https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NumbersUSA
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/numbers-usa/
https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/NumbersUSA
https://americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/fuzzy-math-anti-immigration-arguments-numbersusa-dont-add
https://www.politifact.com/florida/article/2017/mar/22/center-immigration-studies-h**e-group-southern-pov/

Well if you want to think that the taxes you pay goes to paying the interest on the national debt, go right ahead. I like to think mine go to the efforts of the CDC and similar Federal agencies. And as for the interest on the national debt, I imagine that's paid with the money we borrow from the Chinese.

Well actually, since I'm a capitalist who lives off the return of capital, I "didn't earn that money", my capital "earned" it. But that's beside the point. I voluntarily pay my applicable taxes for the privilege of living in this country, as every good citizen and resident should.

If you don't want to pay your applicable taxes, leave.

Definition of tax:
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/taxes.asp
Taxes are involuntary fees levied on individuals or corporations and enforced by a government entity - whether local, regional or national - in order to finance government activities.

Any voluntary payment to a government would not be a tax.

See US Constitution, Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_Four_of_the_United_States_Constitution#Clause_2:_Property_Clause

The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.

Regarding US owned patents:
https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/govt/govt_toc.htm

Me or the play?

It's from Porgy and Bess (It Ain't Necessarily So).

From:
https://money.cnn.com/2018/01/10/news/economy/95-million-out-of-workforce/index.html

-- 94.6 million people above the age of 16 were out of the workforce.

Of those:

-- 44.5 million were retired.

-- 14.5 million were in school or job training.

-- 12.8 million were taking care of a loved one.

-- 15.3 million weren't working because of an illness or disability.

In all, of the 94.6 million not working, 87.1 million were retired, in school, taking care of a loved one or physically unable to work.

That leaves 7.5 million people. What about them?

Of those, 1.6 million had looked for a job in the past year or wanted a job but had given up searching for more than a year. And 5.9 million workers listed "other" as a reason for not wanting or having a job. We don't know much about these workers.
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It's wise to lookup more information about seemingly outrageous data.

Methuselah lived 900 years.
Methuselah lived 900 years.
But who calls that livin',
When no gal will give in,
To no guy what's 900 years.

Taxpayers only foot the bill for their own personal obligations to their governments. It is those governments responsibility to foot the bill for any bills they acquire.

Surely you know that governments can own property (land, buildings, patents, etc.) and can derive income from them (rents, royalties, grazing fees (that some people don't seem to think they should pay), etc.). And as for taxes, that money is neither yours nor mine in the same way rents or mortgage payments are not ours.

Since January 1, 1835 is the only time the United States has been debt free, I'm fairly certain some of the money we pay in taxes goes for things we had no hand in.

Shirley, you've heard of Citizens United v. FEC?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_person

A legal person (in legal contexts often simply person, less ambiguously legal entity)[1][2] is any human or non-human entity, in other words, any human being, firm, or government agency that is recognized as having privileges and obligations, such as having the ability to enter into contracts, to sue, and to be sued.

The preamble of the Social Security Act of 1935 says what it is for:

https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=68&page=transcript

AN ACT to provide for the general welfare by establishing a system of Federal old-age benefits, and by enabling the several States to make more adequate provision for aged persons, blind persons, dependent and crippled children, maternal and child welfare, public health, and the administration of their unemployment compensation laws; to establish a Social Security Board; to raise revenue; and for other purposes.

This sounds like a continuation of the goal set forth in the preamble of the US Constitution:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution...

I imagine at both times there were some in the US who were not too on board with providing for the general welfare of anyone other than themselves and those close to them. Some of the support of some of these people was needed to get anything that might provide for the general welfare, so compromises were made.

The only legal entities with what might be personal responsibility for s***ery in the United States of America that still exist are the Federal government and the several states that allowed s***ery. These are the only "living" persons who might be liable for r********ns. Not you, so don't worry yourself.

Is "debate" the OPP code for name calling?

You wrote, "Although the majority of freed s***es chose to work for wages instead of taking up land ownership. Most of those who took the land wound up selling it back to w****s...".

I took issue with the idea that "most chose to work for wages". From what I read in some states they were not allowed to purchase land so the only alternative was to become wage s***es. Also, most who could take up land, didn't take up offers of free land, but purchased it (all be it seemingly at below the market rate). And even though black farm ownership increased after the war (mainly through purchase), economic downturns harmed black ownership more that white.