Our system is weighted to level out economic disparities. What the numbers demonstrate is that at certain income levels, the burden of taxation versus the benefit of government assistance can produce counter-intuitive consequences.
For example, if I make $1000 "too much" a year to qualify to put my kids in pre-school, and have to pay for this expense out-of-pocket, if the market cost is $10,000, then it follows that I take home $8,000 less than a person who makes $1000 just under the income level needed to qualify. Thus a $2,000 economic disparity is magnified by a factor of four, to the effect of punishing the person who has worked harder to get just a little bit ahead.
It is simple math.
Oh, and again, I just LOVE being punished for working harder. It makes me so HAPPY that freeloading acquaintences of mine have 50 Wii games, $1000 fish tanks, TVs twice the size of mine, and the newest iPhone of course.
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There's a level of facility that everyone needs to accomplish, and from there
it's a matter of deciding for yourself how important ultra-facility is to your
expression. ... I found, like Joseph Campbell said, if you just follow whatever
gives you a little joy or excitement or awe, then you're on the right track.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Terry Bozzio
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