6 ms·

I'd rather see an effort to scratch all forms of income tax, which is the real problem with the worlds' economy today: plain theft of income. If we had a more

I'd rather see an effort to scratch all forms of income tax, which is the real problem with the worlds' economy today: plain theft of income. If we had a more aggressive movement to eradicate income tax and tax SPENDING, we'd have far less need for the welfare classes to be kept in their debilitating position ..

ThomPete 13y ago
Theft? Your property "rights" (and other rights) are guaranteed by the state. If you remove the state you will have to defend it yourself. Do you really think you would be able to do that?
- rainmaking 13y ago
  I could hire some goons.
  - ThomPete 13y ago
    So could I and if you sat on some important resource I didn't even have to.
    - rainmaking 13y ago
      You mean, just like it is right now? At least I get to chose the goons I hire. Presumably those with poor negotiation leverage and -skills would go out of business rather quickly.
- fit2rule 13y ago
  Da, Komrad. I do believe that the state can still protect me without having to rob me first.
  - mcv 13y ago
    How would they pay for it, if you deny them any income? A civilized society costs money. Police costs money. Roads costs money. Inspectors for all sorts of safety standards cost money. Education costs money. Without some form of tax, anyone would be free to rob you, you wouldn't be able to go anywhere without roads, you wouldn't know if the house you want to buy is actually safe to live in, and everybody would be stupid. Go try it out. There are countries where you don't have to pay any tax. Go see how you like it there.
sergiotapia 13y ago
No, in fact I wish they would take more income tax and give universal healthcare to everybody in the United States.
jcalvinowens 13y ago
How exactly does eliminating all income tax help the poor? They pay little to no tax as it is.
- fit2rule 13y ago
  It motivates people to work for themselves if they get to keep more of the reward, plain and simple. Also, taxing spending means more saving - which is what the poor need to do (save) in order to get themselves out of their situation. It's expensive being poor.
  - jcalvinowens 13y ago
    > It motivates people to work for themselves if they get to keep more of the reward, plain and simple. The amount of money you keep after income tax still scales linearly with the aggregate amount you make... are you really arguing that people are lazier because a portion of their income goes to public interests? I have great difficulty imagining how that could be true. > Also, taxing spending means more saving - which is what the poor need to do (save) in order to get themselves out of their situation. The poor don't need to save, they need to find a job that pays them enough that they can save. The very definition of poverty is not or barely having enough to get by. Also, you have it backwards: sales taxes are unfair to the poor because they are _regressive_. The poor spend every dollar they make, and, in general, the wealthier you are the less of your income you spend. A sales tax takes the highest percentage of income from the poor and the smallest from the mega-rich. (Not to mention that sales tax adds a lot of unpleasant administrative overhead for businesses) EDIT: Also, the idea that sales tax encourages saving is a fallacy. A portion of tax cuts go to savings, but raising sales tax just means people get less goods/services for their money; they're not going to start spending less.
    - fit2rule 13y ago
      Yes, with income tax rates approaching 50% around a great deal of the world, I do think that income tax demotes the idea of working hard for a viable living, and income tax in general suppresses productivity. Why bother working hard if half of it goes to the State? The same mechanic that you say is at play with Sales Tax - i.e. you have to spend more to get more - is also at play with EARNING. Why bother working to earn more - or, indeed, at all - if you are required to share the fruits of your labor with strangers? Sales Tax improves this by making the choice where to spend your taxes available to the individual.
ceedan 13y ago
You're a clown
- ThomPete 13y ago
  Please express your opinion in a more constructive manner.
sharemywin 13y ago
They need to tax capital gains similar to income. and tax corporations on world wide income like they do individuals.

ThomPete 13y ago

Theft? Your property "rights" (and other rights) are guaranteed by the state. If you remove the state you will have to defend it yourself. Do you really think you would be able to do that?

rainmaking 13y ago
I could hire some goons.
- ThomPete 13y ago
  So could I and if you sat on some important resource I didn't even have to.
  - rainmaking 13y ago
    You mean, just like it is right now? At least I get to chose the goons I hire. Presumably those with poor negotiation leverage and -skills would go out of business rather quickly.
fit2rule 13y ago
Da, Komrad. I do believe that the state can still protect me without having to rob me first.
- mcv 13y ago
  How would they pay for it, if you deny them any income? A civilized society costs money. Police costs money. Roads costs money. Inspectors for all sorts of safety standards cost money. Education costs money. Without some form of tax, anyone would be free to rob you, you wouldn't be able to go anywhere without roads, you wouldn't know if the house you want to buy is actually safe to live in, and everybody would be stupid. Go try it out. There are countries where you don't have to pay any tax. Go see how you like it there.

sergiotapia 13y ago

No, in fact I wish they would take more income tax and give universal healthcare to everybody in the United States.

jcalvinowens 13y ago

How exactly does eliminating all income tax help the poor? They pay little to no tax as it is.

fit2rule 13y ago
It motivates people to work for themselves if they get to keep more of the reward, plain and simple. Also, taxing spending means more saving - which is what the poor need to do (save) in order to get themselves out of their situation. It's expensive being poor.
- jcalvinowens 13y ago
  > It motivates people to work for themselves if they get to keep more of the reward, plain and simple. The amount of money you keep after income tax still scales linearly with the aggregate amount you make... are you really arguing that people are lazier because a portion of their income goes to public interests? I have great difficulty imagining how that could be true. > Also, taxing spending means more saving - which is what the poor need to do (save) in order to get themselves out of their situation. The poor don't need to save, they need to find a job that pays them enough that they can save. The very definition of poverty is not or barely having enough to get by. Also, you have it backwards: sales taxes are unfair to the poor because they are _regressive_. The poor spend every dollar they make, and, in general, the wealthier you are the less of your income you spend. A sales tax takes the highest percentage of income from the poor and the smallest from the mega-rich. (Not to mention that sales tax adds a lot of unpleasant administrative overhead for businesses) EDIT: Also, the idea that sales tax encourages saving is a fallacy. A portion of tax cuts go to savings, but raising sales tax just means people get less goods/services for their money; they're not going to start spending less.
  - fit2rule 13y ago
    Yes, with income tax rates approaching 50% around a great deal of the world, I do think that income tax demotes the idea of working hard for a viable living, and income tax in general suppresses productivity. Why bother working hard if half of it goes to the State? The same mechanic that you say is at play with Sales Tax - i.e. you have to spend more to get more - is also at play with EARNING. Why bother working to earn more - or, indeed, at all - if you are required to share the fruits of your labor with strangers? Sales Tax improves this by making the choice where to spend your taxes available to the individual.

ceedan 13y ago

You're a clown

ThomPete 13y ago
Please express your opinion in a more constructive manner.

sharemywin 13y ago

They need to tax capital gains similar to income. and tax corporations on world wide income like they do individuals.