From a friend:
THE TAX SYSTEM EXPLAINED IN TERMS OF BEER
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the
bill for all ten 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 tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that's what they decided to do.
The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite
happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve ball.
"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 ten men would
now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay
our taxes.
So the first four men were unaffected. They would still
drink for free. But what about the other six men ? How could they divide the
$20 windfall so that everyone would get his fair share?
They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if
they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth
man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer.
So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to
reduce each man's bill by a higher percentage the poorer he was, to
follow the principle of the tax system they had been using, and he proceeded to
work out the amounts he suggested that each should now pay.
And so the fifth man, like the first four, now paid
nothing (100%
saving).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% saving).
The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% saving).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% saving).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% saving).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% saving).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first
four continued to drink for free. But, once outside the bar,
the men began to compare their savings.
"I only got a dollar out of the $20 saving," declared the sixth man.
He pointed to the tenth 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 ten times more
benefit than me!"
"That's true!" shouted the seventh man.
"Why should he get $10 back, when I got only $2? The wealthy get all the
breaks!"
"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in
unison, "we didn't get
anything at all. This new tax system exploits the
poor!"
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks,
so the nine
sat down and had their beers without him. But when it
came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't
have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and government
ministers, is
how our tax system works. The people who already pay the
highest taxes will naturally 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. In fact, they might start drinking overseas, where the atmosphere is
somewhat friendlier.
For those who understand, no explanation is needed.
For those who do not understand, no explanation is
possible... and the left-wingers know who they are.
