Best Ever Albums

Re: College is better than high school

YoungPunk — Sat, 2 Jun 2018 18:45:00 GMT

Author: YoungPunk

Posted: 06/02/2018 22:45

CryingGameDahlin wrote:

I donno, I only went to Higher Education for a few semesters but considering how many fewer times I was called "F****T" and me & my classmates not being treated like 5-year-olds in a hurdling competition by the teachers and administrators during College def made me look back on the later days more fondly.

If you try and last past a few semesters you learn a bunch. You should re-enroll. It sounds like I partied all the time but its really like seth said freshman year is mainly when you have a bunch of fun. Actually, I probably could've partied more but I was so interested in Physics and especially String Theory that I stopped going to have more time for studies and even research. I even helped publish papers that now have more than 100 citations, and I didn't do filework either, it was heavy duty Stephen Hawking Theory shit... It was super fun....

Re: College is better than high school

cestuneblague — Fri, 25 May 2018 11:22:18 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 05/25/2018 15:22

I donno, I only went to Higher Education for a few semesters but considering how many fewer times I was called "F****T" and me & my classmates not being treated like 5-year-olds in a hurdling competition by the teachers and administrators during College def made me look back on the later days more fondly.

Re: College is better than high school

Anonymous — Fri, 25 May 2018 06:13:42 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 05/25/2018 10:13

sethmadsen wrote:

But if you find something that's like 'Mericuh gon dun pay less=10%, well then I'll trust my anecdotal evidence/wikipedia/life experience/use case evidence over a bloated percentage.

Hey I've got a morning to kill and this stuff is actually pretty interesting so why not.

I think it's fair to look at income tax since we're talking about how tax effects the average Joe, the OECD stats compare the revenue from all taxes which, as I said before, while giving a pretty clear fundamental idea of a countries taxation levels, maybe isn't what's causing someone to say taxes in their country are 'super-high'.

I roughly compared personal taxable income brackets of 30,000 EU in Germany and 35,000 USD in the United States, because these are both close to each other when converting the currencies, and also sit comfortably around the average personal income in both countries.

In the United States, that firmly puts in the 12% federal income tax bracket.

https://files.taxfoundation.org/20180207142513/TaxFoundation-FF567-Updated.pdf

Germany is a bit more difficult to calculate since they have an incremental progressive taxation system for the majority of taxpayers. 30,000 EU places you around the 18% mark for income tax.

https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/work/taxes/income-taxes-abroad/germany/index_en.htm

There's also a church tax, which is 8-9% of your income tax if you have religious affiliations. It's a bit weird, and from what I looked into it, it seems like you can get around it pretty easily by not declaring yourself as religious. Pretty interesting, not heard of it before.

So that's a roughly 6% increase in income tax, which isn't quite your 10%, but once you start looking into social security, things add up.

In Germany you are obliged to pay a pension scheme, an unemployment insurance, health insurance, and disability insurance. This comes to about 20% of your gross salary (your employer pays the other 20%).

https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/D...y_2018.pdf
https://home.kpmg.com/xx/en/home/insights/2011/12/germany-other-taxes-levies.html

In comparison, in the US social security is 6.2% of an employees gross salary, which covers old age, survivor and disability insurance. Oh, and don't forget the whopping 1.45% Medicare tax on gross salary also.

https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc751

It's always going to be difficult to compare taxes between different countries, and I'm glossing over finer details like tax breaks for married couples, state taxes and so on, but I think this at least gives a fair sense of a comparison between the two. The US has always had a 'hard-on-taxes' culture, and whether that's a good or bad thing is another story. Sure, you pay for those tax breaks on medical fees and college loans down the line, does it balance out? I don't know. Are US taxes 'super-high'? I'll stick with no.

If there's any dodgy sources or faults here, do let me know. I tried to get information as 'from the horses mouth' as a could, but alas - I don't speak very good German.

Re: College is better than high school

Anonymous — Fri, 25 May 2018 03:54:35 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 05/25/2018 07:54

Again, talking about taxation and not living costs. I was disputing YoungPunk saying that US taxes were 'super high', which simply isn't true when comparing it to other developed nations. Seeing the % of revenue from taxation of a nation's GDP isn't meant to measure individual income, and I'm sure a vast portion of that % is collected from businesses, but it for sure suggests whether a country has higher total national taxation across the board.

The Wikipedia article you linked uses the same data I linked to as a source.

I'm not calling your friend a liar, and again, total living costs is a whole other debate and rabbit whole that I was never trying to go down, but if you believe that aggregate, peer-reviewed data pulled in from over 200 committees (who's reliability has every right to questioned) is just as anecdotal, then I don't know if there's a shred of evidence I could show you that you would believe otherwise. Unless, maybe, I pull in my mate from the pub who lived in America once who has a few thoughts.

I'd put it to you to prove that the statistics the OECD are presenting are 'bloated', then we're having a much more interesting debate.

Re: College is better than high school

RoundTheBend — Thu, 24 May 2018 17:17:34 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 05/24/2018 21:17

Puncture Repair wrote:

sethmadsen wrote:

Puncture Repair wrote:

High school is a primordial mess of goopy tadpolian half-people making messy mistakes.

You know that US taxes are way below the average compared to other developed nations, right?

This isn't entirely true. If I lived in Germany I'd pay roughly the same amount of taxes (as per an American friend making about the same amount of money I am/having a family roughly the same size).

Since turning 18, I've paid easily over $100k in either medical debt or student loans... and that's just in 15 years. I don't think I would pay $100k in taxes if I lived in Germany or the UK for that matter.

So not only am I paying comparable taxes, but don't get the benefits of a German citizen.

I digress, but felt like saying words about how the figures you can find on the internet about developed nation taxing is often not telling the whole truth.

Somebody's gotta pay for the 580 billion military budget each year...

Student loans and private medical fees aren't taxes.

https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=REV

Sure, there may be overlap among certain earnings brackets, but looking nationally and going beyond anecdotes, the US collects 12% less revenue from taxes (as a % of their GDP) compared to Germany which is a huge difference.

You're never going to get all the subtle nuances from 'figures' as sweeping as this. And yes, total living costs is a whole other debate - but I'd rather go by 'figures you can find on the internet' collected by an international organization than (no offense) what you reckon you 'think' might be case if you'd lived in Germany.

GDP does not equal individual income.

This is just as much anecdotal evidence as is mine. If you find something actually pointing to evidence, that'd be great - then take it through a few use cases of education/medical/other citizen benefits and then we can start talking real life shit.

Also I wouldn't call my friend a liar and consider his real life use case more valuable than the statistic you provided.

I also find the Wikipedia article which I ran my use case through to be much more insightful.

Again if you find more helpful data and can run multiple use cases in multiple scenarios then yes, your broad statistics can actually mean something to a tax payer. But if you find something that's like 'Mericuh gon dun pay less=10%, well then I'll trust my anecdotal evidence/wikipedia/life experience/use case evidence over a bloated percentage.

Not meant to offend, but it seemed like I was just returning the favor.

Re: College is better than high school

RoundTheBend — Thu, 24 May 2018 17:11:14 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 05/24/2018 21:11

Yeah - none taken.

I think taxes are very convoluted in the USA to oversimplify some of the variables given in other tax systems.

I don't have a lot of time right now, but when I talk to my American friend who lives in Germany with 4 kids and review this taxation in Germany and applied it to my situation, I found that I'd be paying nearly the same amount... it wasn't thousands of dollars more a year in taxes... maybe like $1,000 more.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_Germany#Income_tax

No taxes aren't medical bills or student loans, but if I had lived in Germany, my net would easily be $60 to $80k less.

Having a child, wife in ICU, child in NICU, and then I had a strange virus attack my heart after visiting Japan... those 4 alone were over $100k in medical debt in a 15 year period. I've paid nowhere near that much in taxes in the past 15 years and more importantly I wouldn't have paid that much in taxes had I lived in Germany.

Not only do Americans foot the bill for these things a lot of other citizens take for granted, we also pay local sales tax (both federal and state taxes with certain purchases like gasoline), income tax, social security tax (which the media constantly reminds us when Gen X retires we'll be paying into a system that no longer will exist when we are older), disability taxes, taxes on our home, taxes on our cars, etc.

Long story short, the experiences I've had with fellow tax payers in other countries - they get more citizen benefits and pay roughly the same amount of taxes (of equal tax brackets). If you are rich in these other countries - yes you get screwed and Americans have that benefit of tax loopholes (Buffet saying he pays less taxes than his secretary, for example).

So again - if you account for all the things, I actually believe it to be true that Americans get the raw deal and get told a fun story so we can continue getting taken advantage of because we just blindly believe it and don't have many international friends.

Then again - maybe I'm wrong - sounds like I'm wrong based on people telling me I'm wrong... hahaha.

Re: College is better than high school

Hayden — Thu, 24 May 2018 04:08:48 GMT

Author: Hayden

Posted: 05/24/2018 08:08

sethmadsen wrote:

Amen to racist Europeans... well Germans and Austrians are all I have real experience with. And honestly racism is rampant in all countries.

It's spray painted all over Vienna - Nazis Raus (get out) and XXXXX Raus.

Never been to Germany, but I don't find Vienna terribly anti-Semitic. If anything, I found Vienna slightly anti-Asian (as with most places in Europe). Which, is still racist. So, like, yeah, racism is in Europe, but it's everywhere. Canada's no exception either.

Also, that price tag hurt my gut. My sympathy. Really wish America had some sort of reasonable universal health care. The fact that you have to pay a substantial amount of money for childbirth is ridiculous.

Anyway. Taxes. They pay more taxes in Germany (like, regardless of what tax bracket you fall into in America). Not just income either, VAT comes in at 19%. I think Belgium and the Netherlands are still the highest taxed in the world, but I'll have to do a quick fact check. Not sure what numbers you're throwing at as Seth. But, like, no hard feelings either. It's all good.

Re: College is better than high school

Anonymous — Thu, 24 May 2018 03:50:12 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 05/24/2018 07:50

sethmadsen wrote:

Puncture Repair wrote:

High school is a primordial mess of goopy tadpolian half-people making messy mistakes.

You know that US taxes are way below the average compared to other developed nations, right?

Re: College is better than high school

RoundTheBend — Wed, 23 May 2018 21:54:52 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 05/24/2018 01:54

Finally I had more fun in high school than I did in all of college...

Logically I learned WAY more in college.

Likely if you are having fun in college you are a freshman wishing you had fun in high school but probably had helicopter parents.

Re: College is better than high school

RoundTheBend — Wed, 23 May 2018 21:53:10 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 05/24/2018 01:53

Amen to racist Europeans... well Germans and Austrians are all I have real experience with. And honestly racism is rampant in all countries.

It's spray painted all over Vienna - Nazis Raus (get out) and XXXXX Raus.

It's expected that Germans won't be a majority of population in Germany in like 50 years, rather middle easterners, mostly cause those from the southeast are procreating still and Germans by and large aren't (death rate of Germans is greater than the birth rate).

Re: College is better than high school

RoundTheBend — Wed, 23 May 2018 21:48:09 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 05/24/2018 01:48

Puncture Repair wrote:

High school is a primordial mess of goopy tadpolian half-people making messy mistakes.

You know that US taxes are way below the average compared to other developed nations, right?

Re: College is better than high school

Anonymous — Wed, 23 May 2018 03:20:22 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 05/23/2018 07:20

I could have sworn at some point we were talking about taxes.

Re: College is better than high school

Anonymous — Tue, 22 May 2018 17:48:31 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 05/22/2018 21:48

YoungPunk wrote:

dividesbyzero wrote:

Puncture Repair wrote:

YoungPunk wrote:

Puncture Repair wrote:

YoungPunk wrote:

How many Mexican/Black people make it in Europe?

Edit: Honest question btw..

Is that supposed to be the global metric on how we measure the success of taxation?

Well its the most relevant to me :)

It's most relevant to America. Not every country has Mexico underneath it. Black/Latin ethnic groups hardly make up 1% of the population in the vast majority of European nations. How could that possibly be a metric?

I'm guessing YoungPunk is himself black and/or Mexican and is wondering how Europe will treat him as such. To which I'd respond racism is rampant globally but America does tend to be markedly worse than most of the rest of the world

Yeah you nailed it but I'll believe it when Ed Sheeran stops dominating superior minority and Female artists with his lame white music there. I really liked it when we had open borders here and I'm hoping the next president will do something about that, it was a good idea.

oh trust me I'm not saying Europe isn't also racist as fuck because hoooooly shit it is

Re: College is better than high school

YoungPunk — Tue, 22 May 2018 17:12:41 GMT

Author: YoungPunk

Posted: 05/22/2018 21:12

dividesbyzero wrote:

Puncture Repair wrote:

YoungPunk wrote:

Puncture Repair wrote:

YoungPunk wrote:

How many Mexican/Black people make it in Europe?

Edit: Honest question btw..

Is that supposed to be the global metric on how we measure the success of taxation?

Well its the most relevant to me :)

Re: College is better than high school

Anonymous — Tue, 22 May 2018 05:03:31 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 05/22/2018 09:03

Puncture Repair wrote:

YoungPunk wrote:

Puncture Repair wrote:

YoungPunk wrote:

How many Mexican/Black people make it in Europe?

Edit: Honest question btw..

Is that supposed to be the global metric on how we measure the success of taxation?

Well its the most relevant to me :)

Re: College is better than high school

Anonymous — Tue, 22 May 2018 04:01:08 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 05/22/2018 08:01

YoungPunk wrote:

Puncture Repair wrote:

YoungPunk wrote:

How many Mexican/Black people make it in Europe?

Edit: Honest question btw..

Is that supposed to be the global metric on how we measure the success of taxation?

Well its the most relevant to me :)

Re: College is better than high school

YoungPunk — Mon, 21 May 2018 16:50:44 GMT

Author: YoungPunk

Posted: 05/21/2018 20:50

HigherThanTheSun wrote:

YoungPunk wrote:

Puncture Repair wrote:

YoungPunk wrote:

How many Mexican/Black people make it in Europe?

Edit: Honest question btw..

Is that supposed to be the global metric on how we measure the success of taxation?

Well its the most relevant to me 😄

Also taxation is kinda a silly thing to argue about. Warren Buffet says you can raise taxes to 90% and businesses can still make money. Would be kinda dumb though..

They would make 10% of their gross profit .. question is whether they would bother for such a small return when corporate tax is typically around 20% in most other countries

I preferred high school up to age 16ish because I had much fewer problems and responsibilities. Post 16 was turbulent through sixth form and uni though there were definitely some amazing highs mixed in with lows.

Now my life is way more stable and I'm more content in general though I do fear I'll never have the same highs I used to in my teens and early twenties and that definitely nags at me. Idk what to do about that though :-k

So you doubt the genius of Warren Buffett! Grrr... (sarcasm)
But on a serious note I do think motivation is the main reason that taxes should be kept low. It's why I think Nobel Laureate Economists are full of it... So you are kinda right as far as I can tell..

Re: College is better than high school

HigherThanTheSun — Mon, 21 May 2018 16:00:01 GMT

Author: HigherThanTheSun

Posted: 05/21/2018 20:00

YoungPunk wrote:

Puncture Repair wrote:

YoungPunk wrote:

How many Mexican/Black people make it in Europe?

Edit: Honest question btw..

Is that supposed to be the global metric on how we measure the success of taxation?

Re: College is better than high school

zdwyatt — Mon, 21 May 2018 15:13:33 GMT

Author: zdwyatt

Posted: 05/21/2018 19:13

College was better than high school for me, but I am not sure how much of that is about the towns involved. I left a town of about 25,000 to attend a state school that had almost twice that (to say nothing of the city being 10 times the size). I really enjoyed the anonymity that being at a big school provided. I didn't go to a tiny high school, but it still seemed like you knew everyone and their business.

College also came with way more freedom. There is the obvious living-on-your-own aspect, but I had more control over what I studied. Whereas high school felt like this conveyor belt, college was a time of unparalleled choice.

Re: College is better than high school

YoungPunk — Mon, 21 May 2018 13:15:42 GMT

Author: YoungPunk

Posted: 05/21/2018 17:15

Puncture Repair wrote:

YoungPunk wrote:

How many Mexican/Black people make it in Europe?

Edit: Honest question btw..

Is that supposed to be the global metric on how we measure the success of taxation?