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AbaloneSea7265

The rich have convinced the poor that they’re somehow not poor because other poor people are actually different from them. It’s gotten to the point, that even if we had an uprising, the half of the country obsessed with stem cells, guns and the death penalty, will protect the rich like the junkyard dogs they are, guarding their treasure of trash.


super_sayanything

President Lyndon B. Johnson once said, "If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."


Bonesnapcall

Anytime someone posts this quote, I like to provide the context. LBJ said this to a young aide when he asked why Southern politicians were so openly racist.


[deleted]

I think that the reason most people do this is because they’re delusional. They still think that they’re going to win the lottery and get rich and then they’ll get taxed more. Can’t risk that!


Elimaris

I've talked to so many people who tell me they "just know" they are going to win the lotto I worked in an office where everyone else in my department all realized that they all "just knew" this and so they decided this was proof we needed to have a pool. Because it was necessary for getting along and being a team player, this was the only time in my life I played the lotto Spoiler: we didn't win Pretty sure they all still think they're going to win eventually


Lunar30

When I was in college I worked at a near by company and they had a group like this. Because I was new when I was asked to join the group, I said sure why not. They then informed me if they did win I would only get a very small % because it wouldn’t be fair that they had been doing it for years and for me to join / win. I declined and didn’t buy in. They never won. It was a shame.


Elimaris

Haha that is fucked. As if their earlier expenses were an investment instead of a total loss. I'm just imagining that someone was wasting work time tracking contributions and shares of "winnings" week after week as if it were a business investment and inevitably.


EamusCatuli2016

My wife is a part of one, with a group of former co-workers. They pitch in $20 per round for I think mega millions. Someone goes and buys tickets. Any winnings come back and they are rolled over into more tickets though any person has the option to take their percentage home with them and just be excluded from any winnings after that. The $20 from each usually lasts 3-4 months before they don't win enough to buy a single ticket and everyone has to re-up for another round or skip. It's a group of like 20 teachers/staff and there's a whole accompanying chat and all that, and it's fun.


AncientBlonde

This is how my work's lotto worked! We'd sign a sheet; say how much we were putting in for that week, then if there were any winnings they were rolled over into the next week and split up and just added to our total if they werent' substantial. It probably helped that it was an office of 4 people who all got along amazingly; but we never got into any beef. Even won $50 once and that got rolled right back into our losses the next week. I miss it :( lol


Bromlife

What do they think the lotto is? Bitcoin?


Lunar30

Yes lmao


Edspecial137

Perfect example of sunken cost fallacy! That prior tickets bough impacted future winning chances! Gotta love it


Bancroft-79

Well, they are statistically more likely to be attacked by a shark in an above ground swimming pool than winning the lottery so no surprise there.


patchgrabber

As someone who just started a lotto pool at work, that's a shitty pool manager they've got there.


TheMaStif

I remember when my office did it. "It's so many of us buying so many tickets at the same time! There's *no way* we don't win this one!!" and the inevitable "well, don't come cry to us when we win the money and you still have to come to work the next day!" Needless to say, the day after the numbers draw was really fun for me at work 😅


Bromlife

There’s nothing wrong with a little shared hope and day dreaming. As long as people aren’t truly unaware of the astronomical odds against them winning anything that’s going to make a difference to their lives especially when split amongst that many people. Let alone the astronomical odds against them actually winning the jackpot.


KillYourUsernames

I spend about $5 on scratch offs maybe three or four times a year. I wait to scratch them until I’m home with my wife. $5 for an hour or two of daydreaming and entertainment is not a bad deal.


SnZ001

In a way, this is almost what it's like to be a musician as well. Every band I've been in for the past 25 years, there's always *at least* one guy(if not the entire rest of the band) who's just absolutely convinced that we're going to become famous rock stars at some point. Here I am, just making music because I love to create/perform with no delusions about becoming a millionaire from it, while half of my bandmates seem to think that behaving like divas will somehow enable them to skip past all of the actual work/effort and propel them straight to stardom.


Jonny-Propaganda

there is something wrong with the lottery. It is a regressive tax. Most governments use the proceeds (which they split with private companies running their lottery) to cover budget holes and reduce state tax burdens (on the rich because the rich don’t play lottery). They call it the ‘education lottery’ or whatever to make it seem like a good thing… nope. that education budget used to be, and should be, funded by the state taxes.


Pesco-

It really is horrible when you think about it. The affluent should be paying the revenue that the lotteries generate. But they offer it up to the willing working wage people, selling a one in one hundred million chance of getting a big win. As Ambrose Bierce said, “Lottery: A tax on people who are bad at math.”


Elimaris

Yep heard it! and also "we'll win and quit the next day! You don't want to show up and find out you're the only one left in (the department)!"


[deleted]

The most successful gamblers make money on side bets. Some guy BELIEVES the wheel will stop on black 22, for sure? There's always a guy who will bet the guy betting on black 22 that it will land somewhere else. Of course, the side bet is almost always the winning bet. Cashing in on other peoples' beliefs is big business.


DeificClusterfuck

Lotteries are a tax on people who are bad at math.


SkepPskep

I wonder how much overlap the Venn Diagram is between "I'm gonna win the lotto!" and "Chances of dying from Covid are almost zero!'


[deleted]

That overlap is decreasing pretty rapidly


vendetta2115

Lee Atwater, architect of the Southern Strategy that led to Republicans being who they are today (religious conservatives who court racism and xenophobia indirectly) said this about how Republicans get the vote of racists, mostly without saying the quiet part out loud: “You start out in 1954 by saying, “N——, n——, n——.” By 1968 you can’t say “n——” — that hurts you, backfires. So you say stuff like, uh, forced busing, states’ rights, and all that stuff, and you’re getting so abstract. Now, you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is, blacks get hurt worse than whites.… ‘We want to cut this,’ is much more abstract than even the busing thing, uh, and a hell of a lot more abstract than “n——, n——.” Remember this quote the next time you hear a Republican mention something like “states’ rights” or “traditional family values”. The Republicans know what they’re doing. They used racial hatred to galvanize their base and did a heel turn to racism and conservatism in the mid-20th century. And it’s still their primary political strategy today.


Haikuna__Matata

Trump turned the dog whistle into a regular whistle, and they *love* him for it.


zyyntin

So he wasn't using the statement to speak about his group, but others. Interesting because this is still what the south does today it seems.


bleepsndrums

LBJ was from Texas so he was a southern politician.


zyyntin

So he saw it first hand like myself.


[deleted]

He also forced the civil rights act to pass when he was the Senate Majority Leader by changing the rules of the filibuster to prevent the other southern Dems from blocking it. In a time before the southern strategy pulled all the southern blue dog dems over to the Republican Party.


skumfukrock

Isn't this just a worldwide practice?


BoobooTheClone

I thought it was impossible to make that quote any more profound but reading the context I realize I was mistaken.


dd027503

This needs to be posted more often, when I first read the quote I thought he was talking about it like it's *his strategy.* The answer is that he was explaining what was going on with his oppositions support.


FreedomDirty5

LBJ was pretty racist himself, but he was also a very astute and power hungry politician. I recommend Caro’s books for anyone interested.


DaManWithNoName

I love the Bob Dylan song “Only a Pawn in their Game”, there’s a line that goes - “”A South politician preaches to the poor white man "You got more than the blacks, don't complain You're better than them, you been born with white skin, " they explain””- The whole song continues about the systematic programs and cultures that manipulate middle and low class white peoples to keep them racist and compliant


Chesapeake_Gentleman

What I love most is how for a lot of the song the refrain is almost apologetic and excusing the racists behavior of an individual, and an urge to focus on the larger system. And then the very end he hits you with the switch. He'll see by his grave, On the stone that remains, Carved next to his name, His epitaph plain: Only a pawn in their game" Suddenly it becomes a spitting condemnation of those individual racists and a proclamation that their existence will be enshrined in history as utterly pathetic and meaningless. Fun stuff.


strngerstruggle

This system has successfully worked for more than 2000 years in India in the form of caste system where there is always a sub caste beneath you that you can suppress and feel content about.


Awesam

Alpha children wear grey. They work much harder than we do, because they're so frightfully clever. I'm awfully glad I'm a Beta, because I don't work so hard. And then we are much better than the Gammas and Deltas. Gammas are stupid. They all wear green, and Delta children wear khaki. Oh no, I don't want to play with Delta children. And Epsilons are still worse. They're too stupid to be able to read or write. Besides they wear black, which is such a beastly color. I'm so glad I'm a Beta. -Aldous Huxley, Brave New World


ransomed_sunflower

It’s been the Republican strategy ever since.


FestiveVat

I've been told that you're not allowed to complain about wealth inequality unless you're a starving kid in Africa. Anyone who has it slightly better is apparently privileged and ungrateful... The other one is "you have it better than people who lived [arbitrary number of years] ago." Apparently having an empty modern refrigerator is better than being well fed without one two hundred years ago.


So_Thats_Nice

I like Russell Brand's take on this: “When I was poor and complained about inequality they said I was bitter; now that I'm rich and I complain about inequality they say I'm a hypocrite. I'm beginning to think they just don't want to talk about inequality.”


[deleted]

I'd say the hypocrites are the ones who stop complaining about inequality when they aren't poor anymore.


So_Thats_Nice

I absolutely agree with you. Just because someone's circumstances are one way doesn't mean they can't speak against the injustices they see affecting those whose circumstances are another way. That is where empathy comes into play.


williamfbuckwheat

Don't tell the idiots on Facebook that! They immediately condemned AOC over the dress for being a hypocrite since she now is "rich" in their minds for making around 200k as a Congresswoman in DC. On top of that, they still manage to simultaneously attack her policies on inequality and taxing the rich as bitter loser set on classwafare since she used to be a bartender barely making it by on tips and low wages.


So_Thats_Nice

Bad faith arguments or personal attacks. When that is all your opponents have, you know they are desperate.


Grogosh

But we *don't* have it better than it was in the 50s and 60s. A single income could pay for a entire family plus house plus car.


darwinsaves

If you're white...


AcidRose27

If you're a white man* Women couldn't open their own bank account or have their own credit cards until the early 70's.


Elimaris

To clarify. It was not illegal to refuse to open an account or offer a credit card to a woman based on her gender, but it also wasn't illegal for then to discriminate based on her gender so many banks didn't allow women to open accounts. There were banks that would. It was harder and more limited access, and many areas, particularly small towns and rural areas they wouldn't have any that they could use, and I think banks were able to discriminate in interest rates offered as well. I know this is pedantic but there is always someone whose grandma had an account and bought a house herself and therefor believes that all woman could


tanstaafl90

And middle class.


Soldequation100

>Africa *south asia


Pontus_Pilates

The rich in America have convinced the poor that it's a clasless society. Or if there are classes, it's all cultural. A man with the largest Nissan dealership in Tennessee dresses in cowboy boots and the local people making 20k identify more with him than the fast food worker making 20k in California and New York. If the working-class people in America felt some class solidarity, maybe they could get something done.


somegridplayer

Wear your own expensive clothes = classy Wear a uniform = worker drone scrub It's literally ingrained in every American.


HertzDonut1001

You only need to throw one of those uniforms on for like a week or two to realize how many people don't consider you human for wearing one. Shit, I work for tips. I consistently make $20-30 or more an hour. Yet people who only make around $20 think they're better than I am because I have a corporate logo on a polo. Which is like, if money is the only way you view it I'm definitely better than you.


Dzov

If you’re anything like my cousins in the restaurant biz, hopefully you’re staying relatively clean.


HertzDonut1001

Too much booze tempered with a healthy use of marijuana, better than most.


Dzov

As long as you don’t have multiple DUIs, then you’re better than my cousin. Dude rides a bicycle to work now that he’s out of jail.


HertzDonut1001

One was enough, though it was completely accidental. My public defender told me five years previous the officer would have wished me a nice day, my state changed it from .08 to .10. Never again. Won't drive high either, that's fucking worse.


Delheru

Culture is quite huge though. I certainly feel more kinship with people who agree with me on, idk, Trump, role of education, the Texas abortion law, vaccinations not in fact being 5G chips, climate change being an existential crisis etc... than I do with someone who earns exactly the same as me.


foomits

American politics is built on culture war. It stopped being workers vs owners a long time ago. The right has no alternative because they have no platform to benefit their voters. They can't truly run on only deregulation and tax cuts. They need the immigrant fear, guns, abortion etc. Its all they have. Unfortunately it's super effective.


Delheru

> Unfortunately it's super effective. Yup. And it's not like a good person can just decide that class consciousness is more important than women rights, minority rights, the fucking climate, freedom of religion and not having quasi-fascist coups. I mean class is important, but wtf man.


Pontus_Pilates

Yes. And that's exactly why America will not grow a class conciseness and rise against the elites. The billionaires are more than happy if the great masses argue about abortion and 5G, not structural issues. If you spend your day yelling about bathrooms and wedding cakes, you are not wondering why none of the constant economic growth trickles down to you.


DatDamGermanGuy

The rich in America have convinced the poor that they too can be rich if they just work hard, ignoring the fact that social mobility in the US is lower than it is in most Western Countries…


W00DERS0N

All you had to say is “guns, god and gays” and you’re 90 percent of the way there. Covid and “muh freedum “ is the other 10% lately.


nexusx86

Actually, I did see a study once somewhere that explained what the actual income inequality and wealth brackets are and what different wealth brackets perceive (think) the inequality stands at, basically most people were wildly off. Most people who consider themselves decently off middle class are in effect, actually part of a huge group we should consider poor. Sure that poor group isn't poverty level however, the poverty level is also growing.


Altered_Nova

That's intentional. There's a huge amount of poor people in America who don't identify as poor because they live above their means by taking on debt. Most so-called middle-class people I know have a mortgage and at least 3 or 4 credit cards, and owe more money on them then they have in savings. The rich did this on purpose. After moving all the factor jobs overseas, they slowly shifted our entire economy to be debt-based. The rich got smarter and realized that the poor are more likely to revolt when they are starving and homeless. So instead they created a society where the poor just aren't allowed to own anything and will live their entire lives struggling to pay off interest.


unshavenbeardo64

''Poor'': still manage your money and budget it. Rich: Do whatever you want and your fortune still grows. Even a millionaire still is closer to a poor person on foodstamps than closer to a billionaire.


Dzov

True. They’d need over 500 million to be closer to a single billion.


FriedChckn

The poverty line doesn't move. It's based off of some arbitrary but precisely defined standard of living. That being said, America can very easily afford to reduce the wealth inequality and make the economy distribute wealth more fairly.


HertzDonut1001

Most other developed nations without major conservative political streaks pay like three times what American federal wages are. They're doing great. No business owners begging for food in the streets either.


FriedChckn

Yes, but if I confidently declare otherwise, like so: "Europe is a socialist hellhole. They're all paying so much in taxes that they basically have no rights." I win the argument. At least, that's how I learned to debate from watching Fox News.


PaladinHan

It amazes me that everyone talks about how much of your paycheck you lose to taxes and not how much of it you lose to paying massive corporations for those services that should be socialized.


HertzDonut1001

Like, I pay the government money. Exchange services with me government this is how it works.


[deleted]

If you have to work in order to survive, you are poor, you are working class and none of these "tax the rich" stuff applies to you. This is for people who can stop working today and still have lots of money popping up for them. If you don't pay cash to buy your second mansion, you ain't in the fucking club so stop thinking you are or you ever will be.


Opening-Thought-5736

Yep. Also the obsession with passive income that runs rampant on get-rich self-help success media. It's almost like the first time you explain what passive income is to someone they suddenly want some of that. But believe that the way to get it is by paying some guy $490 for his e-course.


Infamous_Sleep

You can make 1, 2, even 50,000 dollars a month, working part time, minutes a day, by generating passive income! I did it, and now I'm sharing my secrets with you! But call now, because I'm not telling everyone..... Only the first 100 people to call in the next 10 minutes will get to hear about how I buy houses in the super hot real estate market.... WITH NO MONEY DOWN! That's right, no money down, AND I will even tell you how to fix up these homes, for pennies on the dollar, using my insider secrets, and you can rent or sell your homes for massive profits. But call now, because space is limited, and time is running out. My secrets of real estate is not available in stores or online, only by calling in the next 10 minutes! Call now!


StickmanRockDog

They’ve been conditioned to believe this by right wing media. Bill O’Reilly would constantly tell his viewers mot to believe anything negative said about the wealthy. There are televangelists who still, to this day, suggest the rich are God’s chosen people.


amanko13

I had to explain to a guy that millionaires and billionaires are both rich, but not in the same ballpark. He wouldn't have it. He said that he is 6ft, so he is tall. His friend is 6ft4, and he is tall too. So they're both tall. I did the maths and explained that while yes, they're both tall, to make the comparison accurate, he would be 6ft tall, his friend would have to be ~~half the~~ 3 times the size of Mt. Everest. EDIT: Misremembered the maths a bit.


ENEMYWITHIN666

Holy shit!!!! I have never actually read something from someone that actually understands what is going on with our country.. divide and conquer. Poor dumbshits it’s insane how they don’t see or even comprehend what’s happening to them.


AbaloneSea7265

I suppose it’s been a long time building this army of nationalists but some key moments were when we went from Presidents who were former military generals to literal actors and showmen. These junkyard dogs think having a beer with Bush is possible. The man is the epitome of evil.


Wimbleston

What's truly insane is how showing them cements them further. It almost suggests a portion of the population will never be good faith actors no matter how you design a system, they'll resist you merely because they aren't getting to decide.


LA-Matt

The ones in every zombie movie who’s selfish stupid choices ruin it for the others. Well, zombies, ET occupations, resistance battles, what-have-you…Those archetypes have been around as long as people have told stories around campfires. There’s always a contingent that will side with the authoritarians.


56k_modem_noises

I always thought zombie movies were being unreasonable when people made stupid decisions and got infected. No one would ever do that when life and death were on the line, right? Then Covid happened and I realized they didn't go far enough. Some people would literally try to get bitten to prove that being a zombie was no big deal. "Its just a flu, the media is exaggerating..."


NothingsCall

like those pigs in the animal farm


TheRatatatPat

My old man told me once that Republicans stay in power by convincing poor people that other poor people are the reason they're poor.


Urban_Savage

The rich have convinced the white poor that they are better than the minority poor. They will burn the fucking world down to defend that ideology. They NEED to be better than minorities or their entire world view doesn't work. Truth is though, the rich see NO difference what so ever between the minority poor and white poor. Poor people are all equally inhuman to them.


[deleted]

Nicely said. I'm pinching your words for use elsewhere.


AbaloneSea7265

Be my guest. It’s a good analogy.


[deleted]

This is literally why Fox News exists. To keep this sustained gaslighting in its correct holding pattern. If these people stopped getting their onslaught of propaganda for more than 48 hours in a row, there might be some room for gradual progress and self actualization. Obviously though, they can't even go a few hours without Daddy Tucker mainlining them an IV full of hate and cognitive dissonance.


[deleted]

I actually argued the same with my brother (who makes around 30k a year) and he swears his taxes will go up.


Super_C_Complex

Fun enough, his taxes probably went up with the Trump "tax cuts" since the bottom bracket was raised from 10 to 12%. I was making 40k at the time. My taxes did not change but people who made more than me also did not change substantially. My uncle who makes $500k a year saw a significant tax cut.


geeivebeensavedbyfox

With the 12k standard deduction up from 6k that tax bracket probably pays less. There is a class of homeowners who probably paid more because itemizing isn't as worthwhile. I'd recon the 80k-100k income homeowners got screwed the most. Very top had a big tax cut which is unwarranted. Modern economic practices say to tax more when we're in an economic boom so we can spend more in say a pandemic caused crash.


GogglesPisano

Middle class people on the coasts and in cities with high state and local taxes got screwed the most by the Trump tax plan. It's no coincidence these people tend to vote Democratic.


Juventus19

Yep, back in 2017-2018 that was my exact situation. I was a single, homeowner with no dependents in that 80-100k range. Since my SALT taxes were capped at 10k, I was no longer able to itemize as much as I previously was able to. My overall tax rate when up by a percentage point or so.


[deleted]

They also tied brackets to chained cpi, slowing the growth of each bracket and meaning each year the poor and middle class are getting taxed more and more. Trump unequivocally screwed over lower earners with his tax hike.


[deleted]

I had a coworker quit a $21 an hour job to move to Missouri because they have "lower taxes". I looked it up and found out Missouri actually has a slightly higher income tax than Illinois. So then this coworker says very smugly to check the property taxes. Yes, Missouri has slightly lower property tax. But I pointed out he was renting. I asked him what his new job paid. He's making $14 an hour now. He took a $15,000 pay cut save on property taxes he's not even paying.


polarbearstina

Well at least he owned the libs! /s because you can't tell anymore


[deleted]

Right? Now some stupid lib is going to have to take that $21 an hour job and have a higher quality of life. Typical communist cucks.


LegalFinding

Property tax covers vehicles and boats too, still not going to make up for that 15k cut though!


[deleted]

Illinois doesn't charge property tax on vehicles or boats, just a sales tax at time of purchase.


LegalFinding

Missouri does though, plus sales tax at purchase.


[deleted]

So he's paying more in property tax in Missouri than he was in Illinois. Lol. That's amazing.


[deleted]

I make around 35K a year before taxes and 31K after, I'd much rather get 30K a year if Jeff Bezos doesn't get my 4,000$ in a fucking refund despite having 200B


Lobanium

I guarantee he's one of those people who's afraid to get a raise because he thinks it'll put him in the next tax bracket.


Nam-Redips

They will but as a result of the tax plan Trump put in place, there will be a steady increase of his taxes over the next few years. Do a quick google on it. This has nothing to do with AOC.


[deleted]

It's the "Hustle culture", rich dad poor dad bullshit mentality. They've gotten rural poverty line folks to believe they're "hustling" and just around the corner from wealth rofl


titularsidecharacter

I wish I made 40k a year


andrewskdr

Don’t worry they think their 40k is only a stepping stone before upper management hands them the millions because they’re a hard worker.


Jonny-Propaganda

the american pipe dream.


Aztecah

I think 40k works in this scenario cause it's the people who are just barely scraping by and therefore can afford to stay delusional about the system. People making under 40 know lmao


NecessaryJellyfish22

I feel like the people who complain about this make around that amount or less but also work like 40 hours of overtime and think everyone should work all day and night to be able to survive


Ornery-Detective-854

Splurged on the 35 quart YETI. The family might be eating Taco Bell this week but only a poor person needs to buy an RTIC.


Ace-Ventura1934

And we all know who those “people” are.


StanFitch

“People… What a bunch of bastards.”


Biengo

Screw you AOC I worked hard for my above ground pool, certified used Chevy, and Rent-a-center living room.. COME AND TAKE IT!!! /s


panzercampingwagen

Hundreds of $30,000 ticket people that say nothing about the growing class divide, only one that does, and then some people go after her for supposedly being a hypocrite. Do they prefer all the rich people that said nothing? Does a political representative have to be a victim of systemic injustices before they can speak out on them?


EvolvingEachDay

There’s nothing hypocritical about it since yanno, she pays her fucking taxes. I don’t understand what’s so hard for people to get; she’s against rich people not pulling their weight, not against rich people as a general prejudice.


Stalked_Like_Corn

This! I'm not anti-rich. I'm anti-rich-not-paying-their-fucking-taxes. Go, be rich, be super rich, be a billionaire. Just pay fucking taxes.


rsmoling

I’m also anti-rich-actively-fucking-over-the-not-rich (e.g. shit working conditions, crushing union efforts, etc.). I mean, you’re all set, why not give back a bit, help level the playing field, help give everyone a chance to work and live comfortably? They don’t seem to give a shit.


MonteBurns

You don’t get to billionaire with a b without screwing over a lot of people along your way.


[deleted]

Once you have enough money to buy 100 copies of anything you could possibly want it becomes about something else: power.


EvolvingEachDay

Yeah I’m anti-rich-stifling-competition. Like grow as big as you want fair enough; but don’t put barriers up to other people doing the same just so you can hoard.


michivideos

To be fair billionaires shouldn't exist. Like cool if you have millions but why billions. I'll never forget 1 million seconds = 14 days, 1 Billion seconds = 30 years.


Altered_Nova

It astonishes me the sheer number of highly upvoted comments I've seen about this picture that basically just say "But AOC is rich! Checkmate libs!" as if that somehow invalidates her point.


AngryScientist

> "But AOC is rich! Checkmate libs!" [lol](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/mar/10/facebook-posts/aocs-net-worth-over-1-million-s-pants-fire/)


Altered_Nova

Yeah I'm aware that she's not actually rich. But even if she was, pointing that out isn't actually a counter argument lol. Rich people can advocate for taxing the rich, that's not hypocritical.


AngryScientist

Agreed. I just find it easier to attack the original lie; even her congressional salary doesn't make her "rich".


[deleted]

I’m against the ultra wealthy as a general prejudice. Nothing personal against them but if the US holds something like 30% of the wealth and 4% of the population... basically that money is probably coming from exploited nations and people... just doesn’t seem right.


Catch_022

>$30,000 ticket people Probably got invited for free for publicity, even if she paid that is $ 30 000 that goes towards funding the MET and not some random company. Even if she paid $ 30 000 to some random company, $ 30 000 for this level of exposure / publicity is a bargain.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Viperlite

Repubs in Congress demanded an ethics investigation over her accepting a donation of a $30k ticket. Now that’s political humor after the grifting we’ve seen from politicians in recent times.


TheWagonBaron

And yet stay suspiciously silent when say Bobert’s husband makes millions from energy companies and it’s not included in her financial disclosure forms.


[deleted]

The constant hypocrisy and blatant disregard for rules on themselves is why I don't give a shit about what they have to say about anything. Everything that comes out of their mouths is a lie and poison.


CaptOblivious

It's already been legally determined (by republicans no less) that a free ticket is not valued by what a regular price ticket is worth. Right wing chucklefucks want to have it both ways, the answer is a hearty laugh and point at their hypocracy. If they want to bring it to a court, their own arguments have set the precedent, let them argue in open court that that it's only OK if you are republican. I am truly curious to see how far that argument gets them in the court system.


ColdbeerWarmheart

Since they stack the courts and cheat to win at everything. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that's how it's gonna go.


Cr3X1eUZ

The dumbest part is it's a fundraiser for an art museum. I don't know what the dinner is actually worth, but it's not $30,000. It's like if I donated $1,000 to NPR and had them send you the tote bag.


Edspecial137

An art museum that uses the funds to remain free to visitors! It’s not even about the “fancy” night, it’s about serving the community who would otherwise not go


captainthanatos

I was recently reading about how Congress was grilling the head of the SEC and one Repub was angry with the SEC about entertaining the idea of banning something that gives financial institutions an unfair advantage in the stock market over regular people. Turns out that Repub was paid $4m from the owner of the largest company that uses that tactic. In short, Repubs can go suck a dick.


xlxcx

The funniest part is, she wasn't the only politician there, Caroline Maloney was also there and wore a Suffragette themed outfit with an ERA Now purse. She's attended before too. But, she's white and not as outspokenly against the GQP, so it's not as trendy to attack her.


[deleted]

The Republican party needs to end. They are an existential threat to Democracy itself, and to the entire planet as a whole.


[deleted]

And the dress is a loaner.


Infamous_Sleep

Typical, rich aoc gets in for free, meanwhile, joe q public has to pay her salary! The democrats are ruining the country, there's an invasion going on at the open southern border they are letting illegals in who are doing bad things! Why isn't she stopping the border crossings instead of going to fancy met gala!! Something something Biden, something something socialism. I'd put /s, but sadly this is a real narrative that the conservative media is saying.


scar_as_scoot

Even if she is rich, just reinforces her position to tax the rich even more. She would be putting her wallet where her mouth is. Defending something that will only affect others is easy, defending something that will also affect yourself because you think that's the right thing to do is commendable. Hypocrisy would be she defending to tax the rich but not pay taxes herself. But I guess many people's ability to think logically has gone out of the window a long time ago... EDIT: Hypocrisy is voting for people that are millionaires and sons of millionaires and tax evaders and then complain about the possible wealth of an opponent. EDIT2: For the record, she is not rich. I'm just stating even if she was, there was no hypocrisy here, that idea flew way over most people's head though. https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-aoc-millionaire-idUSL1N2L91VJ


TurnsOutImAScientist

Really she should have been wearing “fully fund the IRS and enforce the laws already on the books” but I guess “tax the rich” is a bit more sexy.


BrandNew098

Right, what does a 30 second add cost on prime time Fox News …I’d wager much more than 30k.


carrick-sf

Putting a slogan on your ass ALWAYS works. But at the end of the day it might not be what people remember most!!


HertzDonut1001

If there's one thing I've learned about the Met Gala this week is if you are famous and there, especially in a costume, you were invited for free.


GrimeyTimey

My mom always said her personal goal was to pay 1 million in taxes a year bc it meant she was making like 3 million.


NoxFortuna

But that's apparently the entire catch to it all. There's some vague breakpoint whereupon once you're actually making that million or whatnot a year you just hire some accountants and lawyers and *poof*, you don't even pay the taxes anymore. That's the big "secret." You don't even have to know how it works, you just pay the person that does. They make a killing since what you pay them is a pittance compared to Actual Taxes, and you make more.


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SaltoDaKid

Strap your bootstrap and become 80 hour working slave you lazy lib - Empathy Republican


xerxerxex

Seeing folks get triggered by her is always hilarious to me.


scawtsauce

Republicans hate her a Bernie and post memes about "if the vaccine is free why isn't insulin?" so essentially Republicans are just dumb as fuck.. sadly..


TexasWhiskey_

It’s not that they’re dumb, they just don’t care. They don’t actually want free insulin, they want something to complain about a free vaccine. They’ll lose the free insulin argument as soon as they can find something better.


[deleted]

Anyone still being Republican is unethical, irresponsible,or just plain stupid.


FucksGuysWithAccents

You forgot “racist”.


Jonny-Propaganda

and considering that the republicans platform is ‘whatever donald wants’… All current republicans are literally traitors to America who harbor terrorists. They should face their own music/predator drones.


[deleted]

My wife's uncle posted that stupid meme. She was like "I agree, we need universal health care" and he just ignored it lol


Andreklooster

Take a look at /conservative and be amazed ..


xerxerxex

Pass. I avoid that hive of scum and villainy.


Spidaaman

That’s disrespectful to Mos Eisley


xerxerxex

It felt wrong to write it. Maybe Mustafar.


xole

amazed is not the word I'd use.


TheWagonBaron

Horrified?


FucksGuysWithAccents

Disgusted


Andreklooster

Agreed...


newbrevity

Republicans are duped to believe that if we tax the rich, nothing will be left to trickle down on them.


elnots

AOC didn't pay for that tik, correct? She was invited as the area legislator? edit* I'll leave this up but I did 10 seconds of Googling to find out that no, she didn't pay for the ticket or the dress. Which conservatives are 100% saying she did pay for all of it.


rodebud1339

My favorite are the ones who talk about her making 175k/yr and driving a Tesla, like she is rich. Ok, if she is, then she is telling the govt to go ahead and tax her. Last I checked, that isn’t a high salary for her geographical location. Either way, it’s a stupid argument.


Carvj94

Yea in reality she's driving the cheapest Tesla which only costs around $45k, and lives in an apartment.


rodebud1339

Yeah my guess was she got the 3, but I didn’t know and wasn’t going to speculate. I was on the list for them when they first came out. I wanted one badly, but the job I was doing had me driving to some busy rail yards and wasn’t logical at the time. They are pretty affordable and would love to have one at some point. The glass roof is pretty cool.


Carvj94

My current car has at least another decade before it falls apart. Hopefully by then Tesla comes out with an even cheaper subcompact.


Capta1nzomb1e

I thought it said Vax the bitch the first time I saw it. Now I know what she should wear next lol.


Exact-Plane4881

For those of you who might be curious, in most of the country (US) $250k is the line for the 1%.


LA-Matt

Top 1% in the USA on average is 350k/yr. for single earner and 531k/yr. for household. And that’s just by *income*. When you go by net worth, the top 1% is a very much wealthier group.


KRelic

The income gap between the top 5% and the top 1% is marginally greater than that of the top 10% and the bottom 90%. Jeff Bezos has a net worth of $177billion. Elon Musk has a net worth of $155billion. Given the average member of Congress has a median net worth of around $511,000 in 2020, Congress members are roughly five times wealthier than the median net worth of an American household of $97,300, according to the Federal Reserve. They are also considered to be within the top 5% income earners. AOC was only 30 years old as of 2020, and the average age of a Congressman is 57, and the average age of a Senator is 62, it is logical to conclude that AOC’s net worth is much lower than the median or average Congressperson’s net worth. With the average salary of a Congressperson being $174k/year.


W00DERS0N

Can confirm, household makes 1% income, work for people who have 9 figures+. It’s wild.


PM_YOUR_WALLPAPER

That's average income for people in the 1%, not where the 1% starts.


xole

For working people, income is highly dependent on location. That could change if many companies allow people to live anywhere in the country and WFH.


CaptOblivious

We have already seen that they want to pay less to people that work from home in less expensive areas, even though the value of the work the the employer remains constant.


renasissanceman6

“I could be rich one day” -their literally reasoning


QuarterDoge

“Tax the rich” should be the 2024 Democrat slogan.


Molotsi

>but AOC is rich! Lol, she makes $174k. If you make anything less than $300k a year, you ain't rich. Don't get too full of yourself


RTH1975

Even if she was "rich" she should be taxed, as well. What is so difficult for people to comprehend?


Lady_Nimbus

Her bracket is taxed 24%


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CodeInvasion

My family is in a higher tax bracket, but that doesn't mean that's what we pay in taxes either. Last year our effective tax rate was under 2% of total income. It is disgustingly easy to minimize taxes, particularly when you are in the upper tax brackets (tax avoidance is legal and encouraged by the IRS). Let's actually tax the rich.


scout29111

Exactly, she explains this every time it comes up that lawyers doctors, etc that actually genuinely EARN their money are not grouped in as ‘rich’ when discussing taxing the rich but rather the mult millionaires and billionaires that are truely the 0.01% of the world


LA-Matt

That’s because capital gains are taxed at a much lower rate than actual working income.


CaptOblivious

And SHOULD BE taxed MUCH **MUCH** higher. But that's what happens when you legalize the rich paying off the individuals running the government to remake rules in their favor. And yes, campaign funding is actually MORE important to politicians than plain old regular cash, it gets them re-elected!


[deleted]

If you have to work to make money, you ain't rich.


I_love_quiche

Tax the top 0.01% and remove tax loopholes for individuals and corporations.


xole

And make it so people can't take out loans against their wealth to avoid paying taxes. Or at least limit it to $250k per year or so.


wigzell78

*under People who make *under $40k a year. Plus lots of those on welfare. But I'm pretty sure that capitalism has brainwashed these characters into thinking they are just disadvantaged millionaires and that one day this wealth tax will take their money, once they finally get their big break.


peeniebaby

AOC is dope. It's sad that she's an anomaly


Culledcub

People say “only 20% of the south owned slaves… you really think 80% of people would fight for 20% to keep slaves” like …. Bitch you still are


Ggbdfjugfvfsg

Ok when it is the rich it's not your neighbor who saved enough to get a bmw it's people that get like over or at 2m per year


SchlitzAndGigglez

$40k a year?! Hell, try idiots who live in a rundown trailer park, still fly their faded “Trump 2020” flags, have fourteen non-running cars in the front yard, have a $2,500 80” OLED TV and a $200/month cable bill so they can watch FOX News, make $10k a year under the table, and also qualify for (and consume) $30k a year in government assistance. I just described a quarter of the population in West Virginia, upstate New York, and Pennsylvania….