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Which history book? Many history books would tell us that high levels of income and wealth inequality lead to social unrest (French Revolution, for instance).
by WhompingWindows 6y ago
Which history book? Many history books would tell us that high levels of income and wealth inequality lead to social unrest (French Revolution, for instance).
In my view, taxation comes down to a judgment of "fairness" and this is very hard to agree upon. Given the rise of COVID, it's even harder to fairly allocate the more limited revenues in big cities now.
- throwaway0a5e 6y agoFunny you mention the french revolution. I think it's a great point of comparison because the precursor situation has so much in common with NYC's current situation. The french didn't revolt because the rich were rich or because the rich weren't kicking in. They revolted because (warning, massive generalization) the government was taking a lot of money from everyone and squandering it (paying back debts for boondoggles, to the benefit of many wealthy people) despite times being very tough for many. While few are literally starving in NYC the parallel, particularly the government taking in tons of revenue yet failing to deliver better conditions for its people, is definitely a strong one. Refresher for those interested: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution#Crisis_of_the_Ancien_R%C3%A9gime https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution#Crisis_of_th...
- willis936 6y agoIt looks to me like people were pissed because regional parliaments (nobility) were bleeding a turnip with the poor while not bothering to kick in. Saying it was squandered money when literally the first two sentences say "state income was not being done properly" is puzzling.