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Re:What Happens After Prisoners Learn to Code? by sokoloff on Saturday December 14, 2019 @10:14AM (#21789842)
Even with perfect understanding, there are many people who believe along the lines of "the government which governs least governs best."

Specifically, if you promised that every year you'd take 5% of the money of everyone richer than me, that I'd get a healthy slice of it, the rest would be spent on programs I approve of, and that there is no possible future in which that new tax would apply to me, I'd still vote against it. I don't think it's because I'm too stupid or ill-informed to understand that it would be "good for me".

Re:What Happens After Prisoners Learn to Code? by teucris on Saturday December 14, 2019 @12:07PM (#21790506)
In your hypothetical, what if the 5% tax was presented (with significant evidence) as a way to correct for market distortions that, if left unchecked, would be exploited by those at the top, politically and financially? Would you still want the government to not interfere?
Re:What Happens After Prisoners Learn to Code? by sokoloff on Saturday December 14, 2019 @12:38PM (#21790753)
I should perhaps step back to explain my concern over the 5% tax on "everyone richer than me".

Rather than starting from "we should exercise our power to tax the rich as a reaction to their success and to promote fairness", I start from "What services must the government provide the people?" then "How much will it cost to provide those services?" then once that is determined, figure out how to raise the needed revenue.

Tax revenue should not be raised to punish or correct for market distortions, but rather because it's needed to pay for an essential government service.

I believe, with very few exceptions, that the creation of wealth, even the concentration of great wealth in a few hands, represents evidence of a market success not a market failure. Those wealth creators mostly got there by providing something that many other people wanted and wanted so much that they parted with their own hard-earned money in exchange for the goods and services the wealth creators had on offer.

Similarly, when considering the role of government (such as when weighing a new program), I think it's better for society overall if the decision is made on a basis of "this newly proposed program is so beneficial/essential that everyone would be willing to pay some part of the cost of it" rather than "I'm willing to support this program that benefits me because I know that only other people are going to be paying for it."

So, yes, I'd be opposed to a tax presented with strong supporting evidence that that tax was motivated by raising incremental revenue under the justification/cover of "improving fairness".