Re: 2012 Presidential Election Part II -- Charlotte, a National Treasure or sede vaca
One of the biggest disappointments that happens over and over again occurs when there is already a long-standing consensus that "Thing A" be done, yet people continue to argue whether it "should be" done anyway...meanwhile, the essential debate is not "whether" but "how much."
One glaring example of this mismatch between situation and debate is over redistribution of wealth. There's been a wealth tax in the US off and on since 1797, and a permanent wealth tax since 1916. One component of this wealth tax is explicity about redistribution, and it has worked spectacularly well. As a matter of fact, even when this tax was not in existence, wealthy people voluntarily embraced its re-distributionist spirit anyway.
Despite having an explicitly redistributionist tax that has been extremely successful in application, we are still having a debate about whether the "rich" pay their "fair share" absent any grounding in a broader context or examining those claims in the light of sensible economic policy.
The biggest error in thinking is equating a high annual income with wealth. Income is merely one year's cash flow; while wealth is accumulated on one's balance sheet over time.
One of the biggest disappointments that happens over and over again occurs when there is already a long-standing consensus that "Thing A" be done, yet people continue to argue whether it "should be" done anyway...meanwhile, the essential debate is not "whether" but "how much."
One glaring example of this mismatch between situation and debate is over redistribution of wealth. There's been a wealth tax in the US off and on since 1797, and a permanent wealth tax since 1916. One component of this wealth tax is explicity about redistribution, and it has worked spectacularly well. As a matter of fact, even when this tax was not in existence, wealthy people voluntarily embraced its re-distributionist spirit anyway.
Despite having an explicitly redistributionist tax that has been extremely successful in application, we are still having a debate about whether the "rich" pay their "fair share" absent any grounding in a broader context or examining those claims in the light of sensible economic policy.
The biggest error in thinking is equating a high annual income with wealth. Income is merely one year's cash flow; while wealth is accumulated on one's balance sheet over time.