Tom the Dancing Bug by Ruben Bolling for April 23, 2021

Nice shoutout to the late Carl Barks, the “Good Duck artist” behind the classic Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge comic books of 1940s, 50s and early 60s.

Interesting that the two kinds of people who fear communism the most are billionaires who can afford to lose a little but still be fabulously wealthy. And poor, brainwashed, uneducated people who have very little, but EVERYTHING to gain from it!

And here I thought it was God-dog.

Hope it’s not the case, but usually when cartoon characters become aware of their environment that’s the end of the strip.

Anyone else ever wondered why some of the uber-wealthy in the country will actually spend MORE MONEY paying Lawyers and Accountants to avoid paying taxes then they would spend actually paying the Taxes in the first place??? Do they ALL still believe what Leona Helmsley once said in an interview…“Taxes? My Dear, Only the LITTLE PEOPLE pay taxes!”

I often wonder, do those who rabidly stick labels on everything/everyone really know what they mean, or are they just big scary words to get someone they think they disagree with to shut up? After all, there are bits of every political philosophy everywhere. A good idea is a good idea, no matter where it comes from.

Corporations not only don’t pay much in tax, they get massive subsidies from the government. Like those poor oil companies that make no money at all ever!!

Interesting that this particular strip was “by” Bolling, not “edited by” him.

Don’t forget Karl Barx’ buddy Friedrich Beagles! (Sorry for putting on the dog.)

I don’t know what socialism is or how it works, but I’m a billionaire hog and don’t like me no higher taxes! Piggy wants it all, for me and mah lil’ piglets! OINK-OINK-OINK! SOOOOOOIEEEEE!

Excellent ending, btw.

Wonderful cameo appearance by Karl.

There sure is a lot of “noise” in the discussions on wealth distribution.

For example in the comparing of communism (largely a distribution model) with capitalism (largely a production model), equating “social democracy” (as in, say, Sweden) with “socialism” and through that with communism. And claiming that China is a communist country when it sort-of-is but largely only because of not being a democracy. People in China can also start their own businesses (have been able to decades) and pay for university studies and their health care (like in USA but not so commonly in e.g. Sweden). And even though China is portrayed as “bad” when they are not a democracy, how about U.S. allies like Saudi-Arabia…

Besides that when I lived in Sweden I paid about 30% tax on a $50K USD yearly income. Of course the media often focuses on their sales tax rate which is around 24% but that is not very different from what it is in other European countries (even UK). And in the end the cost of goods is driven also by other factors. I did not think that the cost of everyday items was significantly different from what it is in USA. Benefits of living there included of course that I still had access to same health care even if I lost my job. And that I don’t have to take loans to study in a University.

Actually the Swedish system is also not that different from what is available in other EU countries or Iceland for example. Then again those countries do not feed trillions into a gigantic military industrial complex…

On another note, if people would like a place with low tax-rate then I recommend places like Singapore (about 6% income tax on some $75K USD income) or Dubai (no income tax at all).

Dang! I thought it were Dirty Lenin.