Al, you don't have to convince us that Philly is a terrible place to live. We didn't choose to live there. And the government is never going to tax the intangible benefits of being middle class instead of broke, even if you consider that unfair.

Let's summarize...
In absolute dollars, 20151 residents pay an extra $1000 on property taxes compared to 19133 residents who pay nearly THREE TIMES the tax rate!
19133 residents pay city wage tax of ~4% and sales tax of 8%; Fairfax has no city wage tax (???) and a sales tax of 5%.
19133 residents live in an area with SIX TIMES the crime rate 20151 residents experience.
Median household income in 19133 is 15% that of 20151. Fairfax residents make OVER SIX TIMES as much money.
YET, non-housing costs in Philly are HIGHER than in Fairfax...
and you're saying what now about consumption and saving?
I'm pretty sure I've just demonstrated that the advantages associated with living in a wealthy neighborhood (namely low crime exposure) are NOT paid for through taxation or anything else.
Ergo, a non-monetary, non-taxable privilege of being wealthy!
"Flutie was better than Kelly, Elway, Esiason and Cunningham." - Ben Kenobi
"I have nothing against Wilson, but he's nowhere near the same calibre of QB as Flutie. Flutie threw for 5k+ yards in the CFL." -Ben Kenobi

Al, you don't have to convince us that Philly is a terrible place to live. We didn't choose to live there. And the government is never going to tax the intangible benefits of being middle class instead of broke, even if you consider that unfair.

I recently got offered a job paying $30 an hour fixing computers for a law firm. I wouldn't have gotten the job if my dad hadn't been (very) loosely connected to the guy who runs the company. That said, I also wouldn't have gotten the job offer if I didn't have almost a decade of experience fixing computers either.
But no, says Jon. Daddy's money is everything. Never mind the fact that my dad paid his way through college and didn't start out rich. Let's just gloss over those inconvenient details.
If there is no sound in space, how come you can hear the lasers?
:(){ :|:& };:

"Flutie was better than Kelly, Elway, Esiason and Cunningham." - Ben Kenobi
"I have nothing against Wilson, but he's nowhere near the same calibre of QB as Flutie. Flutie threw for 5k+ yards in the CFL." -Ben Kenobi

I wouldn't describe most of my neighbors as being "very wealthy". Most are middle-class government workers, plus a couple of retirees (who probably are really rich).
If there is no sound in space, how come you can hear the lasers?
:(){ :|:& };:

With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.
Steven Weinberg

"Flutie was better than Kelly, Elway, Esiason and Cunningham." - Ben Kenobi
"I have nothing against Wilson, but he's nowhere near the same calibre of QB as Flutie. Flutie threw for 5k+ yards in the CFL." -Ben Kenobi

Hey, it's not over $250k/year, so Obama says it's middle class![]()
If there is no sound in space, how come you can hear the lasers?
:(){ :|:& };:

Harrison Bergeron
Also that equality revolution was the French Revolution, not the American Revolution. Observe the difference in results..
If there is no sound in space, how come you can hear the lasers?
:(){ :|:& };:

Yeah I figured that out when I looked it up. We read it in high school. I remember the story, but not the name.
It was historian Will Durant who said that, though. I'm paraphrasing a bit.
"Nature smiles at the union of freedom and equality in our utopias.
For freedom and equality are sworn and everlasting enemies, and
when one prevails the other dies. Leave men free, and their natural
inequalities will multiply almost geometrically, as in England and
America in the nineteenth century under laissez-faire.
To check the growth of inequality, liberty must be sacrificed,
as in Russia after 1917. Even when repressed, inequality grows; only
the man who is below the average in economic ability desires equality;
those who are conscious of superior ability desire freedom,
and in the end superior ability has its way."
"Flutie was better than Kelly, Elway, Esiason and Cunningham." - Ben Kenobi
"I have nothing against Wilson, but he's nowhere near the same calibre of QB as Flutie. Flutie threw for 5k+ yards in the CFL." -Ben Kenobi
A consumption tax + transfers might be the best way to implement a tax, but it doesn't change the fact that the benefits of wealth are not being taxed by a consumption tax (such as networking).
JM
Jon Miller-
I AM.CANADIAN
GENERATION 35: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.


He didn't say that the solution was absolute inequality.
If there is no sound in space, how come you can hear the lasers?
:(){ :|:& };:

"Flutie was better than Kelly, Elway, Esiason and Cunningham." - Ben Kenobi
"I have nothing against Wilson, but he's nowhere near the same calibre of QB as Flutie. Flutie threw for 5k+ yards in the CFL." -Ben Kenobi
Yes, the wealth benefits of being middle class compared to poor are as important quality of life wise as the wealth benefits of being rich compared to middle class. (maybe more important, if there weren't so many poor people I wouldn't have a problem with rich people not wanting to be taxed)
The fact that Albies example was middle class versus poor instead of middle class versus wealthy doesn't mean that his example does not demonstrate how wealth is not taxed.
JM
Jon Miller-
I AM.CANADIAN
GENERATION 35: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.

So we agree that there are non-monetary, non-taxable privileges of having money, right? Jon's talking about social advantages with regards to networking but I showed the low crime exposure provided by having enough wealth to afford a house in a wealthy area, even though the property taxes paid in absolute dollars are not sufficient to explain the disparity in crime rates.
"Flutie was better than Kelly, Elway, Esiason and Cunningham." - Ben Kenobi
"I have nothing against Wilson, but he's nowhere near the same calibre of QB as Flutie. Flutie threw for 5k+ yards in the CFL." -Ben Kenobi

If I get Al rigth, then US democracy is totally irellevant - what really counts is money.
That may probably suck a bit for Al, but I guess that he will be a good henchman for someone with enough money![]()
With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.
Steven Weinberg

"Flutie was better than Kelly, Elway, Esiason and Cunningham." - Ben Kenobi
"I have nothing against Wilson, but he's nowhere near the same calibre of QB as Flutie. Flutie threw for 5k+ yards in the CFL." -Ben Kenobi


de·moc·ra·cy
[dih-mok-ruh-see]
noun, plural de·moc·ra·cies.
1. government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.
2. a state having such a form of government: The United States and Canada are democracies.
3. a state of society characterized by formal equality of rights and privileges.
4. political or social equality; democratic spirit.
5. the common people of a community as distinguished from any privileged class; the common people with respect to their political power.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/democracy
Jon Miller-
I AM.CANADIAN
GENERATION 35: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.
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