It is human nature to trust your own kind. Jared Diamond pointed out in primitive societies it is very difficult to trust outsiders. Modern civilization has developed because we have found ways to trust outsiders and not to be so quick to judge a group by an individual or an individual by a group. Trump is an intelligent man, but he is appealing to ignorance--Mexicans and Muslims are not responsible for all of America's problems, but by making them scapegoats it is comforting not only to the poor and powerless, but also to the rich and powerful who can thus deflect blame for their own greedy manipulations. America and western civilization have much to gain by being open to more of the world and what it has to offer. There is a risk that some outsiders may do us harm, but there is also a risk that we are harming ourselves by being close minded.
Leaders are elected to make decisions. Most of the voters are really ignorant of all the factors (actually that pretty well includes everyone, even the president). Others put him in this situation and he is trying to juggle a lot of factors to make a difficult choice. Too bad most people really don't appreciate the difficulty.
All people, no matter where have some commonalities and worthy of our respect. Anthony Bourdain shows us a diverse range of people doing common things that we all can appreciate. Keep it up.
There is a perception expressed in advocates of flat tax that the rich should only have to pay the same percentage as everyone else. This overlooks a few things. One, they benefit more than others as they have access to the physical infrastructure, the military protection, the educated, healthy consumer and labourer, the justice system. Some feel that high unemployment keep wages down, but they also affect consumption. Other big factor is that everyone does pay at the same rate. It is only on the marginal rates that richer people pay more than others and in fact most can afford accounting advice or can manipulate legislation (best example hedge fund managers) to minimize taxes. The taxes have never stopped someone from working harder or smarter (or bending the rules) to get into a higher tax bracket if they really want it.
When radicals say make the rich pay that might be a bit harsh and where the line is is unclear, but it is clear they could all pay more and we all would benefit.
It is human nature to trust your own kind. Jared Diamond pointed out in primitive societies it is very difficult to trust outsiders. Modern civilization has developed because we have found ways to trust outsiders and not to be so quick to judge a group by an individual or an individual by a group. Trump is an intelligent man, but he is appealing to ignorance--Mexicans and Muslims are not responsible for all of America's problems, but by making them scapegoats it is comforting not only to the poor and powerless, but also to the rich and powerful who can thus deflect blame for their own greedy manipulations. America and western civilization have much to gain by being open to more of the world and what it has to offer. There is a risk that some outsiders may do us harm, but there is also a risk that we are harming ourselves by being close minded.
Leaders are elected to make decisions. Most of the voters are really ignorant of all the factors (actually that pretty well includes everyone, even the president). Others put him in this situation and he is trying to juggle a lot of factors to make a difficult choice. Too bad most people really don't appreciate the difficulty.
All people, no matter where have some commonalities and worthy of our respect. Anthony Bourdain shows us a diverse range of people doing common things that we all can appreciate. Keep it up.
There is a perception expressed in advocates of flat tax that the rich should only have to pay the same percentage as everyone else. This overlooks a few things. One, they benefit more than others as they have access to the physical infrastructure, the military protection, the educated, healthy consumer and labourer, the justice system. Some feel that high unemployment keep wages down, but they also affect consumption. Other big factor is that everyone does pay at the same rate. It is only on the marginal rates that richer people pay more than others and in fact most can afford accounting advice or can manipulate legislation (best example hedge fund managers) to minimize taxes. The taxes have never stopped someone from working harder or smarter (or bending the rules) to get into a higher tax bracket if they really want it.
When radicals say make the rich pay that might be a bit harsh and where the line is is unclear, but it is clear they could all pay more and we all would benefit.