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It’s not communism. It’s literally how most of the rest of the developed world file their taxes. Given taxes are a government system, and one that’s complicate
by hnlmorg 2mo ago
It’s not communism. It’s literally how most of the rest of the developed world file their taxes.
Given taxes are a government system, and one that’s complicated enough that you shouldn’t expect the average tax payer to need to understand it nor have the money to afford an accountant, it’s actually insane to argue that this should be operated in the private space.
This is exactly the kind of thing the government should operate in capitalist societies.
- johnsmith1840 2mo agoMost of the developed world aint doin so hot
- hnlmorg 2mo agoThose who fund their government branches are generally doing better than those who are not. America being the prime recent example of this. And those who’s government places policies which benefit their voters generally have a better quality of life than those who accept lobbying, and corruption dictate government policies.
- johnsmith1840 2mo agoYou saying america isn't doing well?
- Arainach 2mo agoAmerica is doing awful. Income inequality, oppression of minorities, visible corruption, the wholesale destruction of the scientific and policy infrastructure that made it a world leader, abandoning important technologies such as renewable energy, destroying the social safety net....should I go on?
- johnsmith1840 2mo agoWell there's the root of the disagreement. I view it as the opposite, that the US is setting itself up to be the dominant world power for the next 100 years. Energy, space and AI if US doesn't fumble those we're looking at a golden age the likes of which we've never seen. Also fyi the US science budget has literally not changed. So luckily the orange man can kick and scream but our budget for science isn't going away (not to say it's not disrupted).
- Arainach 2mo agoAmerica's dominance in science and technology (and art, and other fields) was due to an atmosphere where the smartest and best people from around the world wanted to come here. We have actively worked to drive them away and broken the processes in ways that can't be fixed with the stroke of a pen. Our economic influence was based around being a stabilizing force and soft power - both of which we have destroyed. The world was willing to forgive us for 2016-2020, but now they know we are not to be trusted - that we will abandon and publicly abuse our allies no matter how close, that our policy changes based on whichever dictator last talked to Trump, and they know that the other two wings of our government are spineless and powerless sycophants who will never put a stop to any of it. They are forming trade relationships and infrastructure without us, and we will never get back our preferred status. We have given up generational advantages and are not set up to be a dominant power in anything. We are an empire in accelerating decline.
- johnsmith1840 2mo agoAs we literally just invented cheap space travel and AI? Massive energy stores, massive military, massive datacenters. I would not want to bet against that
- Arainach 2mo agoOutdated energy sources, no manufacturing base, and expensive AI that's barely ahead of cheap open source Chinese models. A massive military that's burning billions and depleting its reserves proving that it can't even protect ships from Iran. So. Much. Winning.