What you pay into the system and what you take from the system are totally uncorrelated. You might have paid enough into the system, but it’s equally possible that you have not. It really depends on what you use and what you pay for, personally.
It gets even fuzzier when you dig into the numbers. For instance, are poor workers “taking from the system” when they participate in taxpayer-funded social programs…or is it their employers who are “taking from the system” because they are not covering the full cost of their employees — many of whom are working full-time or more?
Does Walmart use more public resources than they pay for? Many would argue that they do. Certainly, they are very heavy users of our public infrastructure (roads, ports, etc.). Their employees are very heavy users of public assistance programs, and I’m of the belief that Walmart’s profits are possible only because the taxpayers pick up many of the costs for their employees. They’re also mega-users of our military infrastructure because the sea lanes that they use to ship all of those Chinese goods to us are protected by the U.S. Navy. They are also heavy users of our political system because our representatives spend a lot of time advocating for and writing laws that greatly benefit Walmart (often at the expense of customers, employees, and others). They also get many taxpayer-funded concessions from local governments when they build stores in their communities. I’m sure you get the idea.
It’s difficult to calculate who is a net taker and a net giver, but I’m willing to bet that a lot of people who think they are net givers are actually net takers.
