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I'm pretty privileged and more than happy to pay a reasonable tax on my fortune if people richer than me who can afford to assemble legal tax shelters can be wr

I'm pretty privileged and more than happy to pay a reasonable tax on my fortune if people richer than me who can afford to assemble legal tax shelters can be wrangled in to pay their share too. Also, tax churches. If we could incentivize startup structures that are less focused on pump and dump #growthhax and more on creation of organizations that produce value for the communities they are in and the people who trade their lives and labor for a crumbling fig leaf of security and happiness. That shit would be hot. VC money is crack money. The squandered wealth propped up by rich opportunists on the backs of creative efforts of hard working people hedged so said rich people can fail upwards while worker lives are ruined for a taste of a Zuckerberg dream is gross. Without dinging the frequent big winners in this space via taxes there isn't really a mechanism to encourage self regulation.

stevenicr 7y ago
That churches thing - I find they have other benefits too. Is there a few clicks create a church have all the legal and what-have-you filed and such like stripe does with del corps? Might be time to setup one of these things.
- stuntkite 7y ago
  It does appear that a lot of people believe religiously that they shouldn't pay taxes. We should all start churches. Maybe get a lawyer or three involved and make enough churches flagrantly abusing the law that the supreme court has to hear a case. The Church of Satan kind of does stuff like that. They do have other benefits but they very state to state. Like that guy that legalized his ayahuasca church in Kentucky[0] because they have a law that says you can do whatever drugs you want if it's a religious ceremony. It's stupid that you need a church for that, but also pretty rad that he can do it there. It appears to be helping a lot of people. It appears that there are services for filing the needed documents. StartChurch.com pops up with a quick google. It looks nice. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-88xpl-5ro0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-88xpl-5ro0
  - stevenicr 7y ago
    That startchurch looks like they do do it! thanks for that. I have been kicking the idea around of starting a few 'churches' just have an open 'third place' - I don't mind whatever religions stuff people choose to follow - I'd perhaps want to open a 'coag - church of any gods' and let people choose their own flavors. To me a 'church space' should/could be all inclusive - even athiest / satanic whatever - life's a journey, things change, no judge all that.. a dojo is just a building where people train. I like the tax break options, and let sub-groups be pro-active in whatever their chosen things are. I read a story this week saying some atheist groups are actively trying to stop some religious texts in all government building in a certain state? I found another atheist group doing stuff for homeless that does not push religions.. I would encourage those kinds of things I think. you mention the ayahuasca - I knew some native Indian folks some time ago that got peyote twice a year legally for their ceremonies, and have read Oregon has taken something like that to their state supreme court? There are sometimes counseling services offered by these places where the people are not licensed/dr degreed right? So affordable someone to talk to could be offered. It is interesting the exemptions that are made in the name of the invisible man in the sky as george carlin put it. I found that our city (maybe state?) has exemptions for codes with churches - so you can't build a tiny home community with r10 zoning here, but if you have a church there are not restrictions on buildings. As to where I don't particularly care for some of the extra tall buildings in the area, perhaps it's time to take advantage of their exemptions rather than just be miffed that they are getting them. /randomthoughts
    - jelliclesfarm 7y ago
      I was part of such a church. It’s not active anymore. http://www.churchofvirus.org/ http://www.churchofvirus.org/ It was good. Then it was bad. It got worse. Then it died a sad death. I am pretty sure some of it’s members are probably right here on HN. Different time and another lifetime for me.
      - stevenicr 7y ago
        I'd love to hear a synopsis of that situation! I appreciate this bit as well. Makes me think something like this could quickly outgrow itself, and rather than trying to keep so many voices under one growing roof, perhaps it may be best to split in half and split again to keep things manageable and cordial and not have things get worse than bad. But still do the things it was set out to do - provide an open third place for people who may not have such and take advantage of some discounts along the way.
mech1234 7y ago
We live in a time where small community organizations are on the decline. These organizations exist in the form of clubs, athletic leagues, religious organizations such as churches, and others. Churches provide an emotional support network to many people, perform acts of charity, and generally do much more good than harm. If you intend to use the Westboro Baptist Church as an example of the harm done by churches please be aware that you risk throwing the baby out with the bathwater. If you castigate churches for being close-minded, please consider reading up on the Unitarians for a decent depiction of how varied the moral philosophies of churches can be. If you want to make accelerate the trend of declining community involvement, tax churches. I don't think it is wise.

stevenicr 7y ago

That churches thing - I find they have other benefits too. Is there a few clicks create a church have all the legal and what-have-you filed and such like stripe does with del corps? Might be time to setup one of these things.

stuntkite 7y ago
It does appear that a lot of people believe religiously that they shouldn't pay taxes. We should all start churches. Maybe get a lawyer or three involved and make enough churches flagrantly abusing the law that the supreme court has to hear a case. The Church of Satan kind of does stuff like that. They do have other benefits but they very state to state. Like that guy that legalized his ayahuasca church in Kentucky[0] because they have a law that says you can do whatever drugs you want if it's a religious ceremony. It's stupid that you need a church for that, but also pretty rad that he can do it there. It appears to be helping a lot of people. It appears that there are services for filing the needed documents. StartChurch.com pops up with a quick google. It looks nice. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-88xpl-5ro0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-88xpl-5ro0
- stevenicr 7y ago
  That startchurch looks like they do do it! thanks for that. I have been kicking the idea around of starting a few 'churches' just have an open 'third place' - I don't mind whatever religions stuff people choose to follow - I'd perhaps want to open a 'coag - church of any gods' and let people choose their own flavors. To me a 'church space' should/could be all inclusive - even athiest / satanic whatever - life's a journey, things change, no judge all that.. a dojo is just a building where people train. I like the tax break options, and let sub-groups be pro-active in whatever their chosen things are. I read a story this week saying some atheist groups are actively trying to stop some religious texts in all government building in a certain state? I found another atheist group doing stuff for homeless that does not push religions.. I would encourage those kinds of things I think. you mention the ayahuasca - I knew some native Indian folks some time ago that got peyote twice a year legally for their ceremonies, and have read Oregon has taken something like that to their state supreme court? There are sometimes counseling services offered by these places where the people are not licensed/dr degreed right? So affordable someone to talk to could be offered. It is interesting the exemptions that are made in the name of the invisible man in the sky as george carlin put it. I found that our city (maybe state?) has exemptions for codes with churches - so you can't build a tiny home community with r10 zoning here, but if you have a church there are not restrictions on buildings. As to where I don't particularly care for some of the extra tall buildings in the area, perhaps it's time to take advantage of their exemptions rather than just be miffed that they are getting them. /randomthoughts
  - jelliclesfarm 7y ago
    I was part of such a church. It’s not active anymore. http://www.churchofvirus.org/ http://www.churchofvirus.org/ It was good. Then it was bad. It got worse. Then it died a sad death. I am pretty sure some of it’s members are probably right here on HN. Different time and another lifetime for me.
    - stevenicr 7y ago
      I'd love to hear a synopsis of that situation! I appreciate this bit as well. Makes me think something like this could quickly outgrow itself, and rather than trying to keep so many voices under one growing roof, perhaps it may be best to split in half and split again to keep things manageable and cordial and not have things get worse than bad. But still do the things it was set out to do - provide an open third place for people who may not have such and take advantage of some discounts along the way.

mech1234 7y ago

We live in a time where small community organizations are on the decline. These organizations exist in the form of clubs, athletic leagues, religious organizations such as churches, and others. Churches provide an emotional support network to many people, perform acts of charity, and generally do much more good than harm. If you intend to use the Westboro Baptist Church as an example of the harm done by churches please be aware that you risk throwing the baby out with the bathwater. If you castigate churches for being close-minded, please consider reading up on the Unitarians for a decent depiction of how varied the moral philosophies of churches can be. If you want to make accelerate the trend of declining community involvement, tax churches. I don't think it is wise.