Pit #1: PayPal. Through a mistake completely my own, I had PayPal attempt to transfer funds to my PayPal account from my bank account. There’s no money in that bank account and no way to stop the transfer once you approve it. The bank declined it, or course, and charged me $32. I accept that since it was my mistake. However, according to PayPal’s email, they attempt the transfer again automatically. There still won’t be any money in the account. Another $32. PayPal could, at the very least, ask if I want the transfer tried again.
Pit #2: Capitalism. The rich stand on the backs of the poor. There are several million people in this country that could easily make my money problems disappear. Not that it’s they’re responsibility to keep me out of the poorhouse, mind you, but is a little bit of economic equality too much to ask? Do people really need $500 shower curtains and gold-plated faucets? Do you know what I could do with $500?! In my area, prices have gone up so much in the past five years, but wages have not. I’m still making the exact same salary now as I did back in 2000. If I can’t afford to live in Baltimore, where can I live?
A democratic socialism would be great, but it ain’t happening anytime soon. I just need to get to the point where I start making “passive income”, meaning whether or not I decide to get out of bed, I’ll still get a paycheck. For now, I am not all about the Benjamins.
Ugh, that paypal BS totally sucks, sorry to here about that.
I’ve often thought it would be nice to spread the wealth around, but then I remember how many pathetic lazy bastards exist out in the world, and I’ll be damned if they get my money. Everyperson for themselves has less flaws then other systems, IMHO natch.
So where do we draw the line as to who has too much money and who doesn’t? At our house, we spend $38/month on DSL service and $32/month for two World of Warcraft accounts. Neither of those are necessary for our survival, and that $70/month could certainly help someone more than it helps us. So, is that okay? Can I spend my hard-earned money on Internet and games? Or should I be donating it to you just because you need it more?
If someone is willing to spend $500 on a shower curtain, more power to them. You and I may think it’s stupid, but I certainly don’t begrudge them that. My brother spends what I consider to be a ridiculous amount on sunglasses. I’m sure he considers my $250+ video cards to be equally ridiculous. Hey, if we can afford it, who cares?
Oh, and I meant to add, I’m sorry for your Paypal incident. That really sucks. You might call your bank and see if you can get that second charge waived.
If it didn’t, someone else would be making an identical shower curtain and selling if for less than $500, thus assuring that they would take all of the business away from the guy selling them for $500.
Of course not. Likewise, you don’t really need a computer, Internet access, or a SDMB membership. Ditto a television. And really, you don’t need to be eating anything more expensive than rice and beans.
At what point do we draw the line of necessity, and start donating excess funds to those who need it more? And if you refuse to draw the line in such a way as to lower your own standard of living, then why should you expect others to do what you will not?
Please forgive any typos in this reponse, it’s difficult to type with my eyes rolled so far back in my head.
If you magically spread all wealth equally today, within 10 years or less we’d be back to almost exactly where we are today. The vast majority of those who are rich today would be rich again, the vast majority of those who are poor today would be poor then. Having money today is no indicator of future wealth, just as owning a scalpel today is no indicator of a future surgeon. Money is a tool, nothing more. Owning a tool without knowlege of how to properly use it renders the tool worthless. Oh, you can use a hammer to split wood, but the guy who uses it to drive nails will be far more successful.
It amazes me that you take full responsibility for the Pay Pal problem but look to others to cure your financial woes. We all make choices, and we all reap the rewards or pay the consequences of those choices. Dreaming of utopia and instant wealth is counter productive. Take responsibility for your situation and work toward fixing it!
I know you’re going through a tough time right now, but this line of ‘thinking’ pisses me off to no end. Do you really buy into this bullshit? I mean, come on. What in the ever loving fuck do extravagant shower curtains and bathroom fixtures have to do with your salary? I know you’re just using them as examples, and I recognize the hyperbole, but where do you draw the line? If I don’t spend my money on a pair of $300 boots, and opt for a $30 pair, how on earth does that help you or anyone else for that matter?
UrbanChic, capitalist pig.
We all have our little “luxuries”, be it two WoW accounts (guilty), internet access, daily paper, coffee from the coffee bar, or $500.00 shower curtains. It’s all relative to your income I guess. Do I expect other people to share their uber wealth with me? No, although it would be nice . I’ve come to the conclusion that I will always have work for whatever I want in life, and in some ways, I think this is better. I think it makes you appreciate what you do have just that much more.
Look mine and my husband’s income is just that, OUR income and it’s nobody’s business how we choose to use it. If we choose to use it wisely, more power to us; if we’re frivolous with it now and then, so be it. We have had our turn living on Mac and cheese, and deserve to be happy. Nobody needs to “justify” how they spend their money to anyone else.
Forgive me for mis-stating my point. The fact that people with money could pull me out of debt was not the main idea of my rant. Do I expect people to just come and bail me out of a tough situation? Of course not. Don’t be silly. I’m not a Democrat. (Not a Republican, either, mind you. :eek: )
Ultimately, I guess, my pit was on the class divide in this country. The rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, and all that. The middle class bears the brunt of the tax burden, and generally receives little in return. I know I’m not the only one here tired of busting my ass for “The Man.”
I will say one thing, though: I’m not starving, but millions of people out there are. People showed tremendous generosity during 9/11 and the tsunami – how sad is it that we can’t keep people in our own communities fed?
Because 911 and the recent Tsunami only happened once, to people who could not be faulted for having it happen to them. The poor and homeless in my neighborhood are *always * there. It’s harder to care all the time about poor people, whereas most of us can make a one-time $xx donation.
Eh? I seem to recall that the top 1% of earners pay a third of the income tax and the top 10% pay either two-thirds or 90%. I would’t include the middle class in either of those brackets.
“Money, it’s a crime.
Share it fairly but don’t take a slice of my pie.
Money, so they say
Is the root of all evil today.
But if you ask for a raise it’s no surprise that they’re
Giving none away.”
Define “taxes.” I doubt that’s true if you count SS and FICA/Medicare stuff in that, because SS taxes are capped at I think around $90,000. That is, if you make more than $90k/year, you don’t pay any additional SS taxes after that amount. A great deal of the SS problems right now could be taken care of in part by raising that cap.
I made $8000 profit with my small business last year. I also made $4000 at a part-time job. That was ALL my income for the entire year, and I barely scraped by, and had to rack up my credit card debt for a few emergency expenses. I have no car and haven’t had health insurance since 2001. I spend approximately $500-700/year just on healthcare because of that. You could safely call me poor.
My employer apparently never turned in the paperwork I gave them for extra withholding to come out of my cheques at my part-time job, so now I owe the IRS almost $1000 in self-employment tax on last year’s income. The self-employment tax rate is approximately 15% regardless of my annual income (until you start making, I think, $2 million+ or something). The wealthy may pay more in taxes, but it’s because they have a lot more to begin with; the tax burden on the lower classes still verily sucks.
. I’ve come to the conclusion that I will always have work for whatever I want in life, and in some ways, I think this is better. I think it makes you appreciate what you do have just that much more.
(Not a Republican, either, mind you. :eek: )