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"...people advocating for more taxes no longer do so with an explicit intention to pay for something..." You should perhaps listen more closely. There are a wi

"...people advocating for more taxes no longer do so with an explicit intention to pay for something..." You should perhaps listen more closely. There are a wide array of programs proposed by people who are advocating for greater taxes on the wealthy. Universal healthcare, free education, a larger social safety net and investments in green energy are a few of the big line items being constantly and loudly discussed. Those programs are intended to improve the majority of people's lives. You can interpret that as "more equal" if you want.

curiousllama 6y ago
Tax the rich is a response to "how are you going to pay for that program?" That we hear "tax the rich" in isolation these days speaks more to the lack of the prompting question than progressives' dedication to the response.
tengbretson 6y ago
> Those programs are intended to improve the majority of people's lives. You can interpret that as "more equal" if you want. If tomorrow everyone was given all of those programs, but the income distribution stayed the same as it were today, would everyone go home satisfied or would they discover new things that needed providing?
- kgin 6y ago
  It's hard to be sure 100%, but I feel like whatever the outcome, this thought experiment doesn't really yield useful information unless you're hoping for the outcome be "they don't really want healthcare, they're just faking their desire for healthcare because they want to take things away from wealthy people". I'm pretty sure the desire for healthcare isn't just a ruse. After everyone has healthcare, will there be people who desire a more-flattened society? Possibly. There are a lot of different people in the world with a lot of different ideas. But that's a separate conversation.
- lovegoblin 6y ago
  > would they discover new things that needed providing? ...of course? These programs would (imo) make a better world, but not a perfect one. Just because you accomplish Goal #1 doesn't mean that you can't continue on to strive for Goal #2.
- carabiner 6y ago
  Ask the citizens of countries with those programs? They seem satisfied.

curiousllama 6y ago

Tax the rich is a response to "how are you going to pay for that program?" That we hear "tax the rich" in isolation these days speaks more to the lack of the prompting question than progressives' dedication to the response.

tengbretson 6y ago

> Those programs are intended to improve the majority of people's lives. You can interpret that as "more equal" if you want. If tomorrow everyone was given all of those programs, but the income distribution stayed the same as it were today, would everyone go home satisfied or would they discover new things that needed providing?

kgin 6y ago
It's hard to be sure 100%, but I feel like whatever the outcome, this thought experiment doesn't really yield useful information unless you're hoping for the outcome be "they don't really want healthcare, they're just faking their desire for healthcare because they want to take things away from wealthy people". I'm pretty sure the desire for healthcare isn't just a ruse. After everyone has healthcare, will there be people who desire a more-flattened society? Possibly. There are a lot of different people in the world with a lot of different ideas. But that's a separate conversation.
lovegoblin 6y ago
> would they discover new things that needed providing? ...of course? These programs would (imo) make a better world, but not a perfect one. Just because you accomplish Goal #1 doesn't mean that you can't continue on to strive for Goal #2.
carabiner 6y ago
Ask the citizens of countries with those programs? They seem satisfied.