"I don't get it - taxes are a percentage of your overall income... so how can you have to work 6 months for taxes?"
Well, if the percentage is 50%, then...
More concretely, in Maryland, my last paycheck had about 31% taken from it before I got it, and there are many places with higher tax burdens on the state and local levels, even in the US. Add sales taxes, property taxes if you own a house, and you could easily get to 40% in the US. We're constantly hearing about how much higher taxes are in many other parts of the world, so 50% doesn't seem unlikely for some countries.
The only reason that we can afford this much government, of course, is that we're all so incredibly rich by the standards of yesteryear that the losses have been sustainable so far. We'll see if that continues to be the case (my bet is that it will).
Well, if the percentage is 50%, then...
More concretely, in Maryland, my last paycheck had about 31% taken from it before I got it, and there are many places with higher tax burdens on the state and local levels, even in the US. Add sales taxes, property taxes if you own a house, and you could easily get to 40% in the US. We're constantly hearing about how much higher taxes are in many other parts of the world, so 50% doesn't seem unlikely for some countries.
The only reason that we can afford this much government, of course, is that we're all so incredibly rich by the standards of yesteryear that the losses have been sustainable so far. We'll see if that continues to be the case (my bet is that it will).