Death And Taxes.
Mar. 6th, 2012 07:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wolven7http://sxyblkmn.tumblr.com/post/18862556514
So, the "MY HARD EARNED TAX MONEY RAGEGLEBLARGLE!" argument works both ways, people.
Let's break this down (and really think about this, will you?):
We use taxes taken from sales, income, property, etc-- that is, a Miniscule amount of money from things you own/earn-- to pay for things like Police Departments, Libraries, Roads, Fire Departments, City Infrastructure, and more. If we were to privatize this, do you know how much private companies would charge you for these same services? As much as they could get away with, which, and I'll tell you this for free, will be a DAMN sight more than your taxes.
And before you respond, "Oh But The Market! The Market Corrects Itself, and It'll All Even Out!" let me just say no. No "The Market" won't. Do you know why? Because people will game the sainted "Market," and take those within it for all they're worth. You want to see what the market does to people? Look at Detroit, and then look at Bloomfield Hills.
Detroit has shat itself and is on Double Fire. Bloomfield Hills is still one of the wealthiest cities in the country. They are Twenty Miles Away From Each Other. That's a Five-Hour Walk. That's like, a half an hour drive. That's an afternoon outing.
Left to it's own devices, "The Market" would shank you in an alley, go through your pockets, set you on fire, pee on you to put you out, set you on fire Again to get rid of their DNA, and then realise that they own the cops and that you can't afford their services, and then pee on you, again. That is "the market." And let's be clear, here, people: The much ballyhooed "Market?" It's people. It's Produced By People. It arises out of what we do, and yes, then it takes on features of its own, but its primary inputs are human greed and selfishness. That means that the market will screw you, because greedy, selfish people will Screw You.
Do you get this? That what is called "regulation" is really just someone there to keep people from being such dicks to each other that we all Die? That what you call "unfair taxation" is really just the most plausible middle ground through which everyone gets services and opportunities?
And even then, take a look at the library in a poor neighbourhood and compare it to the library in a neighbourhood where people have money. No, don't look at the Books, there (though that's something I personally care about); look at the Building. Look at the desks, the chairs, the shelves, the carpets. Look at the facilities. There is such a ridiculous difference...
Okay, so I know some of you don't like books, and that's... sad... but whatever. Try this: Look at the elapsed time between call and arrival for Emergency Responders. Look at it in, say, Unincorporated Decatur and then in Emory Square. Vastly Different. These are provided via taxation, and even they are unequal. Imagine privatising that.
Tell me, with a straight face, that there wouldn't be entire cities without anything like an adequate first response force; that there wouldn't be whole swaths of states left to rot, and then bought on the cheap, with the citizens who couldn't afford to pay their rates then kicked out into the hinterlands.
And sure, there'd be some dedicated public servants who would stay and do the work, but they'd be branded "vigilantes" and "outlaws," just as anyone who tried to grow their own food would be branded criminals.
Yes, that sounds alarmist.
Taxes, my friends, don't even go so far as leveling the whole damn playing field. They just try to level the starting blocks. We've talked about what's potentially wrong with Privatisation. Now let's look at what people seem to really want.
Carmina Burana - [Stetit Puella]--- Most people have absolutely No Problem paying taxes which go toward things they enjoy. They don't even think about it. (Tom Waits - [The Black Rider]). But they still clamour for fewer taxes, and the same level of services. Do you know what that is?
That's called "Getting Something For Nothing," which, while they may share some features, is different from actual and in fact Socialism. Which is itself different from National Socialism, Fascism, and Democratic Capitalism, though they all share various features. So. What you've just told me is that you want something for nothing.
Patsy Cline - [Why Can't He Be You]--- You want to pay nothing and yet have people perform services for you. You want to give Nothing, and yet still have the world open up and give you want you want. You want to Contribute Nothing, and still Get Paid?!
Well. Okay. The Universe is not a Zero-Sum game. Resources on this planet are limited, but our resourcefulness is not.* (Portishead - [Threads]). We can figure out a way to make it so you don't have to pay taxes, and yet still get everything you want. But you're going to need to drop all this "Capitalism/Communism/Socialism/Communitarianism" crap.
It's just stuff, and we can make, destroy, and recombine it, however we need to, without killing ourselves. Yes we can. Shut up. Yes we Can.
We don't have to pay people anything, because they can create what they need. We can teach a different system of value than production-based. It's Creation-based. Merritt-based. It's about changing our perspectives.
It's just molecules. It's just money. It's just ideas. Push them around, rearrange them, shift how we think about what they do.
Víola: It's a different thing.
Beastie Boys - [Three MC's and One DJ]--- Taxes are for giving us what we need. But too many people seem to think that they're for giving us only what we want and that, when they don't do that latter thing, then we need to get rid of as many of them as possible. That's a different thing, entirely.
That's what ingenuity and desire are for.
But what do I know? The Moody Blues - [I'm Just A Singer (In A Rock And Roll Band)].
---------------------------------------------------
*I should be a damn politician, with lines like that.
So, the "MY HARD EARNED TAX MONEY RAGEGLEBLARGLE!" argument works both ways, people.
Let's break this down (and really think about this, will you?):
We use taxes taken from sales, income, property, etc-- that is, a Miniscule amount of money from things you own/earn-- to pay for things like Police Departments, Libraries, Roads, Fire Departments, City Infrastructure, and more. If we were to privatize this, do you know how much private companies would charge you for these same services? As much as they could get away with, which, and I'll tell you this for free, will be a DAMN sight more than your taxes.
And before you respond, "Oh But The Market! The Market Corrects Itself, and It'll All Even Out!" let me just say no. No "The Market" won't. Do you know why? Because people will game the sainted "Market," and take those within it for all they're worth. You want to see what the market does to people? Look at Detroit, and then look at Bloomfield Hills.
Detroit has shat itself and is on Double Fire. Bloomfield Hills is still one of the wealthiest cities in the country. They are Twenty Miles Away From Each Other. That's a Five-Hour Walk. That's like, a half an hour drive. That's an afternoon outing.
Left to it's own devices, "The Market" would shank you in an alley, go through your pockets, set you on fire, pee on you to put you out, set you on fire Again to get rid of their DNA, and then realise that they own the cops and that you can't afford their services, and then pee on you, again. That is "the market." And let's be clear, here, people: The much ballyhooed "Market?" It's people. It's Produced By People. It arises out of what we do, and yes, then it takes on features of its own, but its primary inputs are human greed and selfishness. That means that the market will screw you, because greedy, selfish people will Screw You.
Do you get this? That what is called "regulation" is really just someone there to keep people from being such dicks to each other that we all Die? That what you call "unfair taxation" is really just the most plausible middle ground through which everyone gets services and opportunities?
And even then, take a look at the library in a poor neighbourhood and compare it to the library in a neighbourhood where people have money. No, don't look at the Books, there (though that's something I personally care about); look at the Building. Look at the desks, the chairs, the shelves, the carpets. Look at the facilities. There is such a ridiculous difference...
Okay, so I know some of you don't like books, and that's... sad... but whatever. Try this: Look at the elapsed time between call and arrival for Emergency Responders. Look at it in, say, Unincorporated Decatur and then in Emory Square. Vastly Different. These are provided via taxation, and even they are unequal. Imagine privatising that.
Tell me, with a straight face, that there wouldn't be entire cities without anything like an adequate first response force; that there wouldn't be whole swaths of states left to rot, and then bought on the cheap, with the citizens who couldn't afford to pay their rates then kicked out into the hinterlands.
And sure, there'd be some dedicated public servants who would stay and do the work, but they'd be branded "vigilantes" and "outlaws," just as anyone who tried to grow their own food would be branded criminals.
Yes, that sounds alarmist.
Taxes, my friends, don't even go so far as leveling the whole damn playing field. They just try to level the starting blocks. We've talked about what's potentially wrong with Privatisation. Now let's look at what people seem to really want.
Carmina Burana - [Stetit Puella]--- Most people have absolutely No Problem paying taxes which go toward things they enjoy. They don't even think about it. (Tom Waits - [The Black Rider]). But they still clamour for fewer taxes, and the same level of services. Do you know what that is?
That's called "Getting Something For Nothing," which, while they may share some features, is different from actual and in fact Socialism. Which is itself different from National Socialism, Fascism, and Democratic Capitalism, though they all share various features. So. What you've just told me is that you want something for nothing.
Patsy Cline - [Why Can't He Be You]--- You want to pay nothing and yet have people perform services for you. You want to give Nothing, and yet still have the world open up and give you want you want. You want to Contribute Nothing, and still Get Paid?!
Well. Okay. The Universe is not a Zero-Sum game. Resources on this planet are limited, but our resourcefulness is not.* (Portishead - [Threads]). We can figure out a way to make it so you don't have to pay taxes, and yet still get everything you want. But you're going to need to drop all this "Capitalism/Communism/Socialism/Communitarianism" crap.
It's just stuff, and we can make, destroy, and recombine it, however we need to, without killing ourselves. Yes we can. Shut up. Yes we Can.
We don't have to pay people anything, because they can create what they need. We can teach a different system of value than production-based. It's Creation-based. Merritt-based. It's about changing our perspectives.
It's just molecules. It's just money. It's just ideas. Push them around, rearrange them, shift how we think about what they do.
Víola: It's a different thing.
Beastie Boys - [Three MC's and One DJ]--- Taxes are for giving us what we need. But too many people seem to think that they're for giving us only what we want and that, when they don't do that latter thing, then we need to get rid of as many of them as possible. That's a different thing, entirely.
That's what ingenuity and desire are for.
But what do I know? The Moody Blues - [I'm Just A Singer (In A Rock And Roll Band)].
---------------------------------------------------
*I should be a damn politician, with lines like that.
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no subject
Date: 2012-03-07 03:14 pm (UTC)also: in shadowrun this is the difference between performing a crime in a crime in Redmond (where the private police will be there in a few minutes) and a crime in Pileup (where the clock isnt even ticking).
no subject
Date: 2012-03-07 05:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-07 05:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-07 05:44 pm (UTC)As long as we have money, we're going to need taxes. So we should, y'know... PAY them.
no subject
Date: 2012-03-07 06:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-07 08:37 pm (UTC)EXACTLY! Thank you!
no subject
Date: 2012-03-08 04:09 pm (UTC)