Re:Economists Are Rethinking the Numbers on Inequality
by anoncake on Friday December 06, 2019 @08:18AM
(#21721497)
> The government having this much information on people creates an information asymmetry in society that makes the state incomparably powerful relative to private citizens.
Government, in a democratic society, is simply the citizens wielding their power collectively. It cannot possibly be more powerful than the citizens it serves.
Re:Economists Are Rethinking the Numbers on Inequality
by CryptoPunk on Saturday December 07, 2019 @04:37AM
(#21729341)
A democratic system of rules doesn't mean a democratic distribution of power. Rules rarely have their intended effect 100%.
In all democracies, elites form, which wield far more political power, and derive far more benefit from government, than voters.
Even in a perfectly democratic society, giving the majority, acting collectively through their government, so much power over individuals would be dangerous, because it would create enormous rent-seeking opportunities for those who wield the most influence over public opinion and because it would endanger persecuted minorities.
That's precisely why the income tax is socially harmful. It forces people to divulge intimate personal information to the state, under pain of imprisonment. It's nothing less than warrantless mass surveillance.
The government having this much information on people creates an information asymmetry in society that makes the state incomparably powerful relative to private citizens. This manifests as trends like the suburbs of Washington, DC being the wealthiest in the US, and seeing the most income growth in the US over the last 40 years.