right. the issue is whether taxes hit dividends, capital gains, interest, and rental income.
CC:
>I think it could be argued (if one accepts Marx's theory of value)
that all taxes are part of surplus value -- in which case taxes on
workers are a major deception, for their _actual_ wage is the wage
after taxes, and they have simply been made the courier for
transferring part of surplus value to the capitalist state! Which
means that their actual wages are substantially lower than they appear
to be. It can be compared to being forced to buy one's groceries at
the capitalist store!<
there's also reason to see transfers to workers (unemployment benefits, social security benefits, etc.) as adding to actual wages. But some evidence suggests that the net tax (tax minus transfer) is either positive or close to zero.
It then becomes very hard to estimate the benefits that workers get from the capitalist state. In the short run, it can be argued, workers gain from law and order and the like, though in the long run they suffer from the capitalist exploitation and domination that the state preserves and promotes. It seems to me that this kind of calculation rapidly becomes pointless.
-- Jim Devine / Bust Big Brother Bush! "There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward you can remove all traces of reality." -- Pablo Picasso
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