“If you are wealthy enough, use part or all of your Social Security proceeds to invest in a favorite cause or two. Invest 10 percent or 100 percent of your monthly Social Security check in your favorite charity, foundation, think tank, church or synagogue, or other good cause.” IfsThinkingTwoEnoughUseSocialCausesChurchSecurityPercentFoundationCharityChecksWealthySocial SecurityTanksYour FavoriteGood CausesSynagogue Author:Mark Skousen
“Mom & pop stores are not about something small; they are about something big. Ninety percent of all U.S. businesses are family owned or controlled. They are important not only for the food, drink, clothing, and tools they sell us, but also for providing us with intellectual stimulation, social interaction, and connection to our communities. We must have mom & pop stores because we are social animals. We crave to be part of the marketplace.” ImportantBigsSocialCommunityAnimalMomDrinkIntellectualPercentToolsConnectionsSellsPopsStoresControlledClothingsInteractionProvidingNinetyCraveMarketplaceOur CommunityStimulationSocial Interaction Book:The Mom & Pop Store: True Stories from the Heart of America Source: The Mom & Pop Store: True Stories from the Heart of America
“Today, you have 20 percent of the world controlling 80 percent of the Gross Domestic Product; you've got a $30 trillion (US) world economy, and $24 trillion of it is in the developed countries... These inequities can't exist. So if you are talking about systemic breakdown, I think you have to look in terms of social breakdown.” IfsThinkingWorldLooksCountryTodaySocialTermTalkingEconomyProductsPercentCapitalismGrossBreakdownWorld EconomyDeveloped CountryGross Domestic Product Author:James Wolfensohn
“When two working people decide to marry, their federal income tax is usually increased. As soon as one spouse earns at least 20 percent of a married couple's total income, the couple pays a 'marriage tax.' ... The United States is the only major industrialized nation in the free world in which the tax cost of the second [married] earner's entry into the work force is higher than that of the first. On one hand, our government's social policy is to help working women earn equal salaries to those of men, but on the other we have a tax structure that penalizes them when they do so.” PeopleMenWorldFirstsTwoStatesHelpingHandsGovernmentForceNationsSocialUnitedPayUnited StatesPolicyCoupleHigherCostTaxesEqualMarriedMajorsPercentStructureIncomeSexismSpouseSalaryEntryIncome TaxFree WorldMarried CouplesWorking WomenSocial Policy Author:Millicent Fenwick
“More retirees, longer life expectancy, larger benefits, and fewer workers - these trends have meant substantial increases in the payroll tax. Since the social security program began, the payroll tax has increased more than 500 percent.” SocialSecurityTaxesBenefitsPercentProgramIncreaseWorkersTrendsFewerSocial SecurityExpectancyPayrollLife ExpectancyPayroll TaxLonger Life Author:Alex Tabarrok
“The idea of the 'lone gamer' is really not true anymore. Up to 65 percent of gaming now is social, played either online or in the same room with people we know in real life.” PeopleKnowsIdeasRealSocialRoomsPercentReal LifeOnlineGamerLoneGaming Author:Jane McGonigal
“If you really think that houses prices are going to go up next year and the year after, you feel if I don't buy it this year, I'm going to have to buy it next year. [...] And when somebody makes it very easy for you to do it by saying you don't really have to put up my money, you can lie about your income a little, or we'll give you 100 percent mortgage, you're going to do it, because everybody that's done it has been proven right. You have what they call social tools, and, you know, you're going to feel like an idiot if you didn't do it, because the house cost more.” IfsThinkingKnowsGivingFeelsYearsLittlesHas BeensDoneLyingNextHouseSocialEasyCostPercentToolsIncomeIdiotProvenNext YearMortgageHouse Prices Author:Howard Warren Buffett
“The zooming wealth of the top 1 percent is a problem, but it's not nearly as big a problem as the tens of millions of Americans who have dropped out of high school or college. It's not nearly as big a problem as the 40 percent of children who are born out of wedlock. It's not nearly as big a problem as the nation's stagnant human capital, its stagnant social mobility and the disorganized social fabric for the bottom 50 percent.” HumansChildrenProblemBigsSchoolNationsSocialBornWealthEducationPovertyMillionsCollegePercentHigh SchoolBottomFabricStagnantMobilityWedlockDisorganizedSocial Mobility Author:David Brooks
“A new survey found that 12 percent of parents punish their kids by banning social networking sites. The other 88 percent punish their kids by joining social networking sites.” KidsFoundSocialParentPercentSiteNetworkingJoiningSurveysSocial NetworkingSocial NetworkSocial Networking SitesNetworking Sites Author:Jimmy Fallon