[lbo-talk] The flat tax and income inequality

Miles Jackson cqmv at pdx.edu
Sat Nov 17 11:02:40 PST 2007


Wojtek Sokolowski wrote:


> Progressive taxation is really a lame of way of income redistribution - it
> is more of the punishment of the better-offs than helping the worse-offs. A
> vestige of the Puritan mentality, I may add. A better way is the
> availability of universal social programs that not only take advantage of
> the economies of scale and deliver services more efficiently, but have a
> vantage point of attracting broad public support (especially in contrast to
> the US system).

In my view, the purpose of progressive taxation is not income redistribution; it is charging people for the value of government services. The state apparatus is a necessary precondition for the accumulation and maintenance of personal wealth in a capitalist society. The more wealth you have, the more you benefit--in financial terms--from the state apparatus. Thus progressive taxation is just an attempt to appropriately distribute the tax burden based on who financially benefits from the state.

Miles



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