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Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield
1. You couched this in terms of moral imperatives, then use English common law as the supporting authority? God Save the Queen, indeed. English common law ain't the fount of all morality. My logical basis is simple - its your family's money. Families have rights to keep property within them. Its a ludicrous liberal's fantasy that we all live as one unified family, and Mother Government beneficially oversees property rights for us.
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Actually, it was you who originally couched it in terms of moral imperatives.
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5. You're "institutionalized." You've been reading too many books on tax for too long and are beginning to think that the tax system (which has not always been as progressive as it is today) is carved in stone, handed to us by God himself. Nonsense. That a thing's been done wrong and badly for a while doesn't mean changing it is heresy or an inherently unsound proposition. You're wearing blinders on this issue because you're too close to it too often. You sound like me when I cross examine my wife. I rip her points to ribbons when we argue, and then she just looks at me and says "Stop fucking lawyering me. In the real world, you know I'm right."
Its ok. Most lawyers are fucking deluded. We're so twisted up in the belief that what we're involved in is the perfect logical system, and that its RIGHT, that we don't even realize how fucking blind we are.
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If by institutionalized, you mean that I agree that the tax system should be progressive, you're right. To the extent that the system is done badly, it's because of too many people trying to avoid their obligations and seeking special breaks for themselves.
We all derive benefits from the government and we all need to pay for them. Beyond that, we're the richest nation on the planet. I believe it's simply unacceptable that there are people in America who go to bed each night hungry. I believe that people who have more than enough should be expected to pony up a bit so that they don't have to go to bed hungry. Holmes called it the price of civilzation.
And at this point, I've come full circle yet again. We recycle this whole debate every few months and every few months I say the same things. You say the same things. Club says the same things. And Hank just sits in the corner of the cage and throws shit at the rest of us. I'm pretty sure I've played my part.
So, until next time....
