Lots of people think that tax is a complex and hard-to-understand philosophy, but really it’s very simple: you make money, you pay it to the government, and the government allocates that money in ways that improve the nation. Things become complicated when you look at the richest population in the U.S. — the infamous “1 %” — because even though they make the average American’s salary in a day, they get taxed way less. Mitt Romney is among the nation’s highest-paid individuals, and a look at his annual earnings in comparison to yours and your neighbor’s might very well surprise you. This graphic attempts to visualize what the 99% is really missing.

Click to see the infographic: The Wealth of Statesmen