6 Things Rich People Need to Stop Saying

[jducoeur]

Thanks to mindways for the pointer to this long screed in Cracked about the irritating self-justifications of the upper class. It's uncomfortably funny in a rather Carlin-esque way: that is, it is rude, over the top, occasionally a bit nasty and, by and large, correct. Frankly, it's worthwhile reading for us various affluent techie types (who may not be the 1%, but a lot of us are at least 10%), as a fairly good guide to how not to be an asshole about it...

Comments

Re: Add to that list....

[calygrey.livejournal.com]

While that deduction is nice, it's not saving in taxes nearly the equivalent of not having paid it at all.

You don't pay Federal taxes on that 7.15% of your income, which does not come out to being the equivalent of not forking over any of that 7.15% chunk.

Re: Add to that list....

[mneme]

Sure, but the idea is not to have tax loopholes (the idea, not the practice). If you paid 7% on self employment, what about couple employment? Could you avoid paying half your social security taxes by being self employed? Would companies go to contractors-only just to avoid having to shell out that 7.15%? (keep in mind that if you're pricing yourself correctly, you should end up earning just as much either way when consulting). The government is getting the same amount either way as it is, the question is how it's presented, not where it's coming from (not really; the 7.15 percent you don't have to see for trad employment is still coming out of your salary, as it's part of the cost of employing you).

Basically, if they're going to give you a bonus for self-employment, this probably isn't the right place for it.

Now, making SS regressive by only taxing the first XX (plus the extra regression of more middle and higher class people living longer)? That should go.