Your absurd idea of an 80% tax rate would never fly. People who won't miss another $200k a year in taxes are the ones already minimising their taxes to the poin

Your absurd idea of an 80% tax rate would never fly. People who won't miss another $200k a year in taxes are the ones already minimising their taxes to the point they are only paying a half million or so. The wealth is concentrated into the hands of a few. Higher tax rates for higher incomes makes perfect sense when basing "far" on "ability to cope with the loss". 20% of a low- to middle-income salary is a far greater burden than a 40% tax on someone with an income exceeding $400k. There is an old saying in my social circles: follow the money. If you want to make money, you arrange to take it from the people with the money. Luxury cars, luxury apartments, gastronomic restaurants, and so forth. Why not tax these people more? They aren't actually going to miss the money, and ensuring that there are more healthy middle class folks with disposable incomes will actually help the rich get richer still. Social welfare and a universal single-payer health care system is actually a grand firm of corporate welfare. Throw a living wage into the mix and you can reduce minimum wages to zero. How much better will the outlook be for entrepreneurs and startups in that environment? No longer will volunteer internships be exploitation, no longer will labour costs factor into viability of a business, and you will have many more consumers with spare change to serve.