this post was submitted on 12 Sep 2024
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[–] terminhell@lemmy.dbzer0.com 40 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

Military numbers seem grossly undervalued

[–] booly@sh.itjust.works 19 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

$83 billion per month is almost $1 trillion per year. That sounds about right.

[–] terminhell@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Oh dang, missed the part of this monthly.

[–] MiraculousMM@hexbear.net 14 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Right I thought the average size of a congress approved defense budget was just under a trillion lol

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 6 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

We don't know their dark money shush fund income or expenditure, and guess who's never passed an audit?

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[–] circuitfarmer@lemmy.sdf.org 30 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

The US has a problem of representation. Specifically and especially since the Citizens United decision, corporate interests can easily flow money towards politicians to make them do just about anything they want. This exacerbated an existing problem with the corporate tax rate and has now brought it into laughably low territory.

That's all an oversimplification of course, but it's not that Americans haven't "figured it out". It is far more complicated than that.

[–] wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 17 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Thank you. I'm getting quite tired of people posting the most fucking obvious takes about problems in the US, then going "why haven't americans fixed this? are they stupid?", when we have exceedingly small control over the actions of our shitass policy makers.

It's some real "everyone is dumb except for me" energy.

[–] VeganicTankie@lemmygrad.ml 7 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Yet somehow most Americans think they are a democracy

[–] dessalines@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 weeks ago

Someone defending the US few weeks ago said: "decisions are made by those who show up and vote".

No, decisions are made by those who hold economic and political power. That is NOT the citizenry of capitalist dictatorships. Having elections also serves a lot of ideological functions like:

  • Building consent / subservience for the capitalist dictatorship.
  • Creating the illusion of democracy.
  • Being an entertaining and distracting theatre piece.
  • Serving as a platform for capitalist ideas and talking points, making everything else seem "illegitimate"
  • Being used as a tool of western chauvinism, labeling any other system (even substantive people's democracies) as "undemocratic".
[–] ThomasMuentzner@hexbear.net 3 points 3 weeks ago

exactly ,

Passiv Income has 100% of the Delegates and the 2 Major partys ,

while Active Income has no Represenative at all...

[–] BumpingFuglies@lemmy.zip 16 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

Oh, we've known. There just isn't anything we can do about it.

[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 16 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)
[–] BumpingFuglies@lemmy.zip 7 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

Like we did with Occupy Wall Street or are doing now for Palestine?

[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 13 points 3 weeks ago

No, harder. Much, much harder.

[–] wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

OWS crumbled in ways right out of various leaked three letter agency guides to disrupting grass roots movements.

I'd love to see it get another try, with how news sources have become far more decentralized. Less opportunity for major news orgs to kill the momentum.

Full disclosure, the destruction of OWS is pretty much the one thing I allow myself to go "full tinfoil hat" over.

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[–] can@sh.itjust.works 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I'm not American, but generally exploite people can't afford to miss work.

[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 weeks ago (9 children)

The bolsheviks managed to, as have other revolutionary groups.

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[–] FreudianCafe@lemmy.ml 6 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Imagine if americans were as excited to shoot politicians as they get about shooting kids in school

[–] zante@lemmy.wtf 2 points 3 weeks ago

Yeah I can’t figure it out. All those gun rights. You’d think they’d do more with them

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[–] ThomasMuentzner@hexbear.net 5 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

buissness is getting squezed . also the current minority...

[–] Sickos@hexbear.net 16 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

USians spent 4.5 TRILLION dollars on healthcare in 2022.

[–] Sickos@hexbear.net 12 points 3 weeks ago

Or 375 billion/month, given the month scale in the above image

It was really bothering me that I was pronouncing this β€œYOO ESS-EEANNS” in my head every time I saw people using it. I just realized it can definitely also be β€œYOO-ZHIANS.” Which is obviously far superior.

[–] Hegar@fedia.io 8 points 3 weeks ago (5 children)

Estate taxes is woefully small. There should be a 100% death tax on all assets after $1M, excluding a single home.

[–] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 4 points 3 weeks ago

The tax formally known as β€œinheritance tax”.

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[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 8 points 3 weeks ago

Most have, increasingly so, they just lack strong orgs. As Imperialism decays, more will be forced to grapple with reality.

[–] davel@lemmy.ml 7 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (4 children)
[–] metaStatic@kbin.earth 5 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

The people are in debt... to themselves

[–] protist@mander.xyz 3 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

And as long as people have confidence in our currency, the debt we owe to ourselves really doesn't matter

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[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 4 points 3 weeks ago
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[–] TheBroodian@hexbear.net 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

That National Defense slice looking like it could be decimated, also

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 3 weeks ago

It isn't cheap being "leader of the free world".

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

TBF taxes on billionaires would go under individual taxes. And corporate taxes are relatively easy to fudge because corporations aren't real except on paper.

[–] ThomasMuentzner@hexbear.net 6 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

TBF you should really put more effort into "figuring it out" because you did not figure it out ..

i will give you a hint:

who is getting represented ?

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

It's a technical detail people might not have been aware of, and I've pointed it out. I'm going to disengage rather than defend a viewpoint I don't even necessarily hold.

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An astounding amount of our government goes towards taking care of old people, yet it still feels like there is basically no safety net for them.

[–] PennyRoyal@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 weeks ago

I’d like to see one of these for the UK tax system

[–] Tofu_Lewis@hexbear.net 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

The poorest Americans are constantly fighting with the bureaucracy to get assistance, this is by design to make them hate it.

Any addition to the expansion of the state will be met with hostility.

[–] ThomasMuentzner@hexbear.net 2 points 3 weeks ago

there is a Ingroup that the Laws shall protect but never hinder , and ther eis a Outgroup that the laws shall hinder, but never protect.

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