Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site dciem.UUCP Path: utzoo!dciem!mmt From: mmt@dciem.UUCP (Martin Taylor) Newsgroups: net.politics.theory Subject: Re: Re: Libertarianism as ideology (repl Message-ID: <1484@dciem.UUCP> Date: Tue, 26-Mar-85 18:41:49 EST Article-I.D.: dciem.1484 Posted: Tue Mar 26 18:41:49 1985 Date-Received: Tue, 26-Mar-85 20:11:21 EST References: <1467@dciem.UUCP> Reply-To: mmt@dciem.UUCP (Martin Taylor) Organization: D.C.I.E.M., Toronto, Canada Lines: 25 Summary: I suggested that income tax was the only fair tax, because all other taxes can or must fall more heavily on the poor, who need all their income to live. Neal Wiedenhofer replied: > I can't help but be struck by the essentailly "socialistic" or >"Marxist" definition of "fair" that you are using. (Cf. "From each >according to his ability, to each according to his need".) As a >capitalist and a libertarian, I maintain that for a tax or any other >required "payment" to be "fair" it should be proportional to the benefit >you are getting or expecting to get from whatever it is you are paying >for. I'm not sure why my idea is socialistic or Marxist. I would have thought it more fair to tax away something that isn't giving you great benefit (such as your second million of income this year) rather than something on which you depend to live (your second thousand this year). The greatest benefit you can get from something is that it lets you stay alive. This is what you want to tax most heavily, and call "fair"? I doubt that many "capitalists and libertarians" would agree with you, even though they probably wouldn't agree with me, either. -- Martin Taylor {allegra,linus,ihnp4,floyd,ubc-vision}!utzoo!dciem!mmt {uw-beaver,qucis,watmath}!utcsri!dciem!mmt