Thread: The rich get richer.... Poor get...

I now consider our family to be comfortable.Its been bloody hard work.12 years ago I had a significant back injury working on a farm.Lowley paid work,$12.00 per hour plus a farmhouse to live in wow.
We bought a cheap house as we had to get off the farm,best thing that could have happened.
I was told I would never be able to do farm work or operate machinery again
I got a casual job with the Shire doing traffic control.Went on to drive the roller,then a 6 wheeler,then a semi trailer.I played in a grader one day,those who saw me in it thought I had been driving them before,never had even sat in one.I got given the maintence grader,and very soon after the construction grader.Im also leading hand and fill in for the Works Supervisor when he is away.
Its all down to hard work.
We dont have heaps in the bank,but always can find some spare coins for toys from time to time.
My back,its stuffed.Im in constant pain,dont even take painkillers anymore unless its critical,they dont work after a week or so.Will be happy if I get another 5 to 10 years out of it,after then who knows???
Andrew

So, I just got home from my day job. Been crutching Alpaca's this afternoon. I dont mind it, cause at least the kids get new bedding tonight.

This morning, after helping the local milkman do his rounds, I rolled & delivered 900 newspapers, on the way to the bakery to do my shift there. So after breaking in 3 brumbies, I ran the 18 miles to my day job as a nitro glycerine quality control technician. The career advancement possibilities are limited, but I do tend to get a bang out of it...

Anyway, the boss has just given up the smokes, and his hands are a bit shaky, so we took an early minute, which gave me time to go coach the local footy team. Go the mighty Bombers....

So, after cricket practice, I dropped in at the local newspaper, where I am the reporter & editor, for a couple of quick meetings.

Anyway, must go.... have to change those red lights at the top of the power poles. There are a couple of loose ones that keep blinking....

Originally Posted by Basil135

So, I just got home from my day job. Been crutching Alpaca's this afternoon. I dont mind it, cause at least the kids get new bedding tonight.

This morning, after helping the local milkman do his rounds, I rolled & delivered 900 newspapers, on the way to the bakery to do my shift there. So after breaking in 3 brumbies, I ran the 18 miles to my day job as a nitro glycerine quality control technician. The career advancement possibilities are limited, but I do tend to get a bang out of it...

Anyway, the boss has just given up the smokes, and his hands are a bit shaky, so we took an early minute, which gave me time to go coach the local footy team. Go the mighty Bombers....

So, after cricket practice, I dropped in at the local newspaper, where I am the reporter & editor, for a couple of quick meetings.

Anyway, must go.... have to change those red lights at the top of the power poles. There are a couple of loose ones that keep blinking....

Just out of curiosity they didn't happen to be BMKal's Alpacas over in WA?

he is trying to sell me some to help me get rich

Originally Posted by dullbird

Just out of curiosity they didn't happen to be BMKal's Alpacas over in WA?

he is trying to sell me some to help me get rich

Thats them...

Just watch out for number 649. Really bad breath..

Love your work.

Originally Posted by Basil135

Thats them...

Just watch out for number 649. Really bad breath..

Ok thanks for that, just quickly though is that the neighbours to the left or the right??

Originally Posted by Offender90

How about if I'm well off and still want to bitch about the poor getting poorer?

I've studied reasonably hard, got a reasonably well paying job and have invested reasonably smartly. I have perhaps more than I need and think that I (and others like me) should be taxed more to give those born in less fortunate circumstances the opportunity to better themselves (the same opportunity I've had when I was growing up).

As others have said, it's all about what type of a society you want to live in. Personally, I don't like the idea of gated communities, or having to send my kids to private schools. That's why I try to do all I can to support a greater middle class. And that includes accepting that I should pay more tax.

Not so it can be handed out in welfare to second or third generation unemployed mind you, but to give their kids the education and ability to create a better life for themselves. The wealthy benefit from an (IMHO unfair) tax system, which often encourages parasitic investment of capital. Negative gearing is my personal pet hate, but there are plenty of others (salary sacrificing, GST, tax deductions for (questinable) "business" expenses and so on).

At the end of the day, we're all interconnected. If 10 people have to struggle on minimum wage so I can make more money that I don't need, it will adversely affect my quality of life in the long run. It will mean ten less people that use the goods or services I produce, might mean two or three more people that are looking to rob/scam or otherwise cheat me, etc etc...

... long story short, if you've made something for yourself I think that's great for you, especially if you didn't start with much. Sounds like you were able to utilise some government provided services to get there, and that's great also. Unfortunately, there are fewer opportunities for people from lower socio-economic backgrounds to make something of themselves today then there were 10 years ago, and fewer still than there were 30 years ago. And that's in large part because our taxation policies are skewed to help the wealthy get wealthier, thus leaving a smaller slice of the pie to be fought over by a greater number of people.

And in my humble opinion, that's not fair!

I sort of agree. I am not sure that higher income earners should be taxed more though as $100k really is not rich. Maybe the extremely wealthy should pay a bit more and companies and individuals that rort the system and pay minimal tax should be targeted. There are a lot of mega rich that pay no tax and use the excuse that they generate it through their employees etc, well that is no excuse not to pay personal tax on income generated same as everyone else.
My personal thoughts are redistribution of wealth etc should be looked at and and any assistance should only be given to people prepared to work or in a genuine position where they cannot work. People who dont want to work should only get minimal assistance.
There may be alternatives that could work such as free public transport etc.
What irks me most is the lack of assistance a low income earner will get if made redundant. Not trying to start a refugee argument, but how does someone come in from OS under the refugee program and get handed around $60k to set up and priority housing as well as assistance to find work over and above hwat everyone else gets. Before everyone starts jumping up and down, this is fact. I have spoken to many who have admitted this, some have been smart and bought a house but most seem to spend a big chunk of this on new cars. Most Australians will never buy a new car. We should be helping our own first.
I do not know how people genuinely survive on sub $50k pa and have a decent life.
Again not supporting bludgers but genuine people that through no fault have no education or ability to earn decent money.

I agree with some of the points in the previous post but let me say that we have the system and laws that the people want and this has been proved in elections after elections.
So, as minority, we have to accept what the majority want.
Regarding taxes I remember this:

I am not evading tax in any way, shape or form. Of course, I am minimising my tax. Anybody in this country who does not minimise his tax wants his head read. I can tell you as a government that you are not spending it so well that we should be donating extra.
Kerry Packer