I've Got Some Diem to Carpe

A good read. →

(Source: heartsprings)

Don't work. Be hated. Love someone. →

emilykn:

Because I’m graduating and because UCI doesn’t produce amazing commencement speakers like such. (Thanks, Little)

I can’t pick one favorite quote from it, but this will have to do. =P

“Singaporeans have a life expectancy of 81.8 years. Singapore men live to an average of 79.21 years, while Singapore women live more than five years longer, probably to take into account the additional time they need to spend in the bathroom.”

ΑΦΩ-UPM: 29 Reasons Stopping You Moving Forward →

apo-upm:

By Steven Aitchison

Today I want to share some of the truths I have learned over the years that have stopped me moving forward in life.

Do any of these ring true for you?

Perfection – Perfection does not exist. If you accept that everything can be improved upon then perfection cannot…

(via hotdamnitsbam)

How the 1 Percent Could Do Its Share to Rebuild America →

I’m a member of the 1 percent. I’ve watched my income tax rates fall over my lifetime, from a top rate of 91 percent under President Dwight Eisenhower to the current low rate of 35 percent.

When taxes were higher, this nation built a vibrant middle-class life for millions. Our schools, libraries, bridges, railways, and roads made the United States the envy of the world.

America has been good to my family. My grandfather was a Lithuanian immigrant who owned a general store in Waco, Texas. He helped my father start his business — the Tivoli Theatre in Fort Worth — during the Great Depression. Times were tough. Going to the movies was a way to escape and a ticket cost only a nickel. The business grew to a chain of eight independent theaters in Texas and Oklahoma. My dad invested the money he made wisely.

As tax rates have fallen, our schools, libraries, bridges, railways, and roads have begun to crumble. Millions of Americans have lost their jobs in this Great Recession. Congress continues to resist raising taxes on the wealthy, even though those higher taxes could create the jobs and rebuild the infrastructure that this country so desperately needs.

The 1 percent made billions of dollars during the boom years. Each time Congress reduced the tax rates, we made even more. When President George W. Bush took office, the top income tax rate was just under 40 percent. Congress cut it to 35 percent. Moreoever, many wealthy Americans make a lot of money earning interest on investments, buying and selling stocks, and banking the dividends those stocks produce. Most of those financial gains are taxed at just 15 percent.

A few years ago, Warren Buffett vowed to give a million bucks to any Fortune 500 CEO who could prove he paid a higher tax rate than his secretary. Not one came forward.

Our government taxes work much more than it taxes wealth. What does that say about our values?

(Source: azspot, via hotdamnitsbam)