BF2S Forums More Rich Americans Renounce U.S. Citizenship for Lower Taxes

Jenspm wrote:

jord wrote:

Jenspm wrote:

Sure, but I'd rather pay my taxes and live whatever life I can afford rather than hide it away in the Caymans and lay low and hope nobody notices I'm richer than I say I am.

You can still live the same life when you undeclared money abroad. You don't need to hide from anyone, your neighbour doesn't know how much you earn or put on your tax returns, and its none of their business. If you're earning 90k a year and put down 60k instead nobody will know unless you do stupid shit or brag. Politcal reasons about tax squandering aside, on a personal level if you can increase your income by 10-25% with little risk you're going to.

In Norway, how much you reportadly earn and own is on the internet, and as easy to find as your phone number.

Last edited by jord (2010-07-28 06:56:26)

Dilbert_X wrote:

Turquoise wrote:

Dilbert_X wrote:

You answered already - pork.

Well, I was referring to our military spending...   Some of that is pork for the military industrial complex, but some of it also involves legitimate interventionism that is a net benefit to the world.

While it is true that a lot of our interventionism is just a matter of economic interests, some of it is humanitarian.  Humanitarian interventionism should be more evenly spread in its costs amongst the wealthiest nations.

I was referring to your military spending too.

Other nations intervene too BTW.

Shahter wrote:

Turquoise wrote:

While it is true that a lot of our interventionism is just a matter of economic interests, some of it is humanitarian.  Humanitarian interventionism should be more evenly spread in its costs amongst the wealthiest nations.

don't make me laugh, turq. coming from feos or somebody like him - i'd understand that - but you? "humanitarian interventionalism"? oxymoron.

lowing wrote:

Dilbert_X wrote:

lowing wrote:

I absolutely would love to give that a try. Maybe the money we spend defending Europe so Europe doesn't have to defend themselves could go into something a little more worth while back home.

The US spends a good deal more money defending Israel than Europe, go bitch at them.

I dunno but, doubt it. Considering the troops, the equipment, the logistics, the bases..I gotta think more is spent in Europe.

Shahter wrote:

Turquoise wrote:

While it is true that a lot of our interventionism is just a matter of economic interests, some of it is humanitarian.  Humanitarian interventionism should be more evenly spread in its costs amongst the wealthiest nations.

don't make me laugh, turq. coming from feos or somebody like him - i'd understand that - but you? "humanitarian interventionalism"? oxymoron.

Turquoise wrote:

Not everything is just about oil or contractors.

Last edited by Shahter (2010-07-28 07:19:40)

Varegg wrote:

JohnG@lt wrote:

Varegg wrote:

Care to elaborate?

Your country offers me nothing that I can't do on my own. I can plan my own retirement, pay for my own health insurance, find a way to pay for my education, and I can do all that for my future children as well. I have no need for anything your government would offer me, especially since the majority of the money they would take from me would go into other peoples pockets instead of my own. I don't want to live in a society where I am working to put food on the table for other people. This is why I stated that I want no part of the yoke a country like yours would place around my neck.

When I originally said that most of the countries I would wish to move to have higher taxes than the US does, I wasn't thinking in terms of 'oh what nice, polite society', I was thinking more along the terms of climate and hot women. I like the cold and I like blondes

I must be blind then because I see no yoke around my neck

And just for amusement sake, in a comparrison a little while ago, it turned out lowing and myself payed an equal amount of money in tax ... so someone is getting screwed while the other gets value for money ...

Varegg wrote:

Our taxes are not subsidized at all ... so try again ...

JohnG@lt wrote:

Varegg wrote:

Our taxes are not subsidized at all ... so try again ...

No? Your government doesn't rake in billions of dollars in profit every year from Statoil? Where does that money go? Does it disappear into thin air? Line a government ministers pockets or does it go into the general fund where it offsets the taxes that you would otherwise pay?

I'm sure it's nice living in a country where you can count on someone else footing the bill for you from cradle to the grave but I'd rather not live in a society where between the cost of living and the high taxes it's next to impossible to escape the middle. I don't want to be mediocre.

JohnG@lt wrote:

Turquoise wrote:

That's probably true, but that also shows the wisdom of keeping immigration low.  Having a smaller more homogeneous population is much easier to organize in an economically optimal way.  The end result is lower taxes than you otherwise would have while still maintaining a high standard of living.

Oh yes, it's so much better having a planned economy.

JohnG@lt wrote:

Turquoise wrote:

That's probably true, but that also shows the wisdom of keeping immigration low.  Having a smaller more homogeneous population is much easier to organize in an economically optimal way.  The end result is lower taxes than you otherwise would have while still maintaining a high standard of living.

Oh yes, it's so much better having a planned economy.

Turquoise wrote:

lowing wrote:

jord wrote:

Lol. That argument is so done to death. The conclusion is the usa entered the war, albeit late because they wouldn't have been able to withstand an attack from a europe united under facism.

Did I mention late yet...?

I am not talking about ww2 jord

While it is true that we essentially serve as the world's police, that doesn't excuse our inability to balance our budgets.  When it comes to debt spending, we're quickly moving towards the more insolvent end of the highly developed world.  We're not nearly as bad as Japan when it comes to public debt vs. GDP, but we're starting to match a lot of Europe with regard to it.

Granted, it is easier for smaller countries like Norway to balance their budgets when they don't have to pay for much of a military, and the nature of their politics is less partisan and pork-filled.  Both Canada and Norway may be more socialist than us, but neither of them have as much of a problem with pork as we do.

In terms of corporate taxation, both Canada and Norway have lower rates as well.  Granted, they both have higher personal income taxes.

If nothing else, these countries show us that the economic ideal involves having a small population with a lot of resources.  But, as you implied, Norway would likely be spending more on their military than they currently do if it weren't for our own spending.

Of course, that begs the question...  Why do we spend as much as we do?

If anything, the onus here should be on us (no pun intended) to more responsibly spend on our military (and to minimize our pork), so that the rest of the developed world eventually picks up the slack militarily, allowing for a more reasonable balance of the burdens of intervention.