Thursday, April 2, 2009

Explain This To Me

My dad did my taxes for me the other day. To put it simply, this will be the first year that I do not get money back due to the State of New York. Though I am a bit upset about it, I do not mind really. I am considered an upper-echelon on the NYS tax bracket. I believe that the rich should pay more in taxes. The rich have more to lose if the government does badly:
The rich are the CEO-types. A lot of their money is in the stock market. If the stocks do poorly, they lose money. If the stocks do poorly, who also loses money? The government (that is why NYS has so many problems right now). If the CEO-types stay responsible with their companies (unlike Enron or Bernie Madoff with other people's funds), that company does better, hence, the economy does better, hence the government does better. In all, it keeps everyone honest.
Now, I may not be a CEO-type, but if I espouse that the belief, I cannot complain about my tax returns. I debated this subject with some CR friends of mine and, even though they did not fall into my category (and also do not believe in a progressive tax), they did not agree with progressive taxes. I am saying that I am being hurt by a progressive tax and, yet, believe in it and they say it is wrong. It makes no sense to me. Someone explain it to me.

Now, I know conservatives believe that progressive taxes lead to communism/socialism, but are leftist ideals all that bad? Truly speaking, communism is the best form of government because it is a lack of government. As John Locke would put it, it is the State of Nature. Everyone serves everyone else; economy is based on bartering; but, there are no set rules and everyone is judge and jury for each other (and since there would be no unbiased punishments, government was created). As long as justice is truly fair, the State of Nature is perfect. It is the ideal "I scratch your back and you scratch mine." We all help each other for the betterment of society and we see that the better we work, the more we can accumulate in other goods and that wealth is shared. People argue that it goes against human nature, but if we are made in God's image, we are, by nature, good and loving. So, where does this selfishness come from? I don't know. Someone explain that to me as well.

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