On: Why you and I will never have a 15 hour work week

[fsk]

Don't forget taxes. If your total taxation rate is more than 50%, then you're spending half your working hours for yourself, and the other half working as a slave for the government.

Add up income taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, payroll taxes, etc, and it goes over 50% pretty quickly.

[toomuchtodo → fsk]

I like to pay taxes. With them, I buy civilization.

[dummy7953 → toomuchtodo]

Unless you get a government that blows a hole in the budget with stupid, wasteful spending.

[toomuchtodo → dummy7953]

Eternal vigilance is required to ensure the government the citizens demand exists.

[coldtea → fsk]

>and the other half working as a slave for the government.

And the other half helping build the infrastructure, services, protection (army), education etc that enabled you to live and work in a sovereign, developed country in the first place.

I fixed it for you.

[fsk → coldtea]

That only costs a couple of percent. The rest is waste/fraud/theft.

[toomuchtodo → fsk]

Proof?

[fsk → toomuchtodo]

Trillions of dollars in bank bailouts?

The military/industrial complex?

The prison/judicial complex?

For example, approximately 0.5% of the NYC population works for the NYPD. So, a tax rate of 0.5% should be sufficient to maintain order in a city like NYC. Add in some overhead and you get to 1%.

Roads are similar, can be done easily for 1% or less.

[coldtea → fsk]

>The military/industrial complex?

As a European, I don't think the US would be anywhere as developed and top dog without the "military/industrial complex" ensuring it get its diplomatic way, cheap resources and favorable deals around the world.

[dummy7953 → coldtea]

The low cost of oil out of Saudi Arabia may be partially due to the US involvement in airstrikes against entities in Syria and Iraq.