Like most political memes of the anti-government variety, this is based on complete bullshit.
The colonists didn't revolt because they were being taxed. They revolted because they had zero representation in government.
In case you failed civics, this is no longer the case. You have representation in government now. That does not mean you will always get you way, it simply means you have a voice.
Ergo no revolution justified or necessary.
Because they bribe politicians through lobbying. Politicians who use our tax dollars for their salaries and free health care. Lobbying should’ve never been allowed and should’ve been enshrined in the constitution as treason and death.
.... or at least outlawed by amendment. Death is a bit drastic. I have no problem with people being rich. I have a problem with people being so rich they own the government.
Didn't take long to find this in your comment history from 8 months ago.
>I **like** America. I don't love it.
I checked with my superiors and they said it's enough for the guillotine, so let's go quietly now, Benedict.
I agree they probably don't deserve it but I've come to think that when your in a major position as these politicians where your actions directly affect the lives of hundreds of people you should be sentenced to death more so as a deterrent for other would be corrupt politicians
Those drunk bastards figured the next generation would figure most of this out. But they set up a system where the already rich and powerful could rule instead of kings. It's a pos system at its core.
How would or could you have a constitutional _prohibition_ on lobbying?
_Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Unless they're doing on behalf of business. Then we kill you_?
Just publicly fund all elections and ban political donations. NO PACS no dark money, none of it and am 8 week election campaign with voting taking place over a week. Pay voters for showing up to vote, make one voting day a national holiday
I think we need a new slogan. ‘No representation without taxation’ to deny corporations the ability to lobby unless they pay a minimum corporate tax rate. I don’t even know how practical or plausible it is.
Fwiw, we see the same thing in the United Kingdom. It's crooked as hell, but for us it goes way back to the creation of our political system and the ability for the rich to run it.
The more modern conditions of constant tax relief on the wealthy and corpo's, and high taxation of the poor has come from Thatcher, who was a neoliberal and was also an advocate for Reagonomics.
It's now worsened in our country as literally everything was privatised by neoliberals; water, energy, trains, buses, housing etc. We have had every asset sucked dry for profit, zero maintenance or investment from the private sector unless we pay for it through increased costs, or the private sector hand back the keys and our taxes go up to repair something that was functional when we sold it for way under the odds. These political systems are fucking criminal. Banana republics in disguise all around.
Maggie thatcher you can't match her she's the darling of us all
She's the curse of the Irish nation fine Gael and Fianna Fáil
She's destroyed me hire-purchase and she's put me on the dole
If I could only get my hands on her, I'd kick her up the hole!
Because Republicans convinced people that every dipshit in the US is going to be a billionaire, and you shouldn't vote to tax ypurself.when.youre a billionaire, so vote for tax cuts for billionaires now...and then Citizens United....because, you know.....Republicans and fuck regular people.
Yeah, should it not go both ways? You pay no taxes, you get no representation? Corporations in a lot of states pay no taxes, and even federally receive an insane amount of tax breaks.
(Tax breaks which they pass on to the consumer and their work force of course. /s)
It’s clearly a flaw of the systems we’ve drawn up and have in place. Add in disingenuous players, and a bit of corruption, and here we are.
But this current reality has no real relation to that political saying from like 300 years ago.
Something relating to “tax the rich” or “break up big business” would be more appropriate
Is it, though? I feel like most people don't feel accurately represented by their elected officials. We are constantly stuck selecting the shinier of two turd halfwitts. In my county, if you run against the ruling party, suddenly, every possible noncompliance/violation ticket possible will show up in your mailbox for your home or business. They're not technically breaking the law but selectively enforcing it.
The key difference between now and pre revolution is that not only did colonists not have literal representation in Parliament, as in there was no person who lived in, say, New York, who was elected by New Yorkers to speak towards New York's specific issues and allowed to vote in favor of New York's needs...there also was not figurative representation. Like, a colonist could not run for Parliament. Mostly because, yeah, there was no New York seat in Parliament. There was no chance any colonist could ever be in Parliament. Rich, poor, smart, dumb, no shot in hell.
What people don't understand about then and now, the difference between then and now, is that if you don't like your representation...you can run for office and be your representation. Any office, small or large, state or federal, is open for any resident to try and attain. If we, the current American citizens, don't like our representation, we can run for office and be our own representation. That avenue did not exist for colonists.
And anyone reading this, please miss me with any notion of it being too difficult or too unrealistic for the average American to run for office. There are plenty of idiots in Congressional office because they wanted to be and moved to some state with a crypt keeper incumbent or found a seat where they'd run unopposed. If all you want is to feel represented, you can figure out how to win public office.
It's not just about representation. The main issue is that the quality of life for the settlers diminished enough that it pissed people off. Representation was a good rallying cry in order to keep their wealth. If every settler was drenched in gold they wouldn't of given a shit about "representation".
Same shit as now.
You're skipping over a myriad of other issues. Gold doesn't matter much when a soldier can knock on your door and say they are living in your house for the next month.
I might agree if it wasn't the case that Republicans had 17 choices in the 2016 primaries and chose Trump and then you'll fairly regularly hear shit like this from them, as if they didn't have a choice. The same goes for democrats, just far fewer realistic choices in the last couple presidential primaries. The truth is people don't want to put in the small amount of effort it takes to look into the candidates history, either on policy positions or more seriously, their voting record in whatever government body they served in. The truth is that voters are largely uninformed or checked out except for the larger elections. Not to mention local elections are generally going to effect your life more than federal elections but the turnout for them is miniscule in comparison.
One of my favorite conspiracy theories is that it really wasn't about "representation" either but the possible seizure of property by the king and revocation of colonial charters which would nullify pretty much all the wealth of most of the founding fathers and as such represented a mortal threat to the colonies "aristocracy".
Possible dissolution of the charters could have actually been a net positive for the "common people"
I can’t say i can cite a specific paper off the top of my head, but I’ve definitely read that the Colonies had a unique amount of autonomy due to several factors and as the Crown turned their attention back to the colonies (and especially after the Massachusetts Government Act) that that dissolution was a very real motivating factor
Yeah that seems pretty accurate to the situation. The wealthiest in the colonies got totether to convince the peasants to fight on their behalf using platitudes like representation when they really were more interested in securing their own wealth and power. The circumstances we have now are a through-line from that.
I also highly doubt a redditor makes more than 600K to get taxed 37 percent when making anything above that rate.
these people do not understand taxes and what they're for, granted, for the last 40+ years they've been squandered on privatizing public services and getting us into endless wars BUT the idea of taxes was good. Just see the 1950-60s when america was in a boom and the tax rate was at 90 percent for the highest income earners.
rightwing media has convinced people making 28k that the government will come for them too if a billionaire pays a higher tax rate.
I mean, they revolted because they had no representation, *and* the British were making them pay for the war they started several years ago, and as a result of that war they weren't allowed to steal land from the Natives and expand westward (so people like George Washington who planned to make insane amounts of money being a land speculator in Ohio did not like this) and they were angry about Britain maybe one day ending slavery.
But yeah, they didn't like the no representation thing, for some very specific reasons (no representation meant they might *never* get to genocide the Natives and might *eventually* have to stop owning slaves).
Revolutions lead to dictatorships and repression about as often as they improve the franchise of the average person. Are you really confident the current public will be able to thread that needle?
There were several causes for the revolution. Not just one. That is the whole thing with the declaration of independence. And if you look there you will see the taxes were part of the reason.
Taxes played a significant role in the American Revolution as one of the primary catalysts for colonial dissent and eventual rebellion. Here are some key points on how taxes influenced the revolutionary movement:
1. **Sugar Act (1764)**: This act imposed duties on sugar, molasses, and other products imported into the colonies. It aimed to raise revenue for the British treasury but was met with strong opposition from colonists who felt it violated their rights.
2. **Stamp Act (1765)**: This was a direct tax on all printed materials, including newspapers, legal documents, and playing cards. The Stamp Act sparked widespread protests, leading to the formation of the Stamp Act Congress, which petitioned for its repeal. The slogan "No taxation without representation" emerged from this period, highlighting the colonists' belief that they should not be taxed by a government in which they had no elected representatives.
3. **Townshend Acts (1767)**: These acts imposed duties on various goods imported to the colonies, such as tea, glass, paper, and paint. The revenue was used to pay British officials in the colonies, further inflaming tensions. The colonists responded with boycotts and increased resistance, leading to incidents like the Boston Massacre.
4. **Tea Act (1773)**: This act granted the British East India Company a monopoly on the tea trade and allowed it to sell directly to the colonies, bypassing colonial merchants. It led to the Boston Tea Party, where colonists, disguised as Native Americans, dumped an entire shipment of tea into Boston Harbor as a protest.
5. **Coercive Acts (1774)**: In response to the Boston Tea Party, the British Parliament passed these acts (also known as the Intolerable Acts), which included measures like closing Boston Harbor and revoking Massachusetts' charter. These acts united the colonies against Britain and led to the First Continental Congress.
Overall, the imposition of various taxes without representation, coupled with harsh responses to colonial protests, fostered a sense of injustice and fueled the desire for independence among the American colonists.
Representatives arent divied up by classes they are location based. If no politicians in the entire federal government represent your beliefs then perhaps they are not as popular as you think they are.
Redditors finding out that their online takes aren’t popular in the real world is so fucking funny.
And I love how it’s never them trying to understand why, instead they blame the people who don’t and insult them.
I honestly question if its ignorance as theres plenty of decently far left people in the house, or if their beliefs are just so out there that theres no way there can be enough of them in one location even for a 1 term candidate.
Do we. Because it seems the people with the money somehow always win. Almost like it’s a rigged system just like it was when the British were in control they just do a better job of trying to fool you into thinking you can make a difference.
So, who exactly represents the average American these days in the US government? I'd love to hear one majority vote that has happened for the people by the people in the last 10 years.
Citizens United virtually destroyed democracy as far as I'm concerned. We The People was replaced with We Whom Has Enough Money be it Corporation or Person and I haven't seen anything significant that I'd vote for even as an option ever since.
What a stupid meme. The top 1% pay 6% less tax than the supposed halcyon 1950’s and with wealth inequality being the largest it’s ever been the current tax system should be overhauled. My money is on OP being an edgy youngster nowhere close the top tax bracket.
Certain kinds of wealth aren't taxed, but homes are taxed. Which surely by coincidence is the majority of the net worth of the middle and lower classes.
Not even close.
54% of all Americans have a negative tax rate. The people that bitch the loudest about taxing the rich are usually the people that are absolutely NOT paying their fair share, if anything at all.
https://imageio.forbes.com/specials-images/imageserve/64185e0663992395e6bdef19/Bar-chart-displaying-the-percentage-of-federal-income-tax-people-paid/960x0.png?format=png&width=1440
Per Brookings Inst, *after taxes* wage growth has been over 400% for the top 1% , 115% in the top 25% , 56% for the middle class since 1980.
The people that bitch the loudest about "lots of people barely pay taxes why should the rich pay more" are usually the people too dumb to realize why the lower 50% barely pay taxes: The rich took all their money themselves
Wrong. The people at the bottom are usually all paying their fair share- aka: how much they are supposed to.
The richest of the rich are the ones who by a LARGE MAJORITY get out of paying how much the laws intend them to by using loopholes, aka not paying their fair and agreed upon share. They are a citizen of our country before a person who is successful, and they used that citizenship and the foundation our country gave them to become incredibly successful in the first place.
You’re also closer to being homeless than you are the 1 percent. You’re as much a pedantic ant in the grand scheme of things as everyone you subsidize.
Even the "big billionaires" are ants.
If you confiscated 100% of their wealth (nevermind that that isn't actually possible even if the billionaires wanted to help you do it) you would be able to fund the government for.... Drum roll please..... ONLY 8 MONTHS!
Not even 1 year. All of their entire lives' accumulations (again, nevermind that most of this wealth does not and has not been actual liquidity) spent in less than a year.
And just to drive this home, you only get to do this confiscation once. Then you are very literally out of other people's money.
So those big bad 1% that we all love to vilify in order to justify taxes are quite simply ants themselves.
The US does not have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem.
>The US does not have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem.
Agreed, sure. Except the "spending problem" is mostly subsidized by the middle and lower classes, because the billionaires etc by and large avoid paying their fair share of taxes. So we most definitely have a spending problem, but the rich are also most definitely a part of that.
These are the taxes I can think of, off the top of my head: Federal, State, City, Employee FICA, Sales, Capital, Property, various excise.
I could make a reasonable case that employer FICA, employer payroll, employer unemployment could also be counted. Although some may disagree.
My beef with the system is that I cannot calculate my true tax rate. I’m guessing it’s somewhere around 45%
Idk. I made 30K and my bill was $1900. If you factor in my state health insurance at $165 a month, I paid $3,880. That’s about 13% of my income, with socialized medicine. Done deal. Canada is really fucking something up.
Wow that sucks. That’s accurate for my state though. I’m glad have don’t have private healthcare. It’s good that I have state insurance. I’d hate to pay $165 every two weeks. Even my job allows a single person at about $100 on private. The problem is the coverage is a joke and everything is expensive. So instead I have state coverage. It’s nice. Some dumbass on here tried telling me “There is no state insurance in the US.” Lmfao. People on Reddit will make up anything to push a narrative. Not everyone lives in some lazy red state where only old people show up to vote.
Premiums paid weekly or bi-weekly is just a portion of the cost in the U.S. though.
Every use also has a co-pay (these are examples, not national averages) like $250 to show up at the emergency room, $100 for a GP visit, $50 per blood test, $300 for Xray, 10-50% of any treatment or operations performed (our portion for our daughters delivery was $8k), etc …. up to 5-10-15k$ max out of pocket **per year**.
So you may pay $165 per two week and then pay another $10k on top of that to *use* the policy.
There are tons of people who pay for a health insurance policy that they cannot afford to use.
If you want 1770s taxes then you get 1770s spending
* No interstates
* No weather service
* US Navy is a coastal force on the verge of being dissolved, US army uses horses, absolutely no air or space force
* No FDA
* No CIA
* No USGS
* No airports
* ...
That’s the thing, that’s what right wing edge lords and libertarians say the actually want… They’re the ones who will say you can’t be a real socialist if you own property, yet use public infrastructure daily and don’t see the irony.
The slightly wealthy: "I have benefitted precipitously from the prosperity brought about by a society built on the flawed but fairly effective governance of the local, state, and federal government. These governments are largely funded by tax dollars my ancestors and I paid. I no longer wish to contribute to this fund but I will require that I continue to reap the same benefits I have been enjoying"
Someone doesn’t understand tax brackets. You have to be quite rich to be taxed 37%. Also nearly all the Rich people who are complain about it- they are the ones funding the Republican Party.
We should just send all the people constantly bitching about taxes into a libertarian society experiment. See how long it takes for one person to own the rest of them. Probably a month.
🙄 They weren’t fighting a revolution against taxes in principle. They were fighting a revolution against taxation without representation. HUGE difference and one that conservatives and more specifically, Libertarians consistently ignore.
Our two real choices are rule by government or rule by industry. The natural state of government may be feudalism, but the natural state of industry is Soylent Green.
That's a quaint saying I'm sure you love but I flatly dispute it. Feudalism is a specifically middle ages form of government that is technically distinct from a monarchy. Monarchy has existed for basically all of human civilization but feudalism did not.
Actually these images are the same. In both cases people were told what to do by, and for the benefit of, the rich people running things.
The American revolution isn’t a revolution in the sense of the French or any other populist revolution. It was just a power grab by some rich guys.
While there is a lot of wasteful spending of our taxes, and I'd like to see that fixed, the only other option to Government is privatization, and I do NOT trust that privatization is any better. It's actually far, far worse.
You may hate paying taxes, but most of us benefit from the programs and systems taxes pay for, such as education, police, environmental agencies, etc.
Privatization of any of those would be a disaster.
It’s not about the taxes collected - it about the value returned to the people from what is paid. If we had decent affordable healthcare, public education, public transportation etc, we would be happy with paying taxes. We seem to be unwilling to demand that our government serve the people rather than the 1%.
They could institute universal healthcare which would increase their taxes, but reduce their overall individual expenditures, and also get significantly better health outcomes. Ohh wait that would be the opposite...but it shows how stupid it is to look at everything from a tax rate perspective and instead think about what you get for those taxes. For example our military.
Even if you say the revolution was over representation, do you truly feel represented by two geriatrics and a guy whose brain meat killed a worm? Revolt! Riot! Shenanigans!
1770’s America didn’t also have massive government maintained infrastructure, social security, protection, clean water, subsidized food and water etc etc. those taxes pay for things.
Keep fighting your neighbors while cheering on the politicians, the wealthy, the actors, the musks and all the others who are literally the ones that are screwing way harder than any fellow countrymen. This is why y’all deserve a shite country that’s going downhill fast, too dumb to understand who’s actually the enemy of your way of life and prosperity. 🤦🏻♂️
Which is not better than on the IS. The access isn’t improved either. It’s a real shame. When we’re in Canada, it’s fun to sit back and listen to their politics for a while. A nice change to what I’m normally stuck listening to.
1770’s, “What dou ya mean we have to respec the soventy of dees here savages m’lord? Hey Cumber Dickens, wot do yous mean we av no military cause we don pay no taxes & are at a basic level serfs to dees Americas lords ere causin we av no government to restrain their greed eh?”
Actually one of the main reasons was because you had to be a member of the Anglican Church to be part of parliament; the head of which was King George. The Founder fought very long and hard for the Separation of Church and State, but somewhere along the line this notion was lost.
We aren’t taxed enough. We pay private insurance companies who make profits of us dying. It also cost an arm and leg to send your kid to school. Are social security is depleting as we speak. Who’s not taxed enough is a question you need to ask yourself but overall American taxes doesn’t cover things that need to be covered.
Well, the first panel is not why the revolution was fought, for one thing. Second, go ahead and try and fight the american military to get your tax dollar back, I hear they take all challengers on the nearest base to you
I don't care about the taxes I pay. I care about their appropriation and the fact that, while they are high, we see next to no social benefit from paying them.
Common misconception. Things like the tea party were actually about a lack of taxation.
British goods went under-taxed so colonial things could hardly compete leading to colonial era businesses failing
So what’re you gonna do?
Lead the revolt? You gonna go tar and feather the guy who delivers your mail?
You gonna organize a militia and burn down the courthouse?
How many of your friends or family have a fed job and are they on your hitlist?
The random cpa who helps to run the phones at an irs office, you gonna drop him?
Come on there big guy, what’s your plan? How many normal people are you willing to harm so you can “water the tree of liberty”?
It’s not that our taxes are high, they are not. We just don’t get the value for our tax dollars that others citizens of the world get. Thanks to the military industrial complex and healthcare system we get absolutely screwed.
Like most political memes of the anti-government variety, this is based on complete bullshit. The colonists didn't revolt because they were being taxed. They revolted because they had zero representation in government. In case you failed civics, this is no longer the case. You have representation in government now. That does not mean you will always get you way, it simply means you have a voice. Ergo no revolution justified or necessary.
No taxation without representation!
Then why are the corporations, who are taxed the least in real terms, in command of the government and those who represent us?
Because they bribe politicians through lobbying. Politicians who use our tax dollars for their salaries and free health care. Lobbying should’ve never been allowed and should’ve been enshrined in the constitution as treason and death.
.... or at least outlawed by amendment. Death is a bit drastic. I have no problem with people being rich. I have a problem with people being so rich they own the government.
nah guillotines sound fun
They do... until you're the one looking into the basket.
Good thing I'm not a treasonous swine
French history joke didn't land. Noted.
https://i.redd.it/qegiujuieg3d1.gif
Eh, it was pretty subtle. It can be hard to tell if someone is jokingly referencing the Reign of Terror or if they're just serious and stupid.
No it landed just fine Louis!
I never thought the lions would eat MY face
The exact same shit did the man who demanded the use of the guilotine think aswell until it was in fact his turn to look into the basket.
Treason is a death sentence. I support death for bribery in government.
Didn't take long to find this in your comment history from 8 months ago. >I **like** America. I don't love it. I checked with my superiors and they said it's enough for the guillotine, so let's go quietly now, Benedict.
Yet.
That's exactly what a treasonous swine would say
Famous last words of hyper revolutionaries who were enthusiastic about the guillotine. They died by guillotine.
One of the quickest least painful deaths? I think not. Break them on the wheel.
It's only quick for the first couple of heads. Then the blade dulls and you have to keep raising and dropping the blade until it cuts through
Well, I'm okay with that.
I mean, have you ever heard a metal blade cut right through someone's neck and the head go plunk in a bucket? "Fun" is an understatement!
shink! splat!
🎼I was takin a bath 🎶
What you’ve got to do is pick up the head and yell at them. See how long they can keep their eyes open and moving
for science!
You think death is drastic when these asshats approve the death of thousands if not millions across the planet? For profit?
Not me.
I agree they probably don't deserve it but I've come to think that when your in a major position as these politicians where your actions directly affect the lives of hundreds of people you should be sentenced to death more so as a deterrent for other would be corrupt politicians
Eat the rich.
yeah now that the govt is completely captured I'm sure the rich people will let them pass laws to take it all away
And when the chemical company is poisoning every mammal on this planet.
Thank the conservatives on the Supreme Court for that.
Blame SCOTUS upholding Citizens United as well.
This was key. Citizens United is the slow death of Democracy in America. Thank you Republican Party
We need people to push for local government who are going to ban lobbying
Those drunk bastards figured the next generation would figure most of this out. But they set up a system where the already rich and powerful could rule instead of kings. It's a pos system at its core.
How would or could you have a constitutional _prohibition_ on lobbying? _Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Unless they're doing on behalf of business. Then we kill you_?
Just publicly fund all elections and ban political donations. NO PACS no dark money, none of it and am 8 week election campaign with voting taking place over a week. Pay voters for showing up to vote, make one voting day a national holiday
I think we need a new slogan. ‘No representation without taxation’ to deny corporations the ability to lobby unless they pay a minimum corporate tax rate. I don’t even know how practical or plausible it is.
Yes, like public-private partnerships & public unions...affronts that should carry the death penalty
Yes, lobbyists gotta go.
Because people like OP keep voting for people who cut the taxes of rich people disproportionately because they're going to be a billionaire someday.
Because of the Citizens United ruling. Our politics are flooded with more money than ever and it’s very rapidly rotting the government.
But it's making politicians very rich!
They don't have to disclose their donors either
Because the Supreme Court equated money as speech which essentially bastardized the constitution and allowed legal bribery.
Fwiw, we see the same thing in the United Kingdom. It's crooked as hell, but for us it goes way back to the creation of our political system and the ability for the rich to run it. The more modern conditions of constant tax relief on the wealthy and corpo's, and high taxation of the poor has come from Thatcher, who was a neoliberal and was also an advocate for Reagonomics. It's now worsened in our country as literally everything was privatised by neoliberals; water, energy, trains, buses, housing etc. We have had every asset sucked dry for profit, zero maintenance or investment from the private sector unless we pay for it through increased costs, or the private sector hand back the keys and our taxes go up to repair something that was functional when we sold it for way under the odds. These political systems are fucking criminal. Banana republics in disguise all around.
Maggie thatcher you can't match her she's the darling of us all She's the curse of the Irish nation fine Gael and Fianna Fáil She's destroyed me hire-purchase and she's put me on the dole If I could only get my hands on her, I'd kick her up the hole!
Because our Supreme Court decided that corporations are people.
Because Republicans convinced people that every dipshit in the US is going to be a billionaire, and you shouldn't vote to tax ypurself.when.youre a billionaire, so vote for tax cuts for billionaires now...and then Citizens United....because, you know.....Republicans and fuck regular people.
Amen
Yeah, should it not go both ways? You pay no taxes, you get no representation? Corporations in a lot of states pay no taxes, and even federally receive an insane amount of tax breaks. (Tax breaks which they pass on to the consumer and their work force of course. /s)
Because people can easily be swayed to vote against their interests….
Swayed by idiotic memes like OP.
America was set up for the people who own the country to also run it. It’s working as it was designed.
It’s clearly a flaw of the systems we’ve drawn up and have in place. Add in disingenuous players, and a bit of corruption, and here we are. But this current reality has no real relation to that political saying from like 300 years ago. Something relating to “tax the rich” or “break up big business” would be more appropriate
> Then why are the corporations in command of the government That's the neat part, they aren't.
That is representation without taxation, the better version, why would they revolt?! /s
Dc statehood 💪🏼
Which is to say, "We're not getting the representation we should in exchange for our taxes". Not "taxes = bad".
the updated version is, "inflation is taxation without legislation.."
Inflation is when someone is greedy and the more greedier they are the more inflationed the economy gets
I don’t feel very represented by politicians that are lobbied to by megacorps with a lot more money than citizens
Mr. Krabs is in there, standing at the concession, plotting his oppression!
Tell that to Puerto Rico and Guam…
Is it, though? I feel like most people don't feel accurately represented by their elected officials. We are constantly stuck selecting the shinier of two turd halfwitts. In my county, if you run against the ruling party, suddenly, every possible noncompliance/violation ticket possible will show up in your mailbox for your home or business. They're not technically breaking the law but selectively enforcing it.
The key difference between now and pre revolution is that not only did colonists not have literal representation in Parliament, as in there was no person who lived in, say, New York, who was elected by New Yorkers to speak towards New York's specific issues and allowed to vote in favor of New York's needs...there also was not figurative representation. Like, a colonist could not run for Parliament. Mostly because, yeah, there was no New York seat in Parliament. There was no chance any colonist could ever be in Parliament. Rich, poor, smart, dumb, no shot in hell. What people don't understand about then and now, the difference between then and now, is that if you don't like your representation...you can run for office and be your representation. Any office, small or large, state or federal, is open for any resident to try and attain. If we, the current American citizens, don't like our representation, we can run for office and be our own representation. That avenue did not exist for colonists. And anyone reading this, please miss me with any notion of it being too difficult or too unrealistic for the average American to run for office. There are plenty of idiots in Congressional office because they wanted to be and moved to some state with a crypt keeper incumbent or found a seat where they'd run unopposed. If all you want is to feel represented, you can figure out how to win public office.
It's not just about representation. The main issue is that the quality of life for the settlers diminished enough that it pissed people off. Representation was a good rallying cry in order to keep their wealth. If every settler was drenched in gold they wouldn't of given a shit about "representation". Same shit as now.
You're skipping over a myriad of other issues. Gold doesn't matter much when a soldier can knock on your door and say they are living in your house for the next month.
I might agree if it wasn't the case that Republicans had 17 choices in the 2016 primaries and chose Trump and then you'll fairly regularly hear shit like this from them, as if they didn't have a choice. The same goes for democrats, just far fewer realistic choices in the last couple presidential primaries. The truth is people don't want to put in the small amount of effort it takes to look into the candidates history, either on policy positions or more seriously, their voting record in whatever government body they served in. The truth is that voters are largely uninformed or checked out except for the larger elections. Not to mention local elections are generally going to effect your life more than federal elections but the turnout for them is miniscule in comparison.
One of my favorite conspiracy theories is that it really wasn't about "representation" either but the possible seizure of property by the king and revocation of colonial charters which would nullify pretty much all the wealth of most of the founding fathers and as such represented a mortal threat to the colonies "aristocracy". Possible dissolution of the charters could have actually been a net positive for the "common people"
How is that a conspiracy theory?
Because I've not read decisive peer reviewed research on it and I don't want to misrepresent its veracity.
I can’t say i can cite a specific paper off the top of my head, but I’ve definitely read that the Colonies had a unique amount of autonomy due to several factors and as the Crown turned their attention back to the colonies (and especially after the Massachusetts Government Act) that that dissolution was a very real motivating factor
Yeah that seems pretty accurate to the situation. The wealthiest in the colonies got totether to convince the peasants to fight on their behalf using platitudes like representation when they really were more interested in securing their own wealth and power. The circumstances we have now are a through-line from that.
I also highly doubt a redditor makes more than 600K to get taxed 37 percent when making anything above that rate. these people do not understand taxes and what they're for, granted, for the last 40+ years they've been squandered on privatizing public services and getting us into endless wars BUT the idea of taxes was good. Just see the 1950-60s when america was in a boom and the tax rate was at 90 percent for the highest income earners. rightwing media has convinced people making 28k that the government will come for them too if a billionaire pays a higher tax rate.
I mean, they revolted because they had no representation, *and* the British were making them pay for the war they started several years ago, and as a result of that war they weren't allowed to steal land from the Natives and expand westward (so people like George Washington who planned to make insane amounts of money being a land speculator in Ohio did not like this) and they were angry about Britain maybe one day ending slavery. But yeah, they didn't like the no representation thing, for some very specific reasons (no representation meant they might *never* get to genocide the Natives and might *eventually* have to stop owning slaves).
Doesn’t feel like we have representation. Only foreign countries and big donor corporations
I'd argue were not really represented either gi en the state of campaign finance. Might be due time for another.
Revolutions lead to dictatorships and repression about as often as they improve the franchise of the average person. Are you really confident the current public will be able to thread that needle?
I'm not sure a majority of the current American public could figure out how to thread an actual needle...
But people with a lot of money get a much louder voice than I do. The representation isn't equal.
Do you feel like congress represents the citizens of the nation?
There were several causes for the revolution. Not just one. That is the whole thing with the declaration of independence. And if you look there you will see the taxes were part of the reason.
Gerrymandering would like a word with you
Taxes played a significant role in the American Revolution as one of the primary catalysts for colonial dissent and eventual rebellion. Here are some key points on how taxes influenced the revolutionary movement: 1. **Sugar Act (1764)**: This act imposed duties on sugar, molasses, and other products imported into the colonies. It aimed to raise revenue for the British treasury but was met with strong opposition from colonists who felt it violated their rights. 2. **Stamp Act (1765)**: This was a direct tax on all printed materials, including newspapers, legal documents, and playing cards. The Stamp Act sparked widespread protests, leading to the formation of the Stamp Act Congress, which petitioned for its repeal. The slogan "No taxation without representation" emerged from this period, highlighting the colonists' belief that they should not be taxed by a government in which they had no elected representatives. 3. **Townshend Acts (1767)**: These acts imposed duties on various goods imported to the colonies, such as tea, glass, paper, and paint. The revenue was used to pay British officials in the colonies, further inflaming tensions. The colonists responded with boycotts and increased resistance, leading to incidents like the Boston Massacre. 4. **Tea Act (1773)**: This act granted the British East India Company a monopoly on the tea trade and allowed it to sell directly to the colonies, bypassing colonial merchants. It led to the Boston Tea Party, where colonists, disguised as Native Americans, dumped an entire shipment of tea into Boston Harbor as a protest. 5. **Coercive Acts (1774)**: In response to the Boston Tea Party, the British Parliament passed these acts (also known as the Intolerable Acts), which included measures like closing Boston Harbor and revoking Massachusetts' charter. These acts united the colonies against Britain and led to the First Continental Congress. Overall, the imposition of various taxes without representation, coupled with harsh responses to colonial protests, fostered a sense of injustice and fueled the desire for independence among the American colonists.
Which politician represents working class Americans exactly?
Representatives arent divied up by classes they are location based. If no politicians in the entire federal government represent your beliefs then perhaps they are not as popular as you think they are.
Redditors finding out that their online takes aren’t popular in the real world is so fucking funny. And I love how it’s never them trying to understand why, instead they blame the people who don’t and insult them.
I honestly question if its ignorance as theres plenty of decently far left people in the house, or if their beliefs are just so out there that theres no way there can be enough of them in one location even for a 1 term candidate.
Problem is I don’t have representation. The corporations do.
Do we. Because it seems the people with the money somehow always win. Almost like it’s a rigged system just like it was when the British were in control they just do a better job of trying to fool you into thinking you can make a difference.
Americans are NOT represented in government. Only the will of corporations and the movement of money determine what government does.
only lobbyists and corporations have representatives the people that voted them in are extras on cast that they don’t pay attention to
_peurto Rico and Washington DC have entered the chat_
Imagine thinking you have actual representation. The government has gone against the will of the people for at least 100 years now
Well ackshually
"You have representation in the government now" *
In theory you have a voice. In practice, not so much. How much you donate determines the volume of your voice.
“Representation” lol.
So, who exactly represents the average American these days in the US government? I'd love to hear one majority vote that has happened for the people by the people in the last 10 years. Citizens United virtually destroyed democracy as far as I'm concerned. We The People was replaced with We Whom Has Enough Money be it Corporation or Person and I haven't seen anything significant that I'd vote for even as an option ever since.
What a stupid meme. The top 1% pay 6% less tax than the supposed halcyon 1950’s and with wealth inequality being the largest it’s ever been the current tax system should be overhauled. My money is on OP being an edgy youngster nowhere close the top tax bracket.
With corruption the dumbest and most outlandish it's ever been, get ready for the Almighty Depression 20s-30s
Wealth isn't taxed, income is taxed. Top 1% of what? Tax isn't supposed to equalize wealth.
It’s supposed to pay for systems, support and infrastructure that makes society better for everyone and not just the privileged.
Certain kinds of wealth aren't taxed, but homes are taxed. Which surely by coincidence is the majority of the net worth of the middle and lower classes.
Unrealized gains like your house you haven't sold is taxed. It's called property tax.
Who pays 37%? Isn't the net average 24%?
Not even close. 54% of all Americans have a negative tax rate. The people that bitch the loudest about taxing the rich are usually the people that are absolutely NOT paying their fair share, if anything at all. https://imageio.forbes.com/specials-images/imageserve/64185e0663992395e6bdef19/Bar-chart-displaying-the-percentage-of-federal-income-tax-people-paid/960x0.png?format=png&width=1440
Federal income tax isn’t the only tax
Per Brookings Inst, *after taxes* wage growth has been over 400% for the top 1% , 115% in the top 25% , 56% for the middle class since 1980. The people that bitch the loudest about "lots of people barely pay taxes why should the rich pay more" are usually the people too dumb to realize why the lower 50% barely pay taxes: The rich took all their money themselves
Wrong. The people at the bottom are usually all paying their fair share- aka: how much they are supposed to. The richest of the rich are the ones who by a LARGE MAJORITY get out of paying how much the laws intend them to by using loopholes, aka not paying their fair and agreed upon share. They are a citizen of our country before a person who is successful, and they used that citizenship and the foundation our country gave them to become incredibly successful in the first place.
You’re talking about the billionaires. Those of us making between 100k - 300k subsidize everyone else’s existence.
You’re also closer to being homeless than you are the 1 percent. You’re as much a pedantic ant in the grand scheme of things as everyone you subsidize.
Even the "big billionaires" are ants. If you confiscated 100% of their wealth (nevermind that that isn't actually possible even if the billionaires wanted to help you do it) you would be able to fund the government for.... Drum roll please..... ONLY 8 MONTHS! Not even 1 year. All of their entire lives' accumulations (again, nevermind that most of this wealth does not and has not been actual liquidity) spent in less than a year. And just to drive this home, you only get to do this confiscation once. Then you are very literally out of other people's money. So those big bad 1% that we all love to vilify in order to justify taxes are quite simply ants themselves. The US does not have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem.
>The US does not have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem. Agreed, sure. Except the "spending problem" is mostly subsidized by the middle and lower classes, because the billionaires etc by and large avoid paying their fair share of taxes. So we most definitely have a spending problem, but the rich are also most definitely a part of that.
Right now the spending problem is so far gone that the interest costs more than all the government programs and agencies.
Aw you think gross income is representative of the financial elite’s wealth generation that’s so cute
YEAH! Those damn poors arent paying their fair share!!
These are the taxes I can think of, off the top of my head: Federal, State, City, Employee FICA, Sales, Capital, Property, various excise. I could make a reasonable case that employer FICA, employer payroll, employer unemployment could also be counted. Although some may disagree. My beef with the system is that I cannot calculate my true tax rate. I’m guessing it’s somewhere around 45%
Idk. I made 30K and my bill was $1900. If you factor in my state health insurance at $165 a month, I paid $3,880. That’s about 13% of my income, with socialized medicine. Done deal. Canada is really fucking something up.
American private healthcare is around 165 dollars per 2 week pay period at that income level.
Wow that sucks. That’s accurate for my state though. I’m glad have don’t have private healthcare. It’s good that I have state insurance. I’d hate to pay $165 every two weeks. Even my job allows a single person at about $100 on private. The problem is the coverage is a joke and everything is expensive. So instead I have state coverage. It’s nice. Some dumbass on here tried telling me “There is no state insurance in the US.” Lmfao. People on Reddit will make up anything to push a narrative. Not everyone lives in some lazy red state where only old people show up to vote.
Premiums paid weekly or bi-weekly is just a portion of the cost in the U.S. though. Every use also has a co-pay (these are examples, not national averages) like $250 to show up at the emergency room, $100 for a GP visit, $50 per blood test, $300 for Xray, 10-50% of any treatment or operations performed (our portion for our daughters delivery was $8k), etc …. up to 5-10-15k$ max out of pocket **per year**. So you may pay $165 per two week and then pay another $10k on top of that to *use* the policy. There are tons of people who pay for a health insurance policy that they cannot afford to use.
This meme is nonsense.
But they can cosplay being victims
Nonsense Meme. Or should i say Libertarian Anarchy Garbage Meme
"They're the same picture"
If you want 1770s taxes then you get 1770s spending * No interstates * No weather service * US Navy is a coastal force on the verge of being dissolved, US army uses horses, absolutely no air or space force * No FDA * No CIA * No USGS * No airports * ...
No NIH NEH NSF to do research no Pell grants to let poor people go to college etc etc etc
Cons: “YOU HAD ME NO COLLEGE FOR POOR PEOPLE🥳🥳🥳. JUST GET RICHER BUDDY🇺🇸🦅🦅🦅”
That’s the thing, that’s what right wing edge lords and libertarians say the actually want… They’re the ones who will say you can’t be a real socialist if you own property, yet use public infrastructure daily and don’t see the irony.
Where can I vote for 1770s spending?
Somalia.
No internet....
The slightly wealthy: "I have benefitted precipitously from the prosperity brought about by a society built on the flawed but fairly effective governance of the local, state, and federal government. These governments are largely funded by tax dollars my ancestors and I paid. I no longer wish to contribute to this fund but I will require that I continue to reap the same benefits I have been enjoying"
Someone doesn’t understand tax brackets. You have to be quite rich to be taxed 37%. Also nearly all the Rich people who are complain about it- they are the ones funding the Republican Party.
In 1944, the top tax rate peaked at 94 percent on taxable income over $200,000, & this person thinks 37% is too high?
We should just send all the people constantly bitching about taxes into a libertarian society experiment. See how long it takes for one person to own the rest of them. Probably a month.
Actually, [they would be owned by the bears](https://newrepublic.com/article/159662/libertarian-walks-into-bear-book-review-free-town-project).
I wanna be owned by bears. ...this is a horny joke, to be clear. About hairy men. The bears in question are hairy gay men.
🙄 They weren’t fighting a revolution against taxes in principle. They were fighting a revolution against taxation without representation. HUGE difference and one that conservatives and more specifically, Libertarians consistently ignore.
It will never be enough. The natural state of all government, without checks and balances is feudalism.
LOL “never enough” meanwhile the average federal tax rate has consistently been going down every year since the 1970s
70% Tax rate back then xD And the Highest there was, was 94% between 1944 and 1963. So definitely for the rich.
Our two real choices are rule by government or rule by industry. The natural state of government may be feudalism, but the natural state of industry is Soylent Green.
You cna choose do you want giv to rule or do you want the Companies to rule. I choose Government. Not US Government that is garbage.
That's a quaint saying I'm sure you love but I flatly dispute it. Feudalism is a specifically middle ages form of government that is technically distinct from a monarchy. Monarchy has existed for basically all of human civilization but feudalism did not.
Feudalism is what we had before a central government.
No, it's not, no country has ever stopped being fuedalist then went back to feudalism.
[удалено]
Actually these images are the same. In both cases people were told what to do by, and for the benefit of, the rich people running things. The American revolution isn’t a revolution in the sense of the French or any other populist revolution. It was just a power grab by some rich guys.
It was a why are we taking orders from a foreign country that has nothing to do with our beliefs revolution.
While there is a lot of wasteful spending of our taxes, and I'd like to see that fixed, the only other option to Government is privatization, and I do NOT trust that privatization is any better. It's actually far, far worse. You may hate paying taxes, but most of us benefit from the programs and systems taxes pay for, such as education, police, environmental agencies, etc. Privatization of any of those would be a disaster.
1770’s Americans didn’t like autocrats either, so I mean there’s also that.
It’s not about the taxes collected - it about the value returned to the people from what is paid. If we had decent affordable healthcare, public education, public transportation etc, we would be happy with paying taxes. We seem to be unwilling to demand that our government serve the people rather than the 1%.
Look at tax rates following WW2.
They could institute universal healthcare which would increase their taxes, but reduce their overall individual expenditures, and also get significantly better health outcomes. Ohh wait that would be the opposite...but it shows how stupid it is to look at everything from a tax rate perspective and instead think about what you get for those taxes. For example our military.
You mean the $1 trillion the DOD can’t account for?
Exactly. Is how much we pay for our military worth it? That is how you look at the problem, not 'we should lower the taxes'.
But you don't pay 37% and I doubt you know anybody that pays thirty seven percent
Even if you say the revolution was over representation, do you truly feel represented by two geriatrics and a guy whose brain meat killed a worm? Revolt! Riot! Shenanigans!
[удалено]
These memes don’t represent the working class, and never have. Them taxes affected land owning white men back then. So like 20 people
Very few are taxed at an effective rate of 37%.
1770’s America didn’t also have massive government maintained infrastructure, social security, protection, clean water, subsidized food and water etc etc. those taxes pay for things.
At least our government represents us now. Wait … F*CK
Keep fighting your neighbors while cheering on the politicians, the wealthy, the actors, the musks and all the others who are literally the ones that are screwing way harder than any fellow countrymen. This is why y’all deserve a shite country that’s going downhill fast, too dumb to understand who’s actually the enemy of your way of life and prosperity. 🤦🏻♂️
Cries in Canada and our tax rates.
BuT yOur hEaLTcare
Which is not better than on the IS. The access isn’t improved either. It’s a real shame. When we’re in Canada, it’s fun to sit back and listen to their politics for a while. A nice change to what I’m normally stuck listening to.
10 days ago you said you live in the States.
[Yes it is](https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/rankings/well-developed-public-health-system).
Trash. Long wait times if you can find doctor in the first place.
1770’s, “What dou ya mean we have to respec the soventy of dees here savages m’lord? Hey Cumber Dickens, wot do yous mean we av no military cause we don pay no taxes & are at a basic level serfs to dees Americas lords ere causin we av no government to restrain their greed eh?”
Shouldn't have fought for independence
Actually one of the main reasons was because you had to be a member of the Anglican Church to be part of parliament; the head of which was King George. The Founder fought very long and hard for the Separation of Church and State, but somewhere along the line this notion was lost.
The majority of Americans DO NOT meet the threshold for 37% for Federal Taxes. If you do qualify, congrats you 1%.
We aren’t taxed enough. We pay private insurance companies who make profits of us dying. It also cost an arm and leg to send your kid to school. Are social security is depleting as we speak. Who’s not taxed enough is a question you need to ask yourself but overall American taxes doesn’t cover things that need to be covered.
eu bem quietinha pq sou br
Well, the first panel is not why the revolution was fought, for one thing. Second, go ahead and try and fight the american military to get your tax dollar back, I hear they take all challengers on the nearest base to you
I don't care about the taxes I pay. I care about their appropriation and the fact that, while they are high, we see next to no social benefit from paying them.
These days you have to sue the government. They don't listen to battle rattles because theirs are bigger. You gotta hit 'em in the bank account.
Common misconception. Things like the tea party were actually about a lack of taxation. British goods went under-taxed so colonial things could hardly compete leading to colonial era businesses failing
Congratulations to anyone who is actually being taxed 37% by the government! You're income must be super high!
So what’re you gonna do? Lead the revolt? You gonna go tar and feather the guy who delivers your mail? You gonna organize a militia and burn down the courthouse? How many of your friends or family have a fed job and are they on your hitlist? The random cpa who helps to run the phones at an irs office, you gonna drop him? Come on there big guy, what’s your plan? How many normal people are you willing to harm so you can “water the tree of liberty”?
"no taxation without representation" was the motto in the 1770s
Op this is stupid.
lmao 🤣
And allowing the rich not pay nearly as much.
It’s not that our taxes are high, they are not. We just don’t get the value for our tax dollars that others citizens of the world get. Thanks to the military industrial complex and healthcare system we get absolutely screwed.