5 ms·
It's legal means it's the right thing to do?
by m_b 8y ago
It's legal means it's the right thing to do?
- ucaetano 8y agoWell, let me know when you claim zero deductions on your tax return.
- happytoexplain 8y agoI've seen this curt analogy a lot in this thread, but I haven't seen anybody explain how it's comparable.
- fixermark 8y agoIt highlights the notion that taxation policy is inherently amoral (or, more specifically, a patchwork of overlapping morality and ethical frameworks and the laws resulting from that multi-framework pileup; it's the ultimate sausage of the legal sausage-making process). To highlight it, people highlight the hypocrisy of individuals using the law to minimize the money they pay out while criticizing corporations using the law to minimize the money they pay out. While you can argue there is a difference, doing so puts you in an ethical framework that not all people in the discourse might share.
- ucaetano 8y agoEveryone tries to legally minimize the amount of taxes they pay, often resorting to procedures with names such as "backdoor ROTH" or "Mega Backdoor Roth IRA". But when those same people see a company doing the same, they get pissed off and call it unethical, "not the right thing", etc. TL;DR: companies are fighting for their interests, just like people are.
- DannyBee 8y agoCertainly you realize how silly this is: If there was a simple consensus on what the "right" thing to do was, that would be the law.
- pm90 8y ago> If there was a simple consensus on what the "right" thing to do was, that would be the law. I'm sorry this just isn't true. There is a lot of consensus in the US about things: * legalization of pot * legal status for DREAMERS * bigger taxes on corporations And yet, none of these things (all of which poll very highly) become law.
- oh_sigh 8y agoThe results of the 2016 election would tell me you are mistaken about the consensus of all those things.
- pm90 8y ago> The results of the 2016 election would tell me you are mistaken about the consensus of all those things. What results are you talking about? That the candidate who was for all those things won the popular vote by an unheard of 3 million votes? That fact seems to back up the consensus :)
- fixermark 8y agoConsensus looks a lot more like 66% than squeaking past 50%. You are vastly underestimating the number of Americans who do not think like you do. All other things aside, that's going to make politics (and the necessary work to change laws you disagree with) difficult.
- pm90 8y agoI disagree. In an election with 2 historically unpopular candidates, for one of them to win 3 million more votes sounds like consensus to me.
- oh_sigh 8y agoThen you don't understand the word consensus. It's also interesting you quote the raw differental - "a two percent difference" sounds much less compelling.
- oh_sigh 8y agoWhen it comes to taxes, where behavior is strictly governed, the answer is essentially yes.