4 Men with 4 Very Different Incomes Open Up About the Lives They Can Afford

esquire.com

24 points·william_hc··6 comments

Their opinions on taxes would support more progressive taxation. The guys > 200k (suprisingly) seem to be willing to taxed more, and obviously, the guy at the poverty line would benefit from a negative income tax or basic income.

To this last point, not just for his benefit but for society: he is trapped in a cycle of paying fines, and then getting more fines. He has no way to contribute to society, as he is currently being criminalized for being poor.

I wonder if on average higher incomes really complain less about taxes than lower incomes. It would be ironic then that after the lower incomes vote for less taxes most of the actual cuts usually go to the higher incomes.

Even more ironic, the lower incomes are actually paying fewer to no taxes

And that trend will continue if the higher incomes keep capturing more and more of the nation's income.

This is far too small of a sample size to draw widespread conclusions from, but it was really interesting how their weekly grocery bills between these 4 men scale logarithmically in contrast to their income. The guy on food stamps spends $130-140 a week, the guy making $53,000 a year spends $100-125, while the guy making $250,000 spends $200.

There really isn't much to be had by spending more on food. Its mostly a flat cost unless you're a connoisseur or professional.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com