Growing Into Adulthood and High Taxes
Becoming an adult is an amazing experience. It is amazing to realize that you have the freedom to own a home, purchase a car, and even choose all of your favorite items at the grocery store. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed figuring out “grown up” life with my husband. We’ve loved house hunting and signing the papers for our first mortgage, buying a new car, and starting our professional careers together. Having two incomes and no children, we’ve enjoyed the satisfaction of earning, saving, and spending our well earned money. But this year, as tax day loomed closer, I found myself mad. Not just slightly irritated like the way I feel after I buy a pair of shoes and realize a week later they go on sale, but full out furious about the amount of money that is being taken from us on a biweekly basis. Here are two realizations about our current tax system that I’ve come to as I have grown into adulthood and high taxes.
It Is Not a Fair System
I remember a conversation I had with a child from a lower income area. She was explaining to me how her mom didn’t have to work and she still got a check every month. I remember her excitement as she told me that her mom was going to buy her new shoes, pay for an extravagant birthday party, and get her a few more games for her gaming system. Just to see how she would respond, I told the little girl that I did have to go to work every day, and because I worked I had to PAY money. Her eyes got wide and she immediately began to tell me how unfair that was! I couldn’t agree with her more. I wonder what she would have said if I explained to her that how our tax system is run, the harder you work and the more money you make, the more you are taxed.
It has been interesting to watch the election season unfold and to see certain groups of American’s side with the political candidate that best lines up with their views. I’ve been baffled as I watch many college students and millennials rally behind Bernie Sanders as he demands free college programs and higher taxes for wealthier Americans. Project a few years down the road to those same college students as they begin their lucrative careers (that were funded by “free” college programs) as they realize the amount of taxes they are being subjected to as wealthy, hard working adults. I’d like to ask them if they are still rallying behind Bernie Sanders as he pushes his socialistic mentality on the country through higher taxes for wealthy citizens. As the saying goes, “if you are not a liberal at 25, you have no heart but if you are not a conservative at 35, you have no brain.”
It’s Not a Motivating System
Imagine working for a company for thirty years and instead of being rewarded with a raise because of your hard work, you are punished with a pay cut. As a young adult who has only recently joined the working world, this is very similar to the way I view the American tax system and the proposed tax systems of the Democratic candidates. As I begin to build my own wealth and progress in my career, I’m learning that I will continue to be punished with higher taxes. Why would anyone be motivated to obtain a college education and pursue a 40+ hour a week job? Instead of rewarding me for being a contributing and successful member of society, the government is taking what I earn and giving it away. Please don’t misunderstand, I am happy to help people in need. My mentality is that I want to be able to build my wealth and provide for myself and my family as well as giving to others through tithes, charitable donations, and gifts to specific situations or people who are truly in need. Sadly, the more I am being taxed, the less motivated I am to give to others as I see my hard earned money being taken from me and given to people and organizations that I would never hand my money to in everyday life. The current American taxation system and the proposed tax system by Democratic candidates has the potential to create a generation of lazy, unmotivated millennials who are seeing how much easier and cheaper it is to stay poor.
As I’ve begun to grow into adulthood, I’ve realized how important it is for our country to have a president who understands the frustrations that the hard working citizens of this country are facing. Our current tax system is not fair and it does not motivate young adults to become successful, wealthy, and contributing members of society. We need a president who truly will work for ALL of the people in this country and who will motivate young people and millennials by rewarding their hard work and appreciating the impact they have on our country, not enabling them to continue to be lazy and unmotivated members of society.
