4 ms·

I'm not sure why other people in this thread think this is crazy. This is actually a widely held belief by Republicans. Many of them want paying taxes to be har

by crisdux 10y ago

I'm not sure why other people in this thread think this is crazy. This is actually a widely held belief by Republicans. Many of them want paying taxes to be hard so people will be conscious of government burden. They believe making tax filing simple is a risk to our liberties.

jeltz 10y ago
I have read about this before, but it still sounds totally crazy to me. There have been plenty of inefficient and corrupt governments which still have managed to impose police states. To me it seems like a cult of personality for the leader is a greater threat to your liberty than efficient bureaucracy.
- crisdux 10y ago
  I guess this boils down to philosophical differences in the role of government. One side believes that greater taxation leads to a larger role of government in society and results in the erosion of personal liberties. They are afraid that making filing taxes easier could continue this trend. I don't think this has anything to do with efficient bureaucracy and cult of personalities. The discussion on if government is ever able to be an efficient participant of all parts of society that it involves itself in is always up for debate. One fundamental reason for this belief is that government can not be the best solution to many of societies issues because the incentives on individuals in government, government bureaucracies and the public are so misaligned.
- smacktoward 10y ago
  You're assuming that people won't include something in their ideology just because it is crazy.
rsynnott 10y ago
Paying tax is very simple in Ireland (the average person rarely has to interact with the revenue service, certainly not every year), but no-one really _likes_ paying tax, all the same. This idea that people wouldn't notice if it was easy seems silly; they still see it coming out of their salary.

4 ms·

I'm not sure why other people in this thread think this is crazy. This is actually a widely held belief by Republicans. Many of them want paying taxes to be har

by crisdux 10y ago

jeltz 10y ago
I have read about this before, but it still sounds totally crazy to me. There have been plenty of inefficient and corrupt governments which still have managed to impose police states. To me it seems like a cult of personality for the leader is a greater threat to your liberty than efficient bureaucracy.
- crisdux 10y ago
  I guess this boils down to philosophical differences in the role of government. One side believes that greater taxation leads to a larger role of government in society and results in the erosion of personal liberties. They are afraid that making filing taxes easier could continue this trend. I don't think this has anything to do with efficient bureaucracy and cult of personalities. The discussion on if government is ever able to be an efficient participant of all parts of society that it involves itself in is always up for debate. One fundamental reason for this belief is that government can not be the best solution to many of societies issues because the incentives on individuals in government, government bureaucracies and the public are so misaligned.
- smacktoward 10y ago
  You're assuming that people won't include something in their ideology just because it is crazy.
rsynnott 10y ago
Paying tax is very simple in Ireland (the average person rarely has to interact with the revenue service, certainly not every year), but no-one really _likes_ paying tax, all the same. This idea that people wouldn't notice if it was easy seems silly; they still see it coming out of their salary.