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“The most sacred of the duties of a government [is] to do equal and impartial justice to all citizens." -Thomas Jefferson

shmageggy 5y ago
I'm sure the gov't would be happy to take 5B to let you and I off the hook for white-collar crimes as well. See, perfectly equal!
- margalabargala 5y ago
  The law, in its beautiful equality, forbids rich and poor alike from sleeping under bridges.
  - munk-a 5y ago
    Please note - if you own the bridge you may find yourself exempt.
dfxm12 5y ago
The cynic in me realizes that white collar criminals of Zuckerberg's stature really only likely serve time if it involves a huge amount of tax evasion. This money keeps Zuckerberg's name off of any official filings, but I don't think there was ever any real threat of him going to jail. So the $5b is, in a way, pure profit.
- drunkpotato 5y ago
  You think billionaires go to jail for avoiding taxes? Are you sure you have any cynic in you whatsoever?
  - skrtskrt 5y ago
    millionaires go to jail for avoiding taxes, billionaires write the laws so they don’t actually have to pay any taxes
skybrian 5y ago
It’s usually interesting to find the context for these quotes. In this case the language is a bit obscure, but he seems to have been arguing that taxing both income and sales is a form of double taxation? [1] This is in a note about a book by Antoine Destutt de Tracy, who was apparently a philosopher who coined the word “ideology.” Anyway, I guess it’s repeated because it sounds good, but most people don’t care what Jefferson meant and might not agree with his point about double taxation. [1] https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-09-02-0433 https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-09-02-0...
- biztos 5y ago
  Thanks for doing that footwork. Ever since I was old enough to pay income taxes (started aged 14) it has burned me that my “share” of my income is then taxed at various steps along its way to some other citizen’s income, where the remainder is taxed yet again.
  - spywaregorilla 5y ago
    Does the foundations of society not enable the transfer of that money to the next citizen?
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
boplicity 5y ago
I'm not sure that we should be taking advice on "impartial justice" from a slaver -- especially one who helped craft one of the most deeply ironic sentences that a slaver has ever crafted in history: >We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness I only bring this up, because of how jarring the idea of "impartial justice" is in the context of Thomas Jefferson.
- rufus_foreman 5y ago
  Were slaves citizens?
  - Cipater 5y ago
    I would be interested to hear you expound on your rebuttal.

shmageggy 5y ago

I'm sure the gov't would be happy to take 5B to let you and I off the hook for white-collar crimes as well. See, perfectly equal!

margalabargala 5y ago
The law, in its beautiful equality, forbids rich and poor alike from sleeping under bridges.
- munk-a 5y ago
  Please note - if you own the bridge you may find yourself exempt.

dfxm12 5y ago

The cynic in me realizes that white collar criminals of Zuckerberg's stature really only likely serve time if it involves a huge amount of tax evasion. This money keeps Zuckerberg's name off of any official filings, but I don't think there was ever any real threat of him going to jail. So the $5b is, in a way, pure profit.

drunkpotato 5y ago
You think billionaires go to jail for avoiding taxes? Are you sure you have any cynic in you whatsoever?
- skrtskrt 5y ago
  millionaires go to jail for avoiding taxes, billionaires write the laws so they don’t actually have to pay any taxes

skybrian 5y ago

It’s usually interesting to find the context for these quotes. In this case the language is a bit obscure, but he seems to have been arguing that taxing both income and sales is a form of double taxation? [1] This is in a note about a book by Antoine Destutt de Tracy, who was apparently a philosopher who coined the word “ideology.” Anyway, I guess it’s repeated because it sounds good, but most people don’t care what Jefferson meant and might not agree with his point about double taxation. [1] https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-09-02-0433 https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-09-02-0...

biztos 5y ago
Thanks for doing that footwork. Ever since I was old enough to pay income taxes (started aged 14) it has burned me that my “share” of my income is then taxed at various steps along its way to some other citizen’s income, where the remainder is taxed yet again.
- spywaregorilla 5y ago
  Does the foundations of society not enable the transfer of that money to the next citizen?
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

boplicity 5y ago

I'm not sure that we should be taking advice on "impartial justice" from a slaver -- especially one who helped craft one of the most deeply ironic sentences that a slaver has ever crafted in history: >We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness I only bring this up, because of how jarring the idea of "impartial justice" is in the context of Thomas Jefferson.

rufus_foreman 5y ago
Were slaves citizens?
- Cipater 5y ago
  I would be interested to hear you expound on your rebuttal.