[lit-ideas] Re: Paying taxes for months on end
- From: Ursula Stange <Ursula@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 25 May 2005 08:24:47 -0400
No trouble. It was just a google away. But it tells a very incomplete
story. If you look at the countries at the top, they are all poor,
third world countries, many with dictatorships and we're not surprised
that they put defense so far ahead of quality-of-life for their
citizens. I think the founding fathers would be dismayed at how far up
that list the U.S. is. So would Dwight Eisenhower. (Anyone who's
never read his speech warning about the military-industrial complex,
should do so pronto -- maybe I'll google it later).
The other problem is the sheer amount of money that 3 percent of GDP
represents. Imagine a poor family that has to spend fifty percent of
its income to put a roof over its head. Then a rich family who spends
only 6 percent. In a chart arranged like this (and with no further
information), it would appear that the poor family must live in a palace
compared to the rich family. The statistic isn't exactly lying, but
it's handily incomplete.
Best,
Ursula
Brian wrote:
>Thank you for looking this up, Ursula. I knew we weren't in the top
>ten but this shows we aren't even in the top thirty-five!
>
>B.
>
>On May 24, 2005, at 12:03 PM, Ursula Stange wrote:
>
>
>
>>Brian wrote:
>>As a percent of GDP the U.S. isn't even in the top ten in military
>>spending.
>>
>>U.S.: Brian's right. But look who you're keeping company with....
>>Here's the CIA's list of top military spenders (and the CIA
>>wouldn't lie...)
>>
>>http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/rankorder/2034rank.html
>>
>>Ursula
>>
>>
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