Members of Congress want to keep taxes for the wealthy low so that they will invest in America's Future. But what kind of future are America's wealthy families actually investing? by Bill Gee
(centrist)
Friday, May 13, 2011
The rhetoric out of Congress is that if we raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans, we would be robbing them of their ability to invest in new jobs for our economy. That if we keep taxes low, they will take their money and use it to build businesses and create new jobs for the tens of thousands of unemployed and underemployed people of this country. They think that by repeating that lie enough times that we will eventually believe it. After all, wealthy Americans now enjoy the lowest tax rates of any other industrialized nation, yet where are the jobs? If the wealthiest families are not using their tax-free income to create jobs, what are they spending their money on?
Bunkers, Bunkers, Bunkers
A May 12th article on Bloomberg News makes the assertion that wealthy families in Russia are investing heavily in underground bunkers in the event of a global catastrophe that is scheduled to occur sometime in December 2012. Each bunker costs about $400,000 to build and is designed to provide food and shelter for up to eight people for up to a year and can withstand a wide variety of disaster scenarios including a worldwide tsunami.
Northwest Shelters, a company out of Sandpoint, Idaho, specializes in building fully stocked, modern shelters for your home. The shelters can be up to 4,800 square feet and can be located up to fifty feet under the basement of your Mc-Mansion so that no wandering eyes will ever know that should things get ugly, you will be safe and secure watching your big-screen TV and munching on K-Rations. The price tag for a modest 2,000 square foot shelter is only $370,000.
If being stuck in a hole with the same eight people for a year is not your idea of the Garden of Eden, or you're afraid that your neighbors might notice the huge digging equipment cutting a hole under your house, check out a company called Vivos, who specializes in shelters that are designed for 200 to 1,000 people complete with a school, medical facility (including surgery and diagnostic equipment), gym, a theater, and even a jail! For the modest price tag of $25,000 per person, your spot is guaranteed provided that you can get yourself in the doors before they're sealed from whatever disaster is on its way. The website is complete with a frightening list of every possible thing that could go wrong, both natural and manmade, including some of the more "out there" scenarios. The site even features a countdown clock to December 21, 2012, which is supposed to be Doomsday for our planet.
Money Not Invested
The companies behind these websites have admitted that they do not necessarily buy into the various disaster scenarios that their products are designed to withstand. They are simply filling a demand. Since the March 11 earthquake in Japan, they admit that inquiries and orders for their products have increased dramatically.
So what does this say about our wealthy friends and neighbors? Are their tax breaks going to the re-investment of our nation? No. What they are actually banking on is the END OF THE WORLD! In other words, outside of these questionable shelter construction companies, all of that reinvestment in America is going to protect their suntanned hides from a highly unlikely scenario.
But wait! There is one disaster scenario listed on the Vivos website that I believe speaks volumes. The scenario is called "Anarchy". Especially concerning to readers of this website is the following passage.
"Following an economic meltdown, the government will not be capable of providing adequate police and social support. Without extreme emergency measures, there will be hunger, sickness, death, and destruction everywhere you turn. Whether youre going to be faced with gangs, thieves, or even ad-hoc militias, one way or another you will find yourself in a situation that requires years of experience and training in the proper countermeasures to stay alive. Your home and family will not be safe, but rather a target."
Translation: "We know we screwed the economy in this country. We have profited by stealing the life savings of thousands of hard-working Americans and we have further profited by wresting control of Washington from the ignorant masses. What know that what we have created is unsustainable. So instead of pulling our resources together to try and fix the problem we created, we are going to take our spoils and build fortified underground shelters where those ignorant masses we so willingly screwed cannot find us. It'll be great! While they will be killing each other over cans of tuna, well be enjoying three square meals a day, endless movies and entertainment, and the best medical care that money can buy!"
Still favor tax breaks for the wealthy? If so, you had better reserve your spot before they're all taken up.
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While I certainly don't support tax breaks for corporations, and any wealthy people who acquired their wealth by raping the monetary system certainly don't deserve tax breaks, I don't see what the connection is between tax breaks and investing in disaster shelters. Could you please elaborate what one has to do with the other?
Posted By: Bill Gee
Date: May 13, 2011 01:20:04 PM
Walt,
The connection is one of principle. If the principle of tax breaks is to give wealthy people the opportunity to reinvest in the country and create jobs and what they are doing with their money instead is preparing for Armageddon in an effort to protect themselves and their spoils from the very people they should be helping, then what's the point of maintaining the tax breaks any more?
Wouldn't it be a better if the country increased taxes on those wealthy people so that we can all re-invest in education and infrastructure so that a worse-case scenario can be avoided in the first place?
Posted By: bowingjizo
Date: May 13, 2011 04:43:47 PM
I believe this is very similar to those seeking refuge in intentional communities or getting off the grid in a yurt or otherwise self-sustaining community. We fear the worst of what may be coming, and many are preparing in the only way they know how to. When one thinks of 9/11 and how the citizens of NYC and elsewhere banded together to help out one another, I feel terribly sorry for those who will be locked away in their underground shelters. Firstly, they see no other option, which sheds light onto how they view the world even with all of their wealth. Secondly, they will not benefit from what inevitably will be a showing of the best of man's (or woman's) behavior. And lastly, when it is "over", will they be too afraid to emerge? Or, more sadly, will they be able to make the transition from what is now to what will be then? Adaptability and compassion are the only things that get people through most hard times. It is sad that possibly some of the people maintaining our country wealth-wise may not have these traits to begin with. It is much better to work together than to be sitting in front of the TV, even if it is the "safer" route.
This is awesome! Its a perfect business opportunity. Fear and pain sell!!! I'm going to have to start selling underground shelters for wealthy idiots and maybe I can become wealthy too. December 21, 2012 is not the end of the world, it is just my son's 9th birthday.
