Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 8/23/84; site ucbcad.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!sdcsvax!dcdwest!ittvax!decvax!ucbvax!ucbcad!faustus From: faustus@ucbcad.UUCP Newsgroups: net.politics Subject: Re: knee-jerk libertarians Message-ID: <2726@ucbcad.UUCP> Date: Sun, 7-Oct-84 13:10:11 EDT Article-I.D.: ucbcad.2726 Posted: Sun Oct 7 13:10:11 1984 Date-Received: Tue, 9-Oct-84 02:58:46 EDT References: <1704@inmet.UUCP> <2722@ucbcad.UUCP> <459@unmvax.UUCP> Organization: UC Berkeley CAD Group, Berkeley, CA Lines: 26 > Remember, the US went from 1789 to 1913 with no Constitutional authorization > for income tax. I do believe that when the income tax amendment (++yes, the > Constitution had to be *amended* {Article XVI I believe}) was being ratified > that some congressmen thought a ceiling should be included, lest in the future > we might face a tax as HIGH as 3% (three percent). Of course popular thought > at that time believed a ceiling unnecessary, because Americans wouldn't stand > for such larceny. Things have changed a great deal since then. Perhaps 3% income tax was good enough in 1913 for the government to do what it was supposed to be doing, but after the '30s and the liberal programs created then, there was a basic change in the understanding of what things are the responsibility of the government -- besides the regulation of the economy, to make sure that people don't starve. This costs money, and the fact is that most people are willing to pay a substantial fraction of their income in taxes for this. Libertarians, who seem to be unwilling to do so, are clearly in the minority, and since everyone benefits from this sort of "safety-net" program, including people who don't want it, they will have to pay for it whether they want to or not. It's the rule of the majority, and there's nothing you can do about that. Now, aside from these vague ideas, there are many details that can be debated. How much money should be spent on social programs, how much should government regulate the economy, etc... But first you have to agree that it is basically ok for the government to collect taxes and spend them for these things. Wayne