So who's really paying what with taxes? And why is it "not fair" that some pay almost 30% while others pay much less? Fair would be everyone paying the *same* amount. Fair is treating everyone the same.

I was reading an article by Dave Ramsey on the Occupy Wallstreet people. He talked about how they're very vague, they want to get rid of the current system, and replace it with what? They're not sure. Some want something along the lines of the old Soviet system. There are no demands & goals. But these two paragraphs, under "Wealth Redistribution is the Answer!" really struck a chord with me:

I’ve heard a lot about wealth redistribution over the past few years, and I’m sure you’ve heard it too. Call it whatever you want, but this is how it usually sounds to most Americans: “We are the 99% of Americans who don’t have as much as the 1%, so we’re mad and think the government should take their wealth and property away so that I can have a piece of it. Wealth inequality is a moral breakdown! We should all spread the money around so everyone gets a fair share!”

I have my toughest critique for those who believe this: You are a thief. When someone takes my money and gives me no say in the matter, that’s called theft—whether they’re using a gun or the government. At the core of this demand is envy. And that’s not the same as jealousy. Jealousy just says, “I want what you have.” Envy is a different beast. Envy says, “I don’t think I can ever have what you have, so you shouldn’t have it either.” Decades of horrible economic teaching and the politics of envy have kept this monster alive and growing and moving forward.(bold added for emphasis - mine)

(quoting Bastiat in The Law, there are two types of plunder - legal and illegal...How is this legal plunder to be identified? Quite simply. See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them, and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime.

Then abolish this law without delay, for it is not only an evil itself, but also it is a fertile source for further evils because it invites reprisals. If such a law — which may be an isolated case — is not abolished immediately, it will spread, multiply, and develop into a system.

The person who profits from this law will complain bitterly, defending his acquired rights. He will claim that the state is obligated to protect and encourage his particular industry; that this procedure enriches the state because the protected industry is thus able to spend more and to pay higher wages to the poor workingmen.

Do not listen to this sophistry by vested interests. The acceptance of these arguments will build legal plunder into a whole system. In fact, this has already occurred. The present-day delusion is an attempt to enrich everyone at the expense of everyone else; to make plunder universal under the pretense of organizing it.

You can find the full text of the pamphlet by Frederick Bastiat HERE.

If you take off the stuff en/the_law.html you will find other writings of Bastiat. They're all on my to-read list.

BUT, when you point out to people that taking from one (by force) and giving to another, is stealing; or that the government, under the Constitution, has no right to do that, expressly or implied, you are called a hater of the poor.

And how do you avoid being poor? Working your tail off. How do you think most 'rich' people got that way? Very few inherit the money, most earn it. You can't get rich being a couch potato, watching Maury and the like on TV.

"but that's mean!" ... tuff bunnies. Life isn't fair, nor is it always a joyride.

I get told by some that I should have no room to talk - because I am a housewife, and don't work outside the house. However, hubby makes enough to support the family without needing me to work. I worked until we started having children, and raising them. Also called an anachronism, as I think that once you start having children, THEY are the most important job you can have - if you don't think you need as much STUFF to keep up with the Joneses, one income often will suffice. (But that's another pet peeve of mine - people putting 'wants' as 'needs'. There are only a few things we NEED. Most of what we have is a want. Funny how people used to get along fine without the stuff that is considered a 'need' nowadays.