Re:Why Inequality Matters
by Omniusaspirer on Thursday October 16, 2014 @12:25PM
(#8465757)
Now you're just being deliberately obtuse. The entire reason I explicitly pointed out the potential for abuse was to head off the "Charity of Bob's Kids" comment.
Obviously such a system would need significant safeguards- this is something we're both fully aware of as intelligent human beings. Mentioning them now is just a strawman unless stated as the overall opinion "it's 100% impossible to stop abuse".
On your last point, I find it silly to assert that a belief in humanities ability to overrule animal instincts is somehow "Pollyanna thinking". Everything we've achieved thus far as a species has been based on that belief.
Re:Why Inequality Matters
by JoeAltmaier on Thursday October 16, 2014 @02:44PM
(#8466612)
Ok maybe that was too far.
But everything in the tax law is a testament to how this is playing out in reality. Try as you might, 10,000 lawyers will push their pointy noses through loopholes to benefit their clients, which is everybody.
You can't avoid the estate tax by gifts given before you die [1]. They are added into the estate.
[1] http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employ...
More Polyanna thinking that anything you can make up in a minute, won't be gamed to death by anybody and everybody. Why? Because almost everybody wants to increase the chances of their children/heirs succeeding. Its built into the species.