> Poor people are a problem, they eat through resources without replenishing them, how you deal with them is another thing

Wow, you really doubled-down. That's a deeply anti-social way of thinking. Poor people are not a problem. An economy that creates poor people is the problem. That is a failure of government when it is captured by the wealthy and turned into a system to create private wealth rather than common wealth.

And by the way, poor people eat through resources without replenishing them? Ha, what do you think 'rich' people do?

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happytoexplain 9 hours ago | parent | next [-]

This is HN. We are speaking objectively. Poor people are humans who deserve every ounce of respect and humanity as everybody else.

They are also, literally speaking from a logistics point of view, a problem. This is the point of view that smart problem-solvers tend to take, and is the point of view that ultimately benefits everybody the most, in practice, and in the long term. HN tends to attract this type of thinker (which is good).

You are taking a reactive point of view that over-applies hidden meanings to words (which is pretty normal for humans, and not intended as an insult).

	▲	beedeebeedee 9 hours ago \| parent [-]
		> You are taking a reactive point of view that over-applies hidden meanings to words You don't seem to have read the comments. There is no hidden meaning that I have over applied. > They are also, literally speaking from a logistics point of view, a problem. You are assuming the problem and then redirecting from its origins. The economy creates poverty. The economy is regulated by the government. Enlightened government should take care of the people and the common wealth, not be a tool for the wealthy to capture more wealth.

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Izikiel43 10 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

In a capitalistic economy you will always have poor people by definition, as poverty is a relative measure, the best you can do is having the best poor people, such a poor in your country is middle class in some other.

This applies worldwide, unless you live in a communist country, where everyone is equally poor except for the elites in power.

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beedeebeedee 9 hours ago | parent [-]

Besides demonstrating a naive and simplistic understanding of political economy, your statements are irrelevant to what we have been talking about.

Please explain to me how "[poor people] eat through resources without replenishing them" and how "rich people" do not? Please explain how it is good or just for a government to act as a system to secure private wealth for the wealthy and not to care for all of the people and the common wealth?

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Izikiel43 5 hours ago | parent [-]

Easy, poor people don’t really contribute to the tax base, rich people pay for almost all the income tax, sales tax and property tax. Poor people are the receivers of most government benefits and programs, which make them a net expense revenue wise.

In the USA, the top 10% of all incomes account for 71% of all income tax, meaning the lower 90% only contribute 29%. Income taxes are governed by a power law (Pareto) where the very few account for most of the income.

https://usafacts.org/articles/who-pays-the-most-income-tax/

The government as it is today and in most western countries is super progressive with its taxes and benefits for its population. I don’t think it’s good nor just to charge someone more simply because they have more, that’s pretty unjust, why do they have to pick up the slack and maintain people who don’t try to get out of their situation?

I come from a 3rd world country where we now have 2/3 generations who have grown living only on government welfare instituted by the governing party to earn their votes, while the productive few are choked by taxes and forced to leave the country, how is that just?

So yes, the government should prioritize the few that actually make money and try to get more of the population that way, as they are the ones funding government.

And of course you don’t want poor people from other countries which are used to live on government welfare also to eat through your welfare without contributing back, it’s actually a requirement in order to get the greencard, which you probably have no idea what it entails as I’m guessing you are a native born bleeding heart American liberal, otherwise you would have a more realistic view of the world.

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beedeebeedee 3 hours ago | parent [-]

Even on your own terms, your argument fails. You claim that rich people pay for almost all the income, sales and property tax, but then only back up your claim with the federal individual income tax.

The federal individual income tax only accounts for about half of the federal government's revenue, let alone the revenue for states and localities from taxes and other fees. The payroll tax, property and sales taxes, as well as fees, are paid predominantly by the non-rich (you claim a Pareto distribution but that only holds for the individual income taxes- sales taxes are highly regressive). The top 10% receive roughly half the total income and pay roughly half the total revenue. That is not even close to "almost all" of the tax revenue for the governments in the United States.

Not only does your argument fail on its own terms, your terms are wrongheaded. I presume that you were here during covid, and must have realized that the "essential" workers were predominantly the lowest paid people in the US. That should clue you into the fact that people contribute a lot more to society than taxes!

> as I’m guessing you are a native born bleeding heart American liberal, otherwise you would have a more realistic view of the world

I am a native born American and my forefathers and foremothers fought for the prosperity and rights that you enjoy but do not appreciate. You say you are from a third world country, and that might partially explain why you are ignorant on this matter. I suggest you read the works that inspired the American Revolution and try to understand why people fought for it.

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Izikiel43 2 hours ago | parent [-]

> sales taxes are highly regressive

You pay what you consume, and first need items like groceries are excluded, it's a great tax. Rich people buy more stuff than poor people, therefore they pay more sales tax than poor people (Ask WA how is it doing by imposing a millionaire's income tax, those people are leaving and they are losing sales/property tax revenue due to that). Same with property tax, to buy a bigger house you need more money, and the bigger the house the larger the property tax you pay. Don't want to pay huge property taxes? Buy smaller property. So, all in all, the logic still applies, if you consume more because you have more money, you contribute more to tax revenue.

Income tax should also be flat, as you would still pay more the more you earn.

> I presume that you were here during covid, and must have realized that the "essential" workers were predominantly the lowest paid people in the US. That should clue you into the fact that people contribute a lot more to society than taxes!

Nope, in Canada at the time, we could go out and to supermarkets for groceries. If the government hadn't imposed such strict lockdowns in some states, there would have been no need for the "essential" workers, if you mean delivery people. Otherwise, health care specialists tend to be very well paid, though covid was a shit show.

Yeah, the American revolution was based on the premise of no taxation without representation, and I know first hand how that feels as an immigrant, paying taxes and having no say on how they are used, and there are a lot of us paying a lot of taxes and having no say on them.

> prosperity and rights

Prosperity yes, rights you only get if you have a green card (and only some), if you are on a visa the second shit hits the fan you get kicked out (and even the green card may not protect you on that). You truly don't realize what a privilege you have by having citizenship. You should try being an immigrant so you get off your high horse.

It actually saddens me seeing how current politics of big government and the rise of the DSA and communism in the USA are screwing up a country which is great.

	▲	beedeebeedee an hour ago \| parent [-]
		You've brushed off the failure of your arguments. That indicates that your position is not being driven by reasonable considerations. > If the government hadn't imposed such strict lockdowns in some states, there would have been no need for the "essential" workers That is a non sequitur. We do have essential workers whether or not they are the only workers working during a time of crisis or not. > the American revolution was based on the premise of no taxation without representation That is a bumper sticker level of understanding of our history. Please educate yourself on what inspired it. Read the works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, John Locke, Thomas Paine, and Thomas Jefferson. > get off your high horse No. An enlightened government takes care of the people (and an unenlightened government is not worth having). Our economy creates poverty. We are in a crisis that has been growing since the 1980's and is reaching a flashpoint. You may not have been here for the 2008 financial crisis and Occupy Wall Street, so you may not have heard of Thomas Picketty's book Capital in the Twenty-First Century, but this webpage will give you a brief overview and a graph: https://www.epi.org/publication/top-1-percents-share-income-... > DSA and communism in the USA are screwing up a country which is great They are bringing a long overdue correction that is necessary to preserve our country. They have not even begun, so your claim that they are screwing up this country is absurd. This country is being run into the ground by the current administration and his fellow travelers.