equality at any cost?

bajenaghe naghi
by bajenaghe naghi
26-Nov-2008
 

the other day mr. Wu who is our mailman walked in and as soon as he saw me he became quite akhmaloo. i asked him what is the matter. he said that his child's school district has decided to make the educational playing field more level for every child by taking a fraction of the grades from those students with As and Bs and giving them to the students with Cs, Ds and Fs. i could not believe what i was hearing. so i said to him that how can they do this to those poor students who have studied so hard by staying up all night and studying and forgoing all the fun and playing and partying for the sake of studying. this is the unfairest thing i have ever heard. this will lower the standard for those who work hard and produce such high grades. the incentive to work hard is taken from these hard working students. mr Wu said that by doing this the students with lower grades will end up with higher grades and this will enable them to go to better colleges. the district believes that this will cause more happyness among the students and more uniformity since the wide gap that now exists among the higher grade students and those with lower grades will be reduced. at this time my jaw was some where on the floor under my foot. seeing this mr. Wu laughed and put his hand on my shoulder and told me that he only used this example to show me how absurd this notion of taking from those who have to give to those who have not really is. he said that is what they are going to do with the money we are earning by working so hard. they are going to tax us more and take it from us and give to those who depend on the goverment for hand outs. 

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bajenaghe naghi

kahar jan

by bajenaghe naghi on Thu Nov 27, 2008 01:05 PM PST

well said. i wish that charlie darwin was our secretary of treasury. he would have  put into practice his theory of evolution about the survive of the fittest. and we would have got rid off a lot of dead wood as well as some fat and thieving wall street rats. 

happy thanksgiving day to you to my friend. now i know why they want to tax the "rich" it is because they want to give it to the super rich. 


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Khar

Bajenagh Jaan...

by Khar on Thu Nov 27, 2008 11:52 AM PST

You wrote: "They are going to tax us more and take it from us and give to those who depend on the goverment for hand outs." 

With all due respect, we just handed out 1,000,000,000,000 (Trillion) dollars of tax payer’s money to the biggest tax dodgers in America; the CORPORATIONS their CEOs and the fat cats on wall-street and they are begging for more!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!


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bajenaghe naghi

princess jan

by bajenaghe naghi on Thu Nov 27, 2008 11:28 AM PST

thank you i really appreciate your comment. 

fair is fair and i gladly pay my taxes if (underlined) they go to what you describe. that is a worthwhile expenditure. 

 

 


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Princess

BN jan,

by Princess on Thu Nov 27, 2008 11:04 AM PST

A good one! :)

Assuming Mr Wu is not Iranian-American, I would try to explain the concept of fair taxation through Sa'adi's: Bani adam a'azaye yekdigarand....

As far as I know nobody's got destitute through fair taxation, and as long as the tax money is spent on the right things (e.g. schools, hospitals, roads etc.) surely the rich will be able to enjoy its benefits as well.

I am no mother Theresa, but as far as I know selfishness is not a virtue. I really like your little vignettes. They make me think. ;)

Happy Thanksgiving! Sorry you have to work. 

 


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bajenaghe naghi

javaneh jan

by bajenaghe naghi on Thu Nov 27, 2008 08:56 AM PST

not being a rich man i am working today even though it is a holiday. i need to work to pay for my taxes ;-)

mr.Wu was just comparing the made up story of the grade A students to the rich people (and what is the defination of a rich person any way? it is subjective and relative as who is defining it) who are picked on to pay extra taxes and i think it is a political ploy by law makers to make themselves more electable and tell the electorate that they are one of them which they are not since most of them are millionaires. 


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javaneh29

My two pennies worth

by javaneh29 on Thu Nov 27, 2008 05:06 AM PST

We have a similar system in the UK. I dont begrudge anyone who is in genuine need of support and I pay my taxes happily on that basis. But when I see people cheating or living off the state benefit system because they are lazy, it makes me mad.

However much we give in the form of  taxes, there will never be a true equality. The difference between people who rely on support from the government and people who have the ability and skills to support themselves is vast, physically, emotionally and environmentally. If I had to live on state support, my self esteem would be zero.

The issue about the grades at school is ridiculous. I have never heard anything like it. What a huge disincentive to students who have attained merit off their own backs. I mean why bother to work so hard if your hard work goes towards another students marks. What are they thinking of? I hope your friend finds a solution. I cant see parents of hard working kids standing for this,

Is it thanksgiving there ?? Have a good one

Javaneh


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bajenaghe naghi

american wife jan

by bajenaghe naghi on Wed Nov 26, 2008 05:34 PM PST

i realize that the comparison is a little to outlandish but the purpose of the story as told by mr. Wu is to illustrate the fact that the goverment should not just take and take from people who honestly (underlined) make their money whether it is 20K or 500K. if someone cheats to make money put him in a jail where he belongs but do not penalize someone who works hard to make money. it ok to pay taxes as set by the goverment that covers every body (underlined). mr. Wu and me oppose penalizing the rich because they make more money, in the same way as the grade A student should not give part of his grade just because he is a A student. what i think is that people should give to charities more often than they do. we all need to help the unfortunate. the families who have lost their jobs or their home. people who are hungry. and so on. i am not against giving to my fellow men but i am against the goverment taking more and more of my money just because some bureaucrat has decided that i have to much of it and he wants to use his sticky fingers and get as much of it as he can.:-) 


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American Wife

BN Jaan

by American Wife on Wed Nov 26, 2008 04:02 PM PST

This is hardly a fair analogy.  The poor do not have the tax benefits that the rich have.  We're not talking about the middle class bearing more of a burden.  We're talking about the over 250K who have a greater advantage.  A person working 60 hours and making 20K a year with a family to raise is not necessarily an under-achiever to be compared to the "smart" guys who have made millions on Wall Street by cheating and stealing.  The tax resdistribution that Obama is talking about is to give the lower class the same opportunities that you and I enjoy.  Do you begrudge a little extra out of your paycheck to help them?  I'm sure not.  I saw one time a very concise explanation of his tax proposal.  I'll try to find it again and post it. I think you'll see that the "take from the rich and give to the poor" concept is extremely misleading.  I have no more desire than you to give "handouts" but I am aware of some responsibility I might have to those who have less.  I think it was Luke:something that said "to those who have been given much, much is expected."

Regardless... I hope you have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving.  :-)


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