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My Parents Give Me $28k a Year

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Re: My Parents Give Me $28k a Year

#91

Post by zxcvvcxz »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #87
zxcvvcxz wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.” Why should we aim to have future generations of artists and leisure enthusiasts, only so the cycle can begin anew?

Yes, obviously, we should strive to not improve anything. Having the occasional bright spot punctuating the gloom of history is such a waste of time. /s

How about maintaining some sense of balance, responsibility, and austerity in our societies, instead of forever marching towards a fictional leisure-filled utopia?

Re: My Parents Give Me $28k a Year

#92

Post by Frondo »

paulddraper wrote: post #80
astrodust wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At low levels, which aren't taxed, it's not going to affect anything. At high levels, like giving your kid ten billion dollars, you're making it impractical or impossible for others to advance economically. You're creating a class of people with indestructible inherited wealth that never have to work, that only have to collect interest and rent on the backs of everyone else. That's what inheritance tax and gift taxes…

> like giving your kid ten billion dollars, you're making it impractical or impossible for others to advance economically. Zero-sum is one perspective, but not one that I subscribe to. Does your neighbor having $10b of stuff make you better or worse off than if than if there's $10b of stuff at the bottom of the ocean?

It's a problem if you care about any of the measurable real-world consequence of wealth inequality.

It's also a problem if you view it as a symptom of a system that isn't functioning well at giving everyone a fair shake in life, in participating economically or politically.

The number itself isn't a problem, it's what it causes and what it's caused by that's the problem.

Get money out of politics, get everyone a vote and the capacity to use it, make sure everyone's fed and housed adequately, everyone has access to health care and education ... make it so we're living in a Star Trek TNG universe, and I don't care about how much the next guy has either.

Until then, it's worth looking at, at least the very least to help us to see why we don't have all those nice things.

Re: My Parents Give Me $28k a Year

#93

Post by kazinator »

LitFan wrote: post #85
vorpalhex wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except most people know that heroin isn't like candy. The side effects and consequences of snorting a few lines of cocaine isn't some secret.

Most people think heroin isn't like candy. The physical dependence is the same, and there are 4 times as many deaths that can be linked to sugar as drugs per year in the US. The only difference is that heroin is illegal and costs a lot more than candy.

Firstly, "linked to sugar" is not "squarely caused by sugar".

Secondly, sugar use is extremely widespread. Much more so than use of heroin. Few people avoid ingesting some sugar.

Even if there were 4 times as many deaths confirmed to be squarely caused by sugar, that alone shows sugar to be far safer, since it has far more than 4 times the users.

But never mind, let's look at, oh, the lethal dose (LD50) info. For sugar, that is supposedly something like 30 g/kg. The LD50 for heroin (intravenous) is something like 20 mg/kg: more than a thousand times less.

Plus there is copious sugar in your bloodstream without which you'd be in hypoglycemic shock leading to death.

Re: My Parents Give Me $28k a Year

#94

Post by 0d311 »

vorpalhex wrote: post #29
coliveira wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People treat drug users as if this was something that they chose to do. In fact, most drug addicts are in this situation because they suffer from a tendency to drug abuse. Many of them had good jobs and lost them because of this condition. Holding up on the UBI program for everyone else because of the behavior of a few that need treatment is absurd.

Nobody is compelled to take methamphetamines or heroin, especially not the first time. Yes, physical addiction is a beastly problem beyond simply quitting cold turkey - but you sort of put yourself in that boat to begin with. It's a bit like not knowing how to swim, and deciding to jump into the ocean. If you don't know how to swim, don't jump in the ocean.

"A study of young, urban injection drug users interviewed in 2008 and 2009 found that 86 percent had used opioid pain relievers nonmedically prior to using heroin... Of people entering treatment for heroin addiction who began abusing opioids in the 1960s, more than 80 percent started with heroin. Of those who began abusing opioids in the 2000s, 75 percent reported that their first opioid was a prescription drug."[0]

What if they're being intentionally coerced by pharma?

[0]: https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/rela...

Re: My Parents Give Me $28k a Year

#95

Post by isostatic »

sailfast wrote: post #28
ntumlin wrote: post #21

Maybe this isn't the right place to ask, but could someone explain the rationale for taxing gifts within a family? Ignoring the possibility of using it to circumvent an income tax, etc., my initial thought is that if my dad wants to give me $30,001 this year, or even $300,000 this year, that he's already paid taxes on it and it's not the government's business. I feel the same way about inheritance taxes, although tho…

Disclaimer: I'm not a tax advisor or anything, just a humble payer. The notion of "the family" is not a thing unless you're talking about dependents. Transferring money from one person to another is income for the person receiving the money. It's not being taxed twice, just once per time "earned". (and it's not even taxed until the limit per the comment in this thread! TIL) To allow for these kinds of gifts they limi…

> it's only available to the super wealthy.

> I kid here

Indeed, you don't have to be super wealthy to dodge taxes.

In the UK some people who consider themselves poor will happily talk to a solicter about "inheritance tax planning".

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/inheritance-tax-pla...

Re: My Parents Give Me $28k a Year

#96

Post by dumbfoundded »

wowzap wrote: post #83
dumbfoundded wrote: post #72

Relevant John Adams quote: I could fill volumes with descriptions of temples and palaces, paintings, sculptures, tapestry, porcelain, etc., etc., etc.—if I could have time. But I could not do this without neglecting my duty. The science of government it is my duty to study, more than all other sciences: the art of legislation and administration and negotiation, ought to take place, indeed to exclude in a manner all o…

It's a beautiful quote and sentiment. But seriously, how unrealistic is that? The bad guys are still going to be here three generations from now and the world is still going to need people with hard skills.

Progress is being made but it's never perfectly linear without regressions.

Re: My Parents Give Me $28k a Year

#97

Post by 0d311 »

soared wrote: post #71

Does anyone have recommendations on how to overcome the resentment I feel against people like the author? I am jealous and frustrated by their advantage, but that opinion is purely negative and doesn't help me at all.

Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, last month, a year ago. Stop comparing yourself to others, remap comparing yourself against others to comparing yourself against your past self.

Re: My Parents Give Me $28k a Year

#98

Post by xenihn »

subpixel wrote: post #64

Small sample size, but I happen to know multiple people in their thirties and forties whose parents continue to fund their 'creative' lives. I can assure you they are not as happy as you think free money might make you.

I know so many people who call into this in NYC and LA.

Re: My Parents Give Me $28k a Year

#99

Post by mmcconnell1618 »

isostatic wrote: post #89
dragonwriter wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Maybe this isn't the right place to ask, but could someone explain the rationale for taxing gifts within a family? Could you explain the rationale for excluding such unearned income, other than privileging generational wealth against wealth earned by personal work and investment? > Ignoring the possibility of using it to circumvent an income tax, etc., my initial thought is that if my dad wants to give me $30,001 t…

> Could you explain the rationale for excluding such unearned income, other than privileging generational wealth against wealth earned by personal work and investment? If I buy a round of drinks, do people have to pay tax? (I assume there's some minimum threshold)

I'm fairly certain the United States Internal Revenue Service would consider the drinks received by others as income they should technically report on their taxes. For practical purposes, I suspect that almost no one ever does report this type of gift, but yes, technically it would qualify.

If I give someone $5 for their birthday, they should report it but won't. If I give them $50,000 for their birthday, they better report it or risk the IRS finding out and coming after them.

Re: My Parents Give Me $28k a Year

#100

Post by TheOtherHobbes »

xkcd-sucks wrote: post #88
ntumlin wrote: post #21

Maybe this isn't the right place to ask, but could someone explain the rationale for taxing gifts within a family? Ignoring the possibility of using it to circumvent an income tax, etc., my initial thought is that if my dad wants to give me $30,001 this year, or even $300,000 this year, that he's already paid taxes on it and it's not the government's business. I feel the same way about inheritance taxes, although tho…

Governments, like most living things, want to be at the top of the power hierarchy. Families are similar organisms that accrue power similarly. Where families are powerful, governments and corporations are weak. So, governments do things to cripple families so they cannot become powerful enough to be dangerous. Retaining wealth across generations is a thing that makes a family powerful.

Government, like Soylent Green, is people.

The US government has been the pet toy of a small cadre of powerful families for a long time now.

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