5 ms·

Tax isn't a self serving sociopathic "gamble" it's what allows you to go to school and drive on roads and use the internet. Don't dodge it as part of some insan

Tax isn't a self serving sociopathic "gamble" it's what allows you to go to school and drive on roads and use the internet. Don't dodge it as part of some insane game you were taught.

sitepodmatt 9y ago
Driving on the road usually requires a car, thats usually an expensive piece of equipment, followed by expensive running costs - fuel (and it's non-gamblable tax), replacing parts, servicing and so on. Use of the internet requires a computer of sorts and a locked in contract to Comcast or another private ISPs (BT in the UK, NBN in AUS etc...). Perhaps I've missed something, am I eligible for a fully-maintained cost-free Tesla, a new computer and free internet?
- traviscj 9y ago
  > Perhaps I've missed something The road that the taxes (probably) paid for? Also, GP said "allows", not "subsidizes every aspect of the most luxurious way for".
logicchains 9y ago
Just because something was funded by taxes doesn't mean it wouldn't exist without taxes. When the Soviet Union liberalised, people there were shocked at buying privately produced bread. The limits of one's imagination do not constitute the limits of reality.
- figgis 9y ago
  And just because something can be privatized doesn't mean it should..
nulagrithom 9y ago
Don't be naive. If I don't pay my taxes this year the Internet and roads won't suddenly disappear. I'll still drive on the roads to work and use the Internet when I get there. Not paying your taxes is absolutely a self-serving sociopathic gamble.
ggm 9y ago
I should point out that he had an accountant, who almost certainly dealt with most of this, and that as for others in the UK, income tax is taken at source, PAYG. The letters were the adjustment, not the totality of his tax debt. He was an academic, and understood very well the socialized benefits of the tax which propped up the tertiary education system he worked in.

Tax isn't a self serving sociopathic "gamble" it's what allows you to go to school and drive on roads and use the internet. Don't dodge it as part of some insane game you were taught.

sitepodmatt 9y ago

Driving on the road usually requires a car, thats usually an expensive piece of equipment, followed by expensive running costs - fuel (and it's non-gamblable tax), replacing parts, servicing and so on. Use of the internet requires a computer of sorts and a locked in contract to Comcast or another private ISPs (BT in the UK, NBN in AUS etc...). Perhaps I've missed something, am I eligible for a fully-maintained cost-free Tesla, a new computer and free internet?

traviscj 9y ago
> Perhaps I've missed something The road that the taxes (probably) paid for? Also, GP said "allows", not "subsidizes every aspect of the most luxurious way for".

logicchains 9y ago

Just because something was funded by taxes doesn't mean it wouldn't exist without taxes. When the Soviet Union liberalised, people there were shocked at buying privately produced bread. The limits of one's imagination do not constitute the limits of reality.

figgis 9y ago
And just because something can be privatized doesn't mean it should..

nulagrithom 9y ago

Don't be naive. If I don't pay my taxes this year the Internet and roads won't suddenly disappear. I'll still drive on the roads to work and use the Internet when I get there. Not paying your taxes is absolutely a self-serving sociopathic gamble.

ggm 9y ago

I should point out that he had an accountant, who almost certainly dealt with most of this, and that as for others in the UK, income tax is taken at source, PAYG. The letters were the adjustment, not the totality of his tax debt. He was an academic, and understood very well the socialized benefits of the tax which propped up the tertiary education system he worked in.