(December 1, 2010 at 11:02 pm)DeistPaladin Wrote: I certainly don't advocate "spreading the wealth", by which I mean taking money from the rich and simply giving it away to the poor. That's not what taxes necessarily are. Taxes are the method by which society gets the funding necessary to run its basic services, including law enforcement, fire departments, road construction and other infrastructure, garbage pick up, etc. I would also add medical care and schools to that list of basic social services. The rich benefit the most from a functional society and so they need to pay a greater percentage of their income.
No, poor people benefit most from a functional society, the rich are the rich wherever you go.
And besides, that is absolutely no reason to have a scaled tax syste, all you need is a tax rate that is sufficiently high to gather the funds for social spending so to use that as an argument for scaled tax is a complete misfire
Even if it were true that rich people benefit more from a functional society It works like follows:
1. Necessary social spending requires funding
2. Taxes are the main source of the funding for social spending
3. Social spending helps create a functional society
4. The rich benefit most from a functional society
5. A greater benefit demands a greater cost.
6. Therefore the rich sould pay a disproportionately higher percentage of their incomes.
Even when 4 and 5 are accepted (and I would contend both) It just doesn't follow.
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