edmund_the_destroyer wrote on January 4, 2019 at 11:47 AM

Reply to comment by NAB in A “tax cut” after trillions in war spending, and countless lives lost? by NAB

Agreed. During World War 2 the top tax brackets on the rich reached 90%. There were exemptions and deductions and such, but someone 'earning' (ha!) ten million dollars a year would still have seen between seven and nine million of it going to Uncle Sammy.

And then in 2005 we were at war in Iraq and Afghanistan and someone 'earning' ten million dollars a year would have paid less than four million in taxes. If their income was all from long term investments, which is common with rich people, they would have paid less than two million in taxes.

And everyone screams that the national debt is too high and we can't afford social services programs. That tax change is one of the reasons why.

NAB OP wrote on January 15, 2019 at 3:48 AM

well idealy I would just like to see the government shrunk and taxes lowered (on the poor first though). raising taxes would just feed our allready bloated wasteful government.

edmund_the_destroyer wrote on January 15, 2019 at 11:42 AM

Yeah I have mixed feelings about it. The anarchist view is that there shouldn't be government outside the local direct democracy, period. I understand many of the philosophical, economic, and historical arguments for that view.

But I wonder if we can ever really slay these giants. They've gotten so big.

Raising taxes on the rich could do a lot of good, if it was spent well: universal basic income, public health care, etc... You're right though, most or all of it would probably just line the pockets of the military industrial complex, the pharmaceutical companies, etc.. etc..