this post was submitted on 07 Dec 2023
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The take here, I believe, is that if politicians were to receive higher salaries, greater expectations would naturally follow. Currently, the sentiment seems to be: "They earn 150 grand a year; can we really expect them to be intelligent? Of course not. No intelligent person would work for that salary." The preferable scenario would be: "If we pay them 1 million a month and they still lack intelligence, we should replace them with more capable individuals!"
For the same reason, I believe that all taxes should be transparent, allowing people to see exactly how much they are contributing. In Russia, where I reside, taxes are concealed, and individuals are unaware that they are paying 40-50% of their income to the state. Taxes have consistently been advertised as "just 13%", leading people to believe they have the lowest taxes globally. In reality, they are paying European-level taxes.
In conclusion, higher salaries lead to increased competition, attracting more intelligent and competent individuals to these roles. Similarly, transparency in government and financial matters leads to greater public expectations and demands from the government.