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Comment by aristus | Hacker News Reader

...for one thing, every offhand remark becomes a news story.

It's a longish article but it goes on about how he feels frustrated by the political system, educational and health systems of the country and that he and Buffet believe they should be taxed more.

Moreover it appears, that like Jobs thought, wealth, after certain point is redundant -and to them, it was a side effect of their pursuit of their interest. It seems despite Jobs' jabs at Gates, Gates is personally a quite normal guy, psychologically speaking -he's not the megalomaniac people kind of make him out to be sometimes.

he and Buffet believe they should be taxed more

The two of them can send their checks here:

  Gifts to the United States
  U.S. Department of the Treasury
  Credit Accounting Branch
  3700 East-West Highway, Room 622D
  Hyattsville, MD 20782

I'm sick and tired of people who have already made enough income to last multiple lifetimes telling us that income taxes should now be raised. The government lets you tax yourself at 100% if you want. Ship them the money. They won't refuse it.

Enough with this "I'm feeling guilty, therefore other people should also pay more" nonsense.

I can donate money to the government. It would be to my detriment to do so. This does not negate the fact that I think the government needs to raise taxes. This is especially so since companies are sitting on record levels of cash and are not hiring. Added to this is the fact that taxes for the wealthy are at historical lows.

Maybe Gates is a hypocrite for not donating money to the government. Maybe I'm a hypocrite. This hypocrisy does not have anything to do with wether or not it is a good idea for the government to raise taxes on certain segments of the population.

It's more about the view and wish for changing the system and organizing it more efficiently so that more people can benefit from it. Taxing hoarded money that cannot be spent in a reasonable way by a few individuals and using that money to enhance lagging sectors is something a good government should hopefully be able to do. Couple of people sending the government a few billion is not going to accomplish much in that direction.

"cannot be spent in a reasonable way by a few individuals" - again with the socialist claptrap - these people earned the money, they should decide what it's best possible use is.

I'm stopping by your place today to raid your refrigerator, and take those clothes you aren't wearing. That good with you? 'cause that's what you're saying.

Your taxes are going to be a lot higher in the future because his are too low today.

No, our taxes are going to be a lot higher in the future because the government is too busy getting re-elected by redistributing taxes & allowing the printing of new money to be responsible with it's financial commitments. In the end, the powerless will be held responsible, and pay the price.

They're not saying "income taxes should be raised" but "income taxes should be raised for people like us", that is, other people who also have enough income to last multiple lifetimes. I really don't see what your point is.

I'm with the parent on this one: if you think the govt should tax more, send in your 'extra' money. Don't tell me what I should do with mine, don't say that everyone should pay more taxes. I'm the one that decides what to 'reasonably' do with my money. Perhaps if people acted more as a community, local community charities to distribute money to people. Having the government take your money by force and distribute it to people without your consent does nothing to foster community or cooperation.

I think you're missing the point. First off, Gates is doing a lot of amazing things with his money that benefit many people, not just in the US. Second, it's more of the ideal that a lot of the wealthy have more money than they really need... it's the point of redundancy. That money could be put to good use to help our country. Gates is doing enough good things with his money already.

"the wealthy have more money than they really need" - who are you to decide what the wealthy need? They decide, by how hard (or smart) they are willing to work.

So you give this response whenever anyone advocates raising taxes? And in that way they are eventually ratcheted to zero, or nearly so? And did you truly literally parse 'believes he and Buffet should be taxed more', rather than realize it meant the more reasonable 'believes people at his and Buffet's wealth and income levels should be taxed more'?

I guess what I'm getting at is: are you really this pedantic, or just stupid?

the words 'put up or shutup' come to mind. There aren't that many people at Buffet & Gates level - they would affect the average if they donated what their conscience tells them to.

That's more a function of notoriety. I saw something on CNN a number of weeks ago about some comment Michael Jackson made six months before he died.

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