6 ms·

By that logic, we should tax cars, computers, calculators. The owners already pay taxes though. Why should they pay additional tax for using robots?

dwaltrip 10y ago
Because it's a new paradigm of value creation that has broad ramifications across all of society, so the tax structure should reflect that. Tax policy shouldn't be static, it should keep pace with the society and culture it serves as they change over time.
- witty_username 10y ago
  How does that not apply to cars, planes, calculators, computers, and the internet? I'm pretty sure I heard similar stuff regarding the internet.
  - dwaltrip 10y ago
    Well for one, computers and the internet are a huge part of automation. This is a long-term, multi-faceted trend.
  - walterstucco 10y ago
    I live in Europe, Italy, and I pay a lot of taxes on my car. Every year. Sometimes taxes are more expensive than the car street value. 73% of what I pay for gas is taxes. Is it not enough yet?
xellisx 10y ago
The owner pay taxes for all sorts of things, but the companies used robots to cut out human interaction, which means lower money paid out for those workers. Of course laws let the companies "export" the jobs to other countries for lower wages since the 70's.
- witty_username 10y ago
  Some people lose temporarily and others win. What is wrong with that? That inequality is how capitalism works. > Of course laws let the companies "export" the jobs to other countries for lower wages since the 70's. That's wonderful. Poor people's wages are rising and global inequality is decreasing thanks to that.
  - xellisx 10y ago
    Capitalism needs to regulated, or we end up were we are now, where CEO make so much money, vs the combined work force. Exporting jobs to places that have lack of birth control, is just exploiting the worker. Also exporting jobs, like IT, to countries to cut the bottom line, when the workers are not skilled enough, and what I feel, don't care enough to learn about stuff beyond what a script tells them, then it's bad. If they were outsource jobs to farmers in the middle of Siberia to design fighter aircraft for the US because they got an education on basic aerodynamics... "Round egg is better than square".
    - witty_username 10y ago
      > Capitalism needs to regulated, or we end up were we are now, where CEO make so much money, vs the combined work force. The CEOs get high pay because their skillset is rare. Exporting jobs is the opposite of exploitation. How can more choice harm poor workers? > Also exporting jobs, like IT, to countries to cut the bottom line, when the workers are not skilled enough, and what I feel, don't care enough to learn about stuff beyond what a script tells them, then it's bad. The quality may be the lower but the price is also lower.

dwaltrip 10y ago

Because it's a new paradigm of value creation that has broad ramifications across all of society, so the tax structure should reflect that. Tax policy shouldn't be static, it should keep pace with the society and culture it serves as they change over time.

witty_username 10y ago
How does that not apply to cars, planes, calculators, computers, and the internet? I'm pretty sure I heard similar stuff regarding the internet.
- dwaltrip 10y ago
  Well for one, computers and the internet are a huge part of automation. This is a long-term, multi-faceted trend.
- walterstucco 10y ago
  I live in Europe, Italy, and I pay a lot of taxes on my car. Every year. Sometimes taxes are more expensive than the car street value. 73% of what I pay for gas is taxes. Is it not enough yet?

xellisx 10y ago

The owner pay taxes for all sorts of things, but the companies used robots to cut out human interaction, which means lower money paid out for those workers. Of course laws let the companies "export" the jobs to other countries for lower wages since the 70's.

witty_username 10y ago
Some people lose temporarily and others win. What is wrong with that? That inequality is how capitalism works. > Of course laws let the companies "export" the jobs to other countries for lower wages since the 70's. That's wonderful. Poor people's wages are rising and global inequality is decreasing thanks to that.
- xellisx 10y ago
  Capitalism needs to regulated, or we end up were we are now, where CEO make so much money, vs the combined work force. Exporting jobs to places that have lack of birth control, is just exploiting the worker. Also exporting jobs, like IT, to countries to cut the bottom line, when the workers are not skilled enough, and what I feel, don't care enough to learn about stuff beyond what a script tells them, then it's bad. If they were outsource jobs to farmers in the middle of Siberia to design fighter aircraft for the US because they got an education on basic aerodynamics... "Round egg is better than square".
  - witty_username 10y ago
    > Capitalism needs to regulated, or we end up were we are now, where CEO make so much money, vs the combined work force. The CEOs get high pay because their skillset is rare. Exporting jobs is the opposite of exploitation. How can more choice harm poor workers? > Also exporting jobs, like IT, to countries to cut the bottom line, when the workers are not skilled enough, and what I feel, don't care enough to learn about stuff beyond what a script tells them, then it's bad. The quality may be the lower but the price is also lower.