4 ms·

This just shows that people have the capability to turn their brains completely off if you shovel enough (potential) money at them. For example, libertarians h

This just shows that people have the capability to turn their brains completely off if you shovel enough (potential) money at them. For example, libertarians have been screaming from the rooftops about needing a flat tax for the longest time. Know what would accelerate socialist reforms in the US faster than any other? A flat tax. Public sentiment would turn on a dime as soon as people saw how much they were getting screwed.

bbor 4y ago
Ok I’m a little slow. Your point is that progressive tax structures are good, so we should get rid of ours in hopes that the working class gets so desperate and resource-starved that the revolt and implement an even more progressive one sometime in the future? Very possibly I misunderstood, but otherwise that sounds suspiciously like what a cartoon villain capitalist would propose - sure seems like they’d be the winners in the short term.
- MisterBastahrd 4y ago
  I didn't say we should get rid of a progressive tax structure. I said that libertarians have been arguing for a regressive flat tax structure for years, and the successful implementation of such a structure would expedite public backlash against conservative / libertarian fiscal policies which rob the poor in favor of the wealthy. Yes, they would be short term winners until the voting public revolts. But it's not the 1980s anymore. Half the working populace doesn't have a fat pension on the other end of their working days. The people who actually have accumulated enough capital to care about the stock market are dying and are being replaced by people who can't even afford to move out of their parents homes until they're in their late 20s.
JTbane 4y ago
I was appalled by the recent discussions about doing away with income tax in the USA and replacing it with a heavy VAT (the most regressive type of tax). Libertarians in this country can be the worst enemy of the poor and working class sometimes.

bbor 4y ago

Ok I’m a little slow. Your point is that progressive tax structures are good, so we should get rid of ours in hopes that the working class gets so desperate and resource-starved that the revolt and implement an even more progressive one sometime in the future? Very possibly I misunderstood, but otherwise that sounds suspiciously like what a cartoon villain capitalist would propose - sure seems like they’d be the winners in the short term.

MisterBastahrd 4y ago
I didn't say we should get rid of a progressive tax structure. I said that libertarians have been arguing for a regressive flat tax structure for years, and the successful implementation of such a structure would expedite public backlash against conservative / libertarian fiscal policies which rob the poor in favor of the wealthy. Yes, they would be short term winners until the voting public revolts. But it's not the 1980s anymore. Half the working populace doesn't have a fat pension on the other end of their working days. The people who actually have accumulated enough capital to care about the stock market are dying and are being replaced by people who can't even afford to move out of their parents homes until they're in their late 20s.

JTbane 4y ago

I was appalled by the recent discussions about doing away with income tax in the USA and replacing it with a heavy VAT (the most regressive type of tax). Libertarians in this country can be the worst enemy of the poor and working class sometimes.