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Re:What science reveals about our tendency toward corruption by kazinator on Wednesday November 13, 2024 @11:12AM (#42127303)
Governments don't produce anything. Taxing is only redistribution, not production. You can't tax your way into wealth.

Economies of scale are a facet of capitalism.

If you rob me but then give me back twice as much, the only way this action is not unfair to someone else is if it has the effect of undoing a robbery. I e the surplus I received in the end is actually restitution. Furthermore, it was taken back from the correctly identified robbers.

That's how your Bolsheviks and Leninists justified their ideas and actions: monarchs and capitalists are just parasites who have taken from the people, so if you take it away from them, it's just restitution.

Re:What science reveals about our tendency toward corruption by Retric on Wednesday November 13, 2024 @02:01PM (#42128845)
> Economies of scale are a facet of capitalism

Animal flocking behavior exists from what amounts to economies of scale. Each animal can spend less effort watching their surroundings when there exists a large group with similar motivations.

> the only way this action is not unfair to someone else is if it has the effect of undoing a robbery

The benefit of a road network grows with the total size of a road network and can therefore quickly exceed the cost of creating and maintaining it. That’s a surplus which has nothing to do with moving money from individual A to individual B. It’s a surplus derived from scale not the efficiency of construing individual segments of road.