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It would be pretty cool if those who both could and wanted to contribute just did - like how open source software works. In practice taxes end up being pretty a
by spikels 14y ago
It would be pretty cool if those who both could and wanted to contribute just did - like how open source software works. In practice taxes end up being pretty arbitrary and have unintended consequences. Lots of people actually agree with increased spending such as this and could easily fund these efforts. Those who don't agree could keep their money. Win-win!
- pandaman 14y agoFrom what I understand (and I may be wrong because people who are advocating rising taxes are not very good at explaining their position), the idea is not to increase government income/spending per se. The idea is to redistribute wealth and the government's income is irrelevant (hence the GP's saying it "won't do anything" despite the obvious increase of this income). For all we know a tax increase may decrease the total money collected by the government as the wealthy flee into more favorable tax regimes. This is all right from the point of wealth redistribution (it happens anyways as the local wealth decreases even through different means) but would be unacceptable from the income/spending point of view.