Funny enough, California has a very progressive tax system, and has higher than normal income inequality but a higher base standard of living than the rest of the US. I think having an economy with more opportunities for people inflates everyone’s income, including the rich.
But it brings up a question, if everyone were to have a decent standard of living, is it as big a problem that rich people exist? Obviously we’re not there yet, but hypothetically in a post scarcity world, it’s an interesting thing to think about.
The problem is loopholes, but I’m not a tax lawyer, which is why I provi such a vague answer.
I think that ostentatious wealth is a sign you’re not doing your share to help the society that supports you, so the disgustingly rich shouldn’t exist. But I’m not opposed to a little inequality as reward for doing important work or going above and beyond, but what we have now is crazy.
I wouldn’t really say that California’s tax is especially progressive compared to taxes in the past, like the golden age of the USA. But even then, lobbyists have opened so many loopholes that it doesn’t even really matter what the tax rate is
Funny enough, California has a very progressive tax system, and has higher than normal income inequality but a higher base standard of living than the rest of the US. I think having an economy with more opportunities for people inflates everyone’s income, including the rich.
But it brings up a question, if everyone were to have a decent standard of living, is it as big a problem that rich people exist? Obviously we’re not there yet, but hypothetically in a post scarcity world, it’s an interesting thing to think about.
The problem is loopholes, but I’m not a tax lawyer, which is why I provi such a vague answer.
I think that ostentatious wealth is a sign you’re not doing your share to help the society that supports you, so the disgustingly rich shouldn’t exist. But I’m not opposed to a little inequality as reward for doing important work or going above and beyond, but what we have now is crazy.
I wouldn’t really say that California’s tax is especially progressive compared to taxes in the past, like the golden age of the USA. But even then, lobbyists have opened so many loopholes that it doesn’t even really matter what the tax rate is
To me, the ideal system would be everyone has enough to live comfortably, and the rest is allocated according to how hard or smart people work.