Every day, 10 men go out for beer and the bill for all 10 comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing. The fifth would pay $1. The sixth would pay $3. The seventh would pay $7. The eighth would pay $12. The ninth would pay $18. The 10th man (the richest) would pay $59. So, that's what they decided to do.
The 10 men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20." Drinks for the 10 now cost just $80. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay. And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings). The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%).
2007-04-20
05:06:55
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2 answers
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asked by
Cherie
6
in
Politics & Government
➔ Other - Politics & Government
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28% ). The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25%). The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22%). The 10th now paid $49 instead of $59 (16%).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. "I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man. He pointed to the 10th man, "but he got $10!" "Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got 10 times more than me!" "That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!" "Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"
2007-04-20
05:07:15 ·
update #1
The nine men surrounded the 10th and beat him up. The next night the 10th man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough
money among all of them for even half of the bill! And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes
get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack
them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore!
2007-04-20
05:07:44 ·
update #2