Goal vs Means

[rowyn]

[Poll #1763592][Poll #1763593]
If you answered 'no' to either question, I would be very happy to hear your reasons.

I know that these scenarios are ridiculous; I am not 100% convinced about pretty much anything in my life.  But I am curious if anyone finds the non-economic reasons for these things (and ones certainly exist!) to be compelling even in the absence of economic benefit.  I tend to look at reasons like "high taxes on the rich are akin to stealing and therefore wrong" or "the rich benefit most from social order and therefore should pay more" as less 'sufficient justification by themselves' than as an explanation of why one system or the other would be better from a total economic perspective. I am curious whether or not others feel the same way.

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Comments

[jurann.livejournal.com]

While I believe a flat tax rate is fair from an idealistic sense, I have to disagree with a flat tax in practice, esp in the United States. Already we have a somewhat progressive tax rate that inflates with the more income you make, however the more income you make also the more creative ways you can WRITE OFF taxes and thus cheat the system. As it stands, the top marginal rate on average for the wealthiest 1% are FAR below the top marginal average of "the common man". Also, historical evidence shows that the times of greatest national wealth, prosperity and productivity were during times when the tax rate on the top tier of earners was RIDICULOUSLY high - between 55 and 70%! The ultra-wealthy are not going to go away no matter how hard they are taxed, and taking a good share of their income helps to ensure that a strong government infrastructure stays in place and creates public works jobs and pays for things like socialized health care since marginalization of "the common man" and his benefits has been how the filthy rich have been getting filthier lately.

Trillions of dollars of fertile green funds are locked-up in the Swiss accounts of the most ludicrously wealthy American shadow-players and they're intentionally not spending and keeping lubricating liquid assets moving in order to artificially crash the market and increase their personal gains. The government is THERE and EMPOWERED by "the people" to protect them and break-up such robber-baron tyranny, and frankly it's about time we had another Teddy Roosevelt come into office and kick-ass while taking names... Just IMHO, YMMV.

[rowyn]

While I believe a flat tax rate is fair from an idealistic sense, I have to disagree with a flat tax in practice.

That's fair enough, but my entry wasn't about what was practical. It was about two "what if?" scenarios with no claim that either of them had any basis in reality.

It did strike me as funny to be proposing a "flat tax" as the opposite of "progressive taxation", when the percentage rate on income taxes paid in the US is actually regressive for some income ranges. A 17% flat tax with no exemptions would be a much higher rate than most people with incomes in the tens of millions or more pay.

[jurann.livejournal.com]

Okay, so assuming that there's no such thing as "special deductions" and "write-offs" and "charitable donations that pay back triple as a write-off" or any OTHER flubber that allows one income class to "lose more burden" than any other, I think a 17% flat tax is a GREAT notion. But the trouble, again, is with the fact that the American tax system has been riddled with bulletholes from the machinegun of greedy robber baron lobbyists who get their wealthy high-hog pals on Capitol Hill to do their every bit of bidding.

American government needs to be cleaned up (NEEDS, all caps!) and we need genuine, modern, progressive reform to every branch of US government to keep the checks checking and the balances balancing. We've gone nearly two and a half centuries with no major reform, while we've seen the coming and going of the age of Enlightenment, the Great Frontier, the Industrial Revolution, the Cold War, and coming out of the other side now of the Information Age. It's time for revisions that make sense NOW and that apply to the current era and simplify life, living, pursuit of happiness and of justice.