Re:Policies that make the poor less poor
by etempleton on Monday June 21, 2021 @11:32AM
(#27580149)
Yes, I agree. People do not have the time to learn all of the nuances of all of these complicated government policies. It is not that any of them are hard to understand, it is that no one has the bandwidth to worry about one more thing in their life. There is a reason most people pay hundreds if not thousands of dollars for someone else to do their taxes for them.
Re:Policies that make the poor less poor
by lotsofpulp on Monday June 21, 2021 @11:27AM
(#27580098)
There was a complete lack of education about how taxes, governments, zoning, city planning, or any of that community type stuff in school when I went through it 30 years ago.
I do not see why kids cannot be taught how the system works, including marginal tax rates which is a one day lesson in 5th grade math.
> I do not see why kids cannot be taught how the system works, including marginal tax rates which is a one day lesson in 5th grade math.
No government, more so democratic states, wants their citizenry to know and understand the system that subjugates them.
Think of all the things you learned after high school, then reflect on the things you were taught. Refer especially to the history of one's country. Now do you see?
I grew up in the US and was taught very well about my country's history in public school, as far as I'm aware. Are you implying that non-democratic governments are somehow more transparent?
Re:Policies that make the poor less poor
by lotsofpulp on Monday June 21, 2021 @05:07PM
(#27584504)
Yes, I wanted to avoid being cynical, but I did have that thought. Although, the US does do a decent job of making all this information available via the internet.
For example, I’ve known people who have turned down raises because it would put them into a higher tax bracket. They thought it would result in less money overall (which is not how it works, in case anyone reading finds themselves in this situation).
That’s a benefit of something like UBI. It’s easy to understand your incentives.