers are complaining about NASA because they always flake when buying our products (we sell electronic stuff to defense related military contractors) because they don't have enough budget.
Fucking idiots don't realize that their political party doesn't even want a NASA

Okay but we all get that Douglas was the bad guy, right? OP??
- He is bad guy, but he is not bad guy
- He was pretty alright when he killed that nazi
- I'm pretty sure the bad guy was the fucked-up system that tortured him into his behavior. He's a victim as much as any of the people he hurt.
- Yeah, originally I was going to say I don't agree at all with his character, but the progression is so great, leading up to the "I'm the bad guy?" moment.
- Well...
Oh damn, I've never seen this thanks for linking.
Perhaps you would also enjoy Changing Lanes. (Trailer)
- I just don't get how this has a 6.5 score, it seems like at least a 7+. But maybe it's the rose tinted glasses, we were kind of spoiled for good movies back in 2002 when it came out, and most of the votes are probably from back then.

issuing currency
collecting taxes
suppressing evidence of child sex trafficking

One of these things is so outrageously unlike the others that it makes me kinda sus of whoever decided to put them all in the same list

*Corrupt Government
*Has the ability to print money out of thin air with no downside.
*Forces you pay taxes anyway making you technically complicit in its crimes.
*Uses Its infinite wealth and power to openly protect child predators instead of something good because it is a corrupt government. (The most recent thing in the news cycle)
Interesting how all these things line up together when you don't abstract these things into nothingness. It makes me very sus of the person who decide to reword these so they don't fit on the same list.
- No disagreement on the corruption, coercion, or economic exploitation.
  Nor that there’s a straight line from their ability to manipulate the economic and legal systems… directly to their ability to evade justice for the worst crimes imaginable.
  My concern is:
  Tech libertarians using a (nearly-) universally-acknowledged and reviled scourge as a pretense to post in progressive spaces and sneak in neo-metallist sentiments like “taxation is theft” and “money-printing is fraud”.
  I’m not saying OP or even OOP is one, for sure. But the meme does advance their narrative.
-genocide
A charitable interpretation of "printing money out of thin air" is how they bail out corporations and landlords. Why even save if the game is so obviously rigged?
They're mad at 2 because 1 gives them all the money they need to do 3. So why do they need my money too?
- All USD is printed. Taxes are the only thing that gives USD its value.
  I have a problem with the meme playing footsie with the ideas that taxes are theft and money-printing is fraud.
  These are common neo-metallist arguments. And in techie spaces like the fediverse, libertarians like to sneak them into the conversation while going “How do you do, fellow progressives?” before they start pitching NFTs.

Love my taxes going to committing genocide and protecting Israel

My city can’t afford housing or transit but just spent $150 million building a stadium for live nation. Free taxpayer funded stadiums for corporations to profit from, yay!

Calgary?
"Live Nation Entertainment is composed of Live Nation, an events promoter and venue operator, and Ticketmaster, a ticket sales giant. The two companies merged in 2010 and now control an estimated 70% of the ticketing and live event venues market."

"You forgot your briefcase!"

I don't want to be your buddy, Rick. I just want a little breakfast....

Such a great scene.

That's it, I'm walking directly home in a straight line

And now your going to die wearing that stupid little hat

If you were part of the billionaire class, you'd be paying less. Sucker.

I can hear Iron Maiden's 'Man on the Edge' music.

I'd be happy paying taxes if they went to social works and infrastructure and whatnot, but yeah.

Now let's talk about spending 60-80% of my remaining income on rent

D-FENS is so aspirational especially the part where he stands up to the brown people and foreigners and then

The world desperately needs more Luigis.

Is tax 33% in the USA? or are you not referring to the USA?

Federal taxes plus state taxes plus property taxes (if you own any) plus vehicle taxes (usually in the form of plates and fuel taxes) plus sales taxes (on anything you buy) plus who-knows-what all else.
It adds up to a good chunk of the average working person's paycheck.
Edit: Forgot to add county and local taxes. For example, Cook county Illinois adds substantial sales taxes and gas taxes on top of state sales and and federal gas taxes.
- TBH Ima put Social Security in the tax section too as I doubt people under 50 are gonna collect on it.
- Hot take: I think any involuntary expense forced on you by your government is, essentially, a tax regardless of whether it goes into government or corporate coffers, and should be included in the discussion.
  Health insurance being the major example, given that's paid for by taxes in civilized countries. Arguably, the insurance, gas, and maintenance on a car that many of us would happily trade for a functional public transportation system.
Federal Tax Rates in the US 2024-25 run from 10% to 37%.
- I am guessing that not too many pay over 30% then? Also that this is in brackets, so that only the amount over certain point is taxed higher?
  I am still surprised that taxes can be so high, and people require so little for it!
I've been self employed so I pay all my own taxes, it's more like 25%.

This morning was a wild ride.

1/3, huh? You must be a high-earning Californian or New Yorker. I don't think anyone else pays that much.

top tax bracket in those states is somewhere in the 50% neighborhood
- Top tax rate in California is 12.5%. and it marginal so only the portion you make above the cutoff is what's taxed at that percent.
In California as a single person, with only the standard deductions and not deducting anything else (no health insurance or 401k) you would have to make 210k to pay 1/3 of your salary. If you pay $100 a month in health insurance premiums and put 5% into 401k then you have to make over 275k to pay 1/3 of your salary in income tax
Completely false

Trump can basically print infinite amounts of dollars through the federal reserve.

As we all know, conflicts are hella expensive and often decided by who can stay solvent longer. The fact that trump can just print dollars is extremely problematic here.

I guess the necessary course of action would be to bring the dollar's value to zero, and use an alternative currency instead (such as euro, canadian dollar, mexican pesos).

Need an hand to help you back up? You seem to keep falling down.

Me trying to take a dump

No one in the US pays 30% income tax. Only the top 10% have to pay more than 30%...and they're rich enough to qualify for so many tax breaks at that point, that their effective rate is less than half that.

As a sole proprietor, yes we do.
- Then you need to fire your accountant...or start taking their advice. Either way, you're doing it wrong.
Yeah I just checked and I'm looking at around 15-16% adding together federal tax+FICA/FMHI