How much would we have to tax people to have a society where people could live at a minimum of 30K/year doing nothing?

How many people?

Flat tax of 30K per person.

The average household income in the US is $50,000. If you give people $30,000 a year to do nothing that means the average household (which is over 2 people right now) would make $60,000 for not working.

Do you see why this won't work?

Don't know the answer, but to clarify, (because I think automation of low wage jobs could lead down this path so I've been thinking about it), you mean there would be zero other benefits given right? So taxes wouldn't have to make up a full 30k but instead 30k less any foodstamps/welfare/medicaid that a person is currently getting.

And for reference 30k for a healthy young person in a city that isn't NY/DC/SF is more than enough. I'm basically doing it now and still saving a decent chunk.

We already pay people the equivalent of $30k and more a year, and they don't work. The PC crowd bitches about the white trash on welfare, makes fun of those "hicks" and conveniently forgets to mention the fact that the majority of blacks and hispanics in the US collect some type of money from Uncle Sam in the form of "social services", and many hispanics work and collect, gaming the system.

This is all deficit spending. When the collapse hits, and hit will, all you brainwashed cowards will get a taste of the way certain peoples really are, and why the homelands, ancestral or otherwise, are piles of crap. LOL Laugh now. We'll be laughing at you later.

It's called communism.

Field Good wrote:

Flat tax of 30K per person.

This ^ is an excellent answer.

Not quite correct. But excellent nonetheless.

How will taxing people help the population to be able to make $30k doing pretty much nothing?

That money will pay for the machines to do all the work and provide whatever they are producing which the people will spend much of their 30k on.

None at all. Just print it off! If only the greedy Republicans would let us.

Blowing Rock Master! wrote:

The average household income in the US is $50,000. If you give people $30,000 a year to do nothing that means the average household (which is over 2 people right now) would make $60,000 for not working.

Do you see why this won't work?

Of course it wouldn't work today when the taxes are so low. But increase the taxes on the rich and it will work out fine.

People already do nothing, they just don't realize it. Essential jobs are far in the minority, the US is an economy of luxury, frivolity, swindling and outright theft.

Whatever you do for a living is probably meaningless and does nobody any good. You are paid to dig a Goldsteinian hole and someone else is paid to fill it back up again. For some reason you are proud of this.

I fix houses so people have a place to live.

Taxing the rich isnt about bringing in more income, its about making it less appealing to keep making more and more money which history has shown to hurt the lower classes who most are very willing to work.

Taxachusettes wrote:

How much would we have to tax people to have a society where people could live at a minimum of 30K USD/year type of standard of living doing nothing?

This can be accomplished by having ZERO tax, and stopping the fed from constantly creating inflation by printing more money and keeping it for themselves.

Where does the money come from when everyone is getting 30grand to do nothing? If every one is getting 30k to do nothing nobody is earning any money

to tax.

I'm confused by this idea

Taxachusettes wrote:

How much would we have to tax people to have a society where people could live at a minimum of 30K USD/year type of standard of living doing nothing?

A major problem with your hypothetical society is people who "do nothing". There is no such thing as a person who does nothing. You should clarify what you mean by that first. I bet you won't get a lot of agreement even on that premise.

steady work...... wrote:

I fix houses so people have a place to live.

Sure, until someone buys the land, tears down the house and builds an apartment building. The market no longer supports the single-family-home model. It's a bubble-prone luxury industry.

US population: 320 million (~3 * 10^8)

$30,000 = ~3 * 10^4

~9*10^12 or ~10^13 USD needed to literally just hand everyone 30,000

total revenue of US is 6 trillion (6 * 10^12) with federal, state, and local. Income tax is ~2 trillion (2*10^12) and the top 5% of people by income pay ~57% of income taxes based on quick google. Top 50% pay 97% of income taxes. Doubling income taxes would bring the total across all governments to the ~ 8 trillion.

So in terms of raw money that's the answer. Given that this ignores the fact that ~27% of US population is under 20 the raw revenue is mathematically there

Of course, that is not how economics work nor how a government works. But the government takes in near the same order of magnitude already. Whether it returns that value in the services it may or may not provide collectively requires much further analysis.

Enough that the people expected to pay those taxes would stop working. It's amazing how out of touch with reality some people are to think productive, ambitious people would willing to work so much more for so more for less just for the sake of "society."