🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <4ai9qk$csn@aimnet.aimnet.com> edwardk@aimnet.com (Edward N. Kurmudgeon) writes:

>  From: edwardk@aimnet.com (Edward N. Kurmudgeon)
>  Date: 11 Dec 1995 14:03:00 -0800
>  
>  Travis Corcoran (tjic@alta.openmarket.com) wrote:
>  : Come to think of it, what would be fair would be a true FLAT tax (not
>  : a flat percentage, but a flat fee): Bill Gates pays $4k a year to the
>  : government, I pay $4k a year to the government, and you pay $4k a year
>  : to the government (or somthing alone those lines).  Now *THAT* sounds
>  : fair.  We all get the same number of votes, we all have the same
>  : freedoms protected by the Bill of Rights, we all get judged by the
>  : same judicial system....we should all pay the same taxes.
>  
>  Well, I am not sure, Travis.  If the Russian came, Bill Gates would lose 
>  2 billion dollars of income a year, and I some what less (about 2 billion
>  dollars less).  So, don't you think he should pay more since he has a 
>  larger stake in this Russian thing?

Well, if Bill Gates has a bigger stake in society because he has more
money, shouldn't he get more votes ?  After all, the government passes
all these laws which affect people, and if you own 1 car, and I own 1
house, but Bill owns 10 houses and 10 cars, shouldn't he have 10 times
the say on laws regarding houses and cars because he's 10 times as
affected by the laws?

Or, to use another argument, how much is a human life worth?  If you
peg it as "infinite", or "priceless", etc., then it seems that Bill's
billions pale into insignificance when you consider that the military
and police are protecting both of our lives.  The value of my life and
possessions: 1.0 human lives.  The value of Bill's life and
possession: 1.000000001 human lives.  ...It doesn't seem that Bill is
really getting much more for his money, does it ?


Note followups have been trimmed a bit.

--
TJIC (Travis J.I. Corcoran)  http://www.openmarket.com/personal/tjic/index.html

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