Hope I spelled everything correctly

[hittokiri-korru.livejournal.com]

Comments

[ygrii-blop.livejournal.com]

But spreading the liability is just darn good sense.

[torasama.livejournal.com]

A+

[iamlibertarian.livejournal.com]

Spreading the liability out covering those who did not choose to take the risk only encourages more stupid risk-taking, since the cost of loss becomes much less meaningful.

[torasama.livejournal.com]

No arguement here. Personally I'd prefer that stuff like this (http://improbable.com/) were minimized, no matter how funny it is.

[vivianc1968.livejournal.com]

Another liberal fail.

Charity is not the same as confiscation.

[dwer.livejournal.com]

taxes is not the same as confiscation either. Confiscation implies punishment. Taxes aren't punishment. They're patriotic. They're a direct support for the country and therefore, for the society you live in.

[achild.livejournal.com]

"They're a direct support for the country and therefore, for the society you live in."

Not to mention that without the things those taxes pay for, enforcing ridiculous wealth becomes difficult or impossible.

Let's take Ted Turner as an extreme example. He owns over 2,000,000 acres of land[1], among other assets. If he were to try to hold all that land with only personally paid for security firms, he'd be shelling out a lot more in salaries than he does in taxes.

Throw in the inclusion of social programs that help keep the people at the bottom from revolting and killing off the people at the top[2] and you have a pretty clear case that taxes benefit the wealthy (who complain that they pay the most) in a pretty significant way. It is those taxes that allow them to accumulate and maintain such substantial wealth.

I don't buy the argument that the wealthy pay the most and benefit the least. They get life and the ability to hold/grow their assets while others starve to death. That's a pretty significant benefit.


[1]http://www.tedturner.com/enterprises/ranches_Template.asp?page=ranches_faq.html

[2]http://www.tedturner.com/enterprises/ranches_Template.asp?page=ranches_faq.html (section 1, paragraph 1, "Summary of causes".

[achild.livejournal.com]

Ugh, [2] got messed up and I don't pay for LJ, so I can't edit my comment.

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution (Section 1, Paragraph 1, "Summary of Causes")

[vivianc1968.livejournal.com]

Confiscation does not imply punishment in itself.

Freely giving money to support someone or something is not the same as having it taken at gunpoint.

[jlc20thmaine.livejournal.com]

taxes is not the same as confiscation either. Confiscation implies punishment. Taxes aren't punishment. They're patriotic. They're a direct support for the country and therefore, for the society you live in.

I just love your posts. They provides hours of laughter.

[pragmatic-chimp.livejournal.com]

Yes. Thank you.

[sarcastic-puto.livejournal.com]

Since when is patriotism a valid reason to enforce anything?

[donkeyjon.livejournal.com]

Actually, a progressive tax system is based entirely on the ethics of punishment. You punish the rich because they can better bear the costs than the poor.

Now, taxes in their own right are all fine and good, but a tax that charges the rich more than the middle class is still punishment, just a justified punishment (in the minds of most).

[iamlibertarian.livejournal.com]

"Confiscation implies punishment."

In what dictionary? This statement nullifies the rest of your comment.

[atreides74.livejournal.com]

Another conservative showing ignorance of how our government works.

[vivianc1968.livejournal.com]

Oh, I think I have a pretty good understanding of how our government works or, far more often, how it doesn't work.

[iamlibertarian.livejournal.com]

You appear to be saying that to know how the government works = approving of it. If this is not your meaning, it would be a good idea to restate.

[reality-hammer.livejournal.com]

Seriously. Why is that so hard for liberals to grasp?

[atreides74.livejournal.com]

And why is it so hard for conservatives to grasp that taxes are not robbery?

[i.livejournal.com]

feel free to move somewhere that taxes you less. we won't miss you.

[vivianc1968.livejournal.com]

They don't want to understand.

<3 <3 <3

[traag.livejournal.com]

"(Although I wish they'd spend more on trains and mass transit and Head Start and education.)"

"The "taxes are our glorious people's duty" camp is just as silly as the "taxes BLARGH" camp."

[desidono.livejournal.com]

The thread bugs me too. Thank you for making the correct points.

[psychomatt.livejournal.com]

You fail to grasp the difference between voluntarily giving and being forced to do so. Private charity vs government "charity."

F.