I was having a conversation the other day about some people who moved their primary residence to avoid taxes. The Holmes quote "Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society" was thrown out to condemn people who move for tax reasons.
Before I go further, I just want to say that choosing to move from one state to another ONLY because to taxes seems like a poor reason to move. Much like buying a house ONLY because of the mortgage interest deduction seems like a bad reason to buy.
Back to the topic.
I don't disagree with the premise. We do pay taxes to provide for things that benefit the whole of society. Which could be summarized as civilization.
However, I asked a question which shut down the conversation. The question was simply "Isn't this construct a two way street? We pay taxes and we get "civilization" for our money, correct?". Because when I see what is happening in cities like SF and states like CA where the streets are full of human waste and wasted humans or the state effectively legalizes shoplifting driving retail away, I don't see a good ROI on the taxes people pay. When I see school district after school district graduating students who are not proficient in core academic subjects, I see bad ROI. When I see a "justice system" that lets repeat violent offenders out over and over again allowing them to commit more and worse crimes, I see a bad ROI. When I see rampant fraud, I see a bad ROI. Look at what's happening in Seattle and NYC as clueless socialist mayors are confronted with the reality that money does not grow on trees and that tax policy does drive behavior. Or CA where the examples of wastage of tax dollars are legion.
I was just in KC and was struck by the fact that there are suburban neighborhoods with streets that haven't been improved since the neighborhoods were built. Barely enough room for two cars to pass, no curbs or sidewalks, not storm water control. Yet the city leaders ignore basic infrastructure for frills.
The quote is explicit that the transaction is two way. We pay taxes, we get civilization in return. So what happens when those who receive taxes fail to deliver on their end of the transaction?
The leftist answer is some form of "Give us more of your money through increasing taxes." as if this will magically fix the problems their policies have created. Which only re raises the question. At what point is failing to deliver the promised civilization is enough?
Again, I'm not arguing the reality of the premise. I'm pushing back against a system that focuses on taking increasing amounts of taxes, while providing decreasing levels of civilization.
2 comments:
And that complaint can be measured in a variety of ways. It can be the lack of services or the elected officials who refuse to provide them and instead ignore the most important needs of the people. I moved for a variety of reasons, and taxes in Illinois was among them, but not the only reason. Those tax increases aren't going to reduce crime, for example. They pay for governors and mayors who don't do their jobs and/or are incapable of doing so because they're stupid or dishonest.
Things aren't perfect here in SC, but they're better overall from an "affordability" standpoint. Yet, there's much which compels legitimate complaints. The guy I'm currently supporting for governor seems to have an actual plan to address those things. Hopefully...
My point exactly. You moved for a variety of reasons.
It’s not perfect anywhere, no one expects that.
My point is much more foundational as regards the failure of blue states/citied to provide some bare minimums of the civilization thru tax us for.
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