4 ms·

That’s awesome. There are some very wealthy people that make a great show of demanding to pay higher taxes. Here’s a mechanism for them to demonstrate sinceri

That’s awesome. There are some very wealthy people that make a great show of demanding to pay higher taxes. Here’s a mechanism for them to demonstrate sincerity.

nabla9 1y ago
"If you want more taxes and are rich, just donate to treasury argument" again. We want systemic changes, not patrons. Taxes are for equity and fairness. Taxes are compulsory, donations are voluntary. Taxes are payment for being for being rich. Donations are taxes for being a good person. Great rant: David Mitchell on Tax Avoidance from The Last Leg https://youtu.be/xc8epam4NyY?t=150 https://youtu.be/xc8epam4NyY?t=150 Then Mitchell being more serious: You can't blame the rich for paying as little tax as possible. I do the same https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/oct/31/david-mitchell-george-osborne-tax https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/oct/31/david-...
- mathiaspoint 1y ago
  [flagged]
  - nabla9 1y ago
    You want maximize collected tax, fairness & equity, and incentives. This means: 1. convex effective tax curve when income increases. 2. curve is progressive (increasing) to adjust for diminishing marginal utility of income and wealth. https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/072815/what-marginal-utility-income.asp https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/072815/what-margina... The emphasis on effective. Meaning: (income - taxes + benefits) curve is smooth and no tax avoidance. Incentives for the poor, the middle and and the rich. Then you fight over what level the is (political question). Big tax jumps (suggested by the left) or linear tax (suggested by right) don't hack it.
    - mathiaspoint 1y ago
      [flagged]
      - tomhow 1y ago
        > How about fuck off to Venezuela You can't comment like this on Hacker News, no matter what you're replying to. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- jigguit 1y ago
  [dead]
  - nabla9 1y ago
    "taxation is theft" is question-begging, since it relies on presupposing a particular theory of property entitlement. Without assuming entitlement (where government helps you to protect your property with violence) "property is theft" also holds. Replace the tax with property and it might be more apparent how illogical it is to advocate the former.
- RickJWagner 1y ago
  I see it more like the wealthy want to maintain their relative position. They want others to have to pay to buy the things they want. They’ll still be just as wealthy, relatively, but they’ll also get the governmental changes they seek. It’s not about getting the societal changes. If it were, they wouldn’t mind paying for it themselves. It’s about making others pay.
morsecodist 1y ago
This doesn't make any sense. When people say this they mean they want more social spending and they are willing to pay more taxes to get it. The budget is what it is, the administration has made it clear that keeping the deficit low has nothing to do with the level of social spending they are willing to do. Sending money won't really do anything.
lotsofpulp 1y ago
Demanding all wealthier people have a greater tax liability and not sacrificing one’s self is logically consistent and expected behavior. If I am playing a game, and others do not want to ally with me, I am not going to make myself lose. But I can still signal that I am open to an alliance.

That’s awesome. There are some very wealthy people that make a great show of demanding to pay higher taxes. Here’s a mechanism for them to demonstrate sincerity.

nabla9 1y ago

"If you want more taxes and are rich, just donate to treasury argument" again. We want systemic changes, not patrons. Taxes are for equity and fairness. Taxes are compulsory, donations are voluntary. Taxes are payment for being for being rich. Donations are taxes for being a good person. Great rant: David Mitchell on Tax Avoidance from The Last Leg https://youtu.be/xc8epam4NyY?t=150 https://youtu.be/xc8epam4NyY?t=150 Then Mitchell being more serious: You can't blame the rich for paying as little tax as possible. I do the same https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/oct/31/david-mitchell-george-osborne-tax https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/oct/31/david-...

mathiaspoint 1y ago
[flagged]
- nabla9 1y ago
  You want maximize collected tax, fairness & equity, and incentives. This means: 1. convex effective tax curve when income increases. 2. curve is progressive (increasing) to adjust for diminishing marginal utility of income and wealth. https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/072815/what-marginal-utility-income.asp https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/072815/what-margina... The emphasis on effective. Meaning: (income - taxes + benefits) curve is smooth and no tax avoidance. Incentives for the poor, the middle and and the rich. Then you fight over what level the is (political question). Big tax jumps (suggested by the left) or linear tax (suggested by right) don't hack it.
  - mathiaspoint 1y ago
    [flagged]
    - tomhow 1y ago
      > How about fuck off to Venezuela You can't comment like this on Hacker News, no matter what you're replying to. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
jigguit 1y ago
[dead]
- nabla9 1y ago
  "taxation is theft" is question-begging, since it relies on presupposing a particular theory of property entitlement. Without assuming entitlement (where government helps you to protect your property with violence) "property is theft" also holds. Replace the tax with property and it might be more apparent how illogical it is to advocate the former.
RickJWagner 1y ago
I see it more like the wealthy want to maintain their relative position. They want others to have to pay to buy the things they want. They’ll still be just as wealthy, relatively, but they’ll also get the governmental changes they seek. It’s not about getting the societal changes. If it were, they wouldn’t mind paying for it themselves. It’s about making others pay.

morsecodist 1y ago

This doesn't make any sense. When people say this they mean they want more social spending and they are willing to pay more taxes to get it. The budget is what it is, the administration has made it clear that keeping the deficit low has nothing to do with the level of social spending they are willing to do. Sending money won't really do anything.

lotsofpulp 1y ago

Demanding all wealthier people have a greater tax liability and not sacrificing one’s self is logically consistent and expected behavior. If I am playing a game, and others do not want to ally with me, I am not going to make myself lose. But I can still signal that I am open to an alliance.