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Neither did the government. Why shouldn’t the person who did earn it get to decide what happens to it? After all, they could choose to donate some to the govern

Neither did the government. Why shouldn’t the person who did earn it get to decide what happens to it? After all, they could choose to donate some to the government. No one does though, voluntarily, because we all know that money would get wasted.

pavlov 3y ago
“The government” isn’t a fixed entity. It is what people want to be funded. Wealthy Americans donate enormous amounts of money to entities that would be publicly funded in many other countries: universities, hospitals, concert halls… Everybody wants to give money to something where they get their name on a wall and the envy of their rich peers. Meanwhile projects that could be more beneficial to society but don’t have the prestige factor languish. An inheritance tax would level the playing field.
- bluedevil2k 3y ago
  Not sure what country you’re from, but here in the US tax money does not efficiently get to these projects “beneficial to society”
  - pavlov 3y ago
    That’s something people can change by voting, even in America. The Roosevelt administration allocated tax money very differently from the Hoover administration, for example. Whether the New Deal was beneficial to society could be debated, but enough people believed in the change to keep voting for it.
theGnuMe 3y ago
If you'd like a modern tech view of government, think of it as a platform that creates the marketplace (aka an app store) where you pay a tax to do business.
Patxitxi 3y ago
The government doesn't own the money it uses it for the benefit of the rest of us
abenga 3y ago
The government provides physical and legal infrastructure that allows the person who made the money earn it. Society provides a market for whatever goods and services they sell, and collectively pay by suffering environmental and social externalities resulting from business activities.

pavlov 3y ago

“The government” isn’t a fixed entity. It is what people want to be funded. Wealthy Americans donate enormous amounts of money to entities that would be publicly funded in many other countries: universities, hospitals, concert halls… Everybody wants to give money to something where they get their name on a wall and the envy of their rich peers. Meanwhile projects that could be more beneficial to society but don’t have the prestige factor languish. An inheritance tax would level the playing field.

bluedevil2k 3y ago
Not sure what country you’re from, but here in the US tax money does not efficiently get to these projects “beneficial to society”
- pavlov 3y ago
  That’s something people can change by voting, even in America. The Roosevelt administration allocated tax money very differently from the Hoover administration, for example. Whether the New Deal was beneficial to society could be debated, but enough people believed in the change to keep voting for it.

theGnuMe 3y ago

If you'd like a modern tech view of government, think of it as a platform that creates the marketplace (aka an app store) where you pay a tax to do business.

Patxitxi 3y ago

The government doesn't own the money it uses it for the benefit of the rest of us

abenga 3y ago

The government provides physical and legal infrastructure that allows the person who made the money earn it. Society provides a market for whatever goods and services they sell, and collectively pay by suffering environmental and social externalities resulting from business activities.