----- Original Message ---- From: Joseph Catron <jncatron at gmail.com> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org Sent: Friday, September 12, 2008 9:57:18 AM Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] authentically working class
On Fri, Sep 12, 2008 at 8:29 AM, Wojtek Sokolowski <swsokolowski at yahoo.com>wrote:
Tax burden? What kind of fucking right wing nonsense is that?
I believe it's the term commonly accepted and used by economists, policy analysts and others. Do you have a better one to propose?
[WS:] "Commonly accepted" by right wing pundits, neo-con economists and the like who unfortunately dominate public discourse in this fucking country. I doubt, however, that you will find such a term in, say, John Kenneth Galbraith.
Taxes are public funds procured to deliver public goods, and should be called such. If they are not used that way by the so-called "elected representatives" it is another matter. But they are no more a "burden" than my or your wages and pensions are a "loot" when mismanaged by crooked corporate or bank executives. You would not call your wages or social security or old age pension a "burden" - would you? Albeit I'm pretty surre they are seen as a burden to "hard working" businessmen and billionaires who have other plans for them.
It is a concerted effort of the right wing propaganda machine to portray public funds as a "burden" to facilitate dismantling public services and greasing the way for privatization of wealth. It is particularly bad in this fucking country. Europe generally does not fall for such nonsense. I remember a few years ago seeing an educational TV segment explaining to the lay public how the tax system works and how it benefits everyone. One would not dare to show anything like that in this fucking rathole.
I can understand right wing trolls ranting against taxes but it really pisses me off when self-styled lefities pick up that rant. But then again, one of the most iritating and idiotic aspects of the US (and English speaking I may add) left is its cocky individualism and irrational visceral hatred of anything public, not to mention institutional. It is irritating and idiotic, because the left has no chance against the right in playing that game - yet insist on paying it and then gets pissed when it keeps losing to the point of total irrelevance. Robert Fitch makes that point quite eloquently in his account of tha pitfalls of the US trade unionism (_Solidarity for Sale_).
Wojtek