this post was submitted on 26 Jul 2023
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Showerthoughts

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Increasing taxes to solve inequality is based on fundamentally wrong assumptions. (lemmy.fbxl.net)
submitted 1 year ago by SJ0@lemmy.fbxl.net to c/showerthoughts@lemmy.world
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Why on earth would taking wealth from everyone (and it turns into everyone -- There are non-executive wage earners working mundane jobs who pay 50% taxes on their last bit of income and basically pay that on any overtime they work) and concentrating it in the hands of a few insanely powerful government workers ever result in less inequality? You're literally making an overclass of super-powerful people a little bit stronger.

We've done that before -- we gave all the power to people based not on their amount of money but instead their ownership and effective use of horsies and horsie accessories, hard clothing, and pokey sticks of varying descriptions and materials. It wasn't a more equal society back then. The pokey stick hard clothing horsie people still got the nicest houses and could get a bunch of slaves to build big pointy buildings for them.

You're just taking money from the super powerful (and everyone else) and giving it to the ultra mega powerful.

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[–] circlejerkingdiva@reddthat.com 2 points 1 year ago

There is a way to tax people at different rates based on there incomes. Marginally tax rates create brackets were the more inome you make the more taxes you pay porportionally.

If I make $500,000 in income I would pay more in taxes than someone making $27,000 in income. Creating an additional tax bracket with a higher tax percent could fund social programs.

There are additional ways to tax and ensure that those who need the money the most get taxed the least, maybe even note at all. You could do this just with the financial disclosure that everyone submits on their taxes every year.