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Anthony Bourdain on not having debt

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Re: Anthony Bourdain on not having debt

#31

Post by _vn5r »

coconut_crab wrote: post #29
refurb wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure if you're living in the US, but I do and I have the exact opposite viewpoint. The amount of waste, corruption and poor planning by the gov't makes me feel like I'm throwing money away. I'd rather give it a charity since then I'd know a majority of it had an impact. I think if the gov't was a bit more efficient and could be shown to be good stewards of money I'd probably hate paying taxes a lot less.

I live in one of the most corrupted countries in the world. Yet our newborn immunisation rate is nearly 100%, with free healthcare and education for the people in poorer rural area and ethnics minorities. And my tax money contributed to that. I guess it's fine to hate your government, but a better solution is to change it than avoid paying tax. Because if people pay less tax then then the poor and vulnerable will be…

What country is that?

Re: Anthony Bourdain on not having debt

#32

Post by yequalsx »

refurb wrote: post #21
vinhboy wrote: post #17

> Nobody likes paying high taxes, but I don’t mind. How refreshing. I agree with him. Paying my taxes is a point of pride for me. It's a repayment for all those years I was poor and the government paid for me to live and go to school.

Not sure if you're living in the US, but I do and I have the exact opposite viewpoint. The amount of waste, corruption and poor planning by the gov't makes me feel like I'm throwing money away. I'd rather give it a charity since then I'd know a majority of it had an impact. I think if the gov't was a bit more efficient and could be shown to be good stewards of money I'd probably hate paying taxes a lot less.

I believe there are no examples of charity ever being able to provide the basic needs of all but a small percent of the poor of a nation. It was not charities that provided clean water. It was not charities that largely ended hunger or gave healthcare to the poor. It was not charities that educated the masses. Government is necessary. It can be done badly but it doesn't have to be.

Re: Anthony Bourdain on not having debt

#33

Post by [deleted] »

p_eter_p wrote: post #24
refurb wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure if you're living in the US, but I do and I have the exact opposite viewpoint. The amount of waste, corruption and poor planning by the gov't makes me feel like I'm throwing money away. I'd rather give it a charity since then I'd know a majority of it had an impact. I think if the gov't was a bit more efficient and could be shown to be good stewards of money I'd probably hate paying taxes a lot less.

People always say this, but nobody can ever point to a solid example. Do you have hard numbers that government social programs are less efficient than charity?

[deleted]

Re: Anthony Bourdain on not having debt

#34

Post by sixo »

refurb wrote: post #21
vinhboy wrote: post #17

> Nobody likes paying high taxes, but I don’t mind. How refreshing. I agree with him. Paying my taxes is a point of pride for me. It's a repayment for all those years I was poor and the government paid for me to live and go to school.

Not sure if you're living in the US, but I do and I have the exact opposite viewpoint. The amount of waste, corruption and poor planning by the gov't makes me feel like I'm throwing money away. I'd rather give it a charity since then I'd know a majority of it had an impact. I think if the gov't was a bit more efficient and could be shown to be good stewards of money I'd probably hate paying taxes a lot less.

Well, even given the statement about the gov, that's not quite right: it was never your money to throw away.

Re: Anthony Bourdain on not having debt

#36

Post by kbenson »

refurb wrote: post #21
vinhboy wrote: post #17

> Nobody likes paying high taxes, but I don’t mind. How refreshing. I agree with him. Paying my taxes is a point of pride for me. It's a repayment for all those years I was poor and the government paid for me to live and go to school.

Not sure if you're living in the US, but I do and I have the exact opposite viewpoint. The amount of waste, corruption and poor planning by the gov't makes me feel like I'm throwing money away. I'd rather give it a charity since then I'd know a majority of it had an impact. I think if the gov't was a bit more efficient and could be shown to be good stewards of money I'd probably hate paying taxes a lot less.

Given that all the taxes go to perpetuate a system which allows the US to be successful, I think it's hard to make a case that overall the majority is not working usefully in some way, even if not obvious. I think it would be hard to make a case that if the government ceased to exist tomorrow and no more taxes were owed, we would all be better off.

Re: Anthony Bourdain on not having debt

#37

Post by yequalsx »

nkozyra wrote: post #12

Debt is a manifestation of risk. As general financial advice, "don't take on debt" is akin to "don't take risks." It depends. On a lot of things.

I think people don't consciously think in these terms. I once had debt in the form of student loans and a car loan. Becoming debt free was a great relief. It removed a ton of stress and provided me with freedom. The emotional well being from being debt free is not something that can easily be quantified in monetary terms. For the average person, I see it as "don't take on debt" being akin to "don't willingly get into a situation where you may have to worry".

Re: Anthony Bourdain on not having debt

#38

Post by jeffdavis »

nkozyra wrote: post #12

Debt is a manifestation of risk. As general financial advice, "don't take on debt" is akin to "don't take risks." It depends. On a lot of things.

To some, debt is a hit to one's freedom, dignity, and privacy.

Most debt requires you to give a lot of personal information, tell a bank what you are buying, and then stick to a fairly arbitrary payment plan with various penlties for non-compliance.

So it's perfectly sensible to minimize your debt for non-financial reasons.

Re: Anthony Bourdain on not having debt

#39

Post by jhbadger »

soperj wrote: post #26
refurb wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure if you're living in the US, but I do and I have the exact opposite viewpoint. The amount of waste, corruption and poor planning by the gov't makes me feel like I'm throwing money away. I'd rather give it a charity since then I'd know a majority of it had an impact. I think if the gov't was a bit more efficient and could be shown to be good stewards of money I'd probably hate paying taxes a lot less.

Tons of Charities pay their CEOs a shit ton of money. Boy Scouts CEO made 1.6 million as of 2010. I think it was Operation Smile that paid theirs over a million as well.

Exactly. All a non-profit means is that they don't set aside money as "profit". They can still pay themselves outrageous salaries. It's also why rich people set up "foundations".

Re: Anthony Bourdain on not having debt

#40

Post by mockery »

chjohasbrouck wrote: post #22
nkozyra wrote: post #12

Debt is a manifestation of risk. As general financial advice, "don't take on debt" is akin to "don't take risks." It depends. On a lot of things.

Risk is one of the things that debt can represent, sometimes, but there can be debt that doesn't involve any risk, and there are risks that don't involve debt. What's risky about using a credit card to buy a kayak? And how does investing money you already have in small cap equities represent a debt? I think for the vast majority of individuals just trying to make good personal finance decisions, "don't take on debt"…

(I don't really agree with the simplification of debt = risk. Despite that...)

> What's risky about using a credit card to buy a kayak? If you unexpectedly lose your job or are otherwise unable to pay off the card on the schedule you expected, you'll incur significant interest on the debt and end up having to pay far more than you originally planned. Compared with saving up money and paying in cash, there are clearly additional risks incurred when using the card.

(If you had the money to pay off the card already and are just using the CC as a convenient method of payment, the risk is obviously far lower.)

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