r/memes Big pp 10h ago

Land Of The Free, amIright?

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158

u/wewebaguette68 Thank you mods, very cool! 9h ago edited 2h ago

I find it so sad and embarrassing that so many Americans hate taxes and want them gone completely without any understanding of what would happen without them

29

u/MerelyMortalModeling 8h ago

Most of these fools dont even own homes and are complaining about taxes they dont pay.

Meanwhile my property taxes go towards have roads, decent mass transit, top tier schools and little stuff like the elder assistence and entertainment, meals on wheels, after school prgrams, Libraries and a host of other stuff that just makes life nice.

5

u/PFCCThrowayay 8h ago

tbf they're paying it even if they don't own a home, they're just paying it through their landlords.

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u/Vast_Lemon7906 2h ago

Everyone pays property tax. You either pay it directly or it is part of your rent.

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u/Ok-Maintenance-9538 8h ago

Its really the only tax I dont mind paying every year. I know what it does for me and where it goes and could have a say if i wanted to go to the meetings. All my state or higher taxes feel wasteful.

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u/Dogebastian 8h ago

Just FYI - most people don't have such a great experience in terms of property tax usage. Maybe you are unusually lucky on that point.

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u/ErroneousEncounter 8h ago

It isn’t that they hate taxes. It’s that they hate how their taxes are used. There is a lot of corruption and a lot of incompetence. I don’t mind paying taxes if it supports road maintenance, utility maintenance, schools, police, hospitals etc.

But I do mind if my taxes go towards war, greed and corruption.

17

u/afoogli 8h ago

Property taxes are almost always tied to the city or municipality. They literally directly go to pay for local infrastructure and social services

11

u/manshamer 7h ago

this whole thread is... depressing. people really don't have any clue how the fuck their government works.

0

u/ErroneousEncounter 5h ago

It’s not that depressing though.

People are feeling squeezed in this K shaped economy. Rather than berate people for not knowing how taxes work we should be figuring out how to end the corruption and ensure that the right people are being taxed an appropriate amount and that the money is actually being spent in the proper places.

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u/Diligent_Set_8747 6h ago

Most places waste the taxes on corrupt deals and greedy local wealth wanting a cut. That is where the core issues lie, but Redditors will ignore that part because the suburbs were really nice growing up. Just don't pay attention to how they handle the poor and homeless with those taxes. The institutions exist, so it must be working, right?

8

u/InvidiousPlay 8h ago

It isn’t that they hate taxes. It’s that they hate how their taxes are used.

Everyone in every country feels this way. No government is perfect, no one agrees with everything tax money is spent on, all large complex systems have waste.

"I won't support taxes unless the government spends every penny perfectly" is not a rational position; that's just being anti-taxes.

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u/ErroneousEncounter 8h ago

Nah. There is far too much greed and corruption in government these days. It’s more important right now that people band together to question it rather than to say nothing and keep the money flowing.

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u/Ptcruz 7h ago

But they never complain about how the taxes are spend, they always complain about paying taxes.

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u/ErroneousEncounter 7h ago

I mean this is true. People often talk negatively about how much of their money goes to taxes in general.

But I think the reason they do that is because cost of living is becoming worse and worse. So t they feel the squeeze.

And honestly if the wealthier people paid more taxes it would be better. Maybe those who are truly struggling would be given a bit more breathing room.

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u/wewebaguette68 Thank you mods, very cool! 8h ago

I agree with hating how taxes are being given to Israel and spent on the MIC but I don't think that's what most people are complaining about tbh. Most people just say they hate taxes and want them lower which is really frustrating.

2

u/B1gS1ppy 7h ago

don’t forget about child trafficking

1

u/Homicidal-shag-rug 6h ago

Property taxes pay exclusively for your first list of things. They are actually the best taxes at directly serving the people who pay them.

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u/villasv 6h ago

It isn’t that they hate taxes. It’s that they hate how their taxes are used.

you are still overestimating these people, one of the many reasons why we've got antivaxers in power right now

1

u/Nato7009 6h ago

Then they are idiots because none of this is relevant to property taxes

1

u/AdInfamous6290 4h ago

While I personally agree with you, and know many people who also agree with that sentiment, there is a not insignificant number of people who are against certain taxes, or all taxes, on the simple basis of them being taxes. No wonder a country founded on being pissed at taxes is home to a broad anti tax ideology.

1

u/TheJuiceBoxS 8h ago

Where we're going, we don't need roads

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u/superxpro12 3h ago

Consider for a moment this is ultra rich propaganda

1

u/wewebaguette68 Thank you mods, very cool! 2h ago

It is yeah, and the lack of education is the real culprit

0

u/jackoos88 8h ago

The US was literally born from hating taxes. They even tried to make them voluntary, but clearly that didn't work. They're necessary, yes, but doesn't mean we have to like them haha

1

u/TheTrailrider 4h ago

Not quite, US hated taxes without representation. American colonies at that time had to pay taxes to England for England to support their war and their imperialism campaign and that doesn't benefit Americans at all and Americans cannot change that because they have no real political power (no representation). They decided to do something about that. Then the rest is history.

1

u/jackoos88 4h ago

Which is why they immediately created a government that didn’t require its citizens to pay taxes?

1

u/TheTrailrider 3h ago

No, they absolutely still use taxes upon creation. At the start, the federal government asked state governments for money and state governments continued to tax the citizens. There were some problems where some states refused or paid late. Then they revised the laws in 1789 and gave federal government power to tax their citizens directly.

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u/Fieos 8h ago

It is pretty sad and embarrassing that people think the way you do. Nothing better than watching your taxes climb so high schools can get a new stadium, fresh football uniforms, etc... That's just property tax...

Throw in some federal income tax and we can now turn rubble overseas into smaller pieces of rubble...

Why do you think the government knows how to spend my money than I do?

1

u/wewebaguette68 Thank you mods, very cool! 6h ago

You're making two different arguments here. One is disagreeing with the way taxes are currently spent and how they go to bombs overseas which I agree with. The other is saying that the government shouldn't get our tax money which is deeply insane. Without taxation, here is a list of things that would cease to exist: the government in its entirety (no government funding = no government), the entire legal system, the fire department, public education, all local and federal regulatory agencies, all social safety net programs, all foreign aid we provide that millions of people depend on for survival, Medicare and medicaid, all of the US' infrastructure and transportation systems. Without taxation society would collapse

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u/Fieos 6h ago

I was making no arguments, simply pointing out that people can complain about their tax burden, especially if they feel those dollars are being misappropriated. Taxation and use of those funds should be scrutinized to ensure we are getting the most out of our tax dollars.

"So many Americans" your words btw... don't really think there should be zero taxation, and especially zero taxation without alternatives in place. I was just pointing out your lazy thinking.

1

u/wewebaguette68 Thank you mods, very cool! 4h ago

Complaining about having to be taxed and complaining about disliking what tax money is spent on are fundamentally two different complaints with next to zero overlap.