Free riders

Reader comment on: Millionaires for Tax Increases
in response to reader comment: Pushing their values

Submitted by ben (United States), Nov 28, 2010 20:09

Fine, but those with lower taxes must then forfeit the protection of our military, forgo Medicare etc. The biggest flaw in the argument against higher taxation at the top is the idea that people have become so wealthy without the benefits of living in this nation in the first place. If the hedge funder Future of Capitalism is always so quick to rush to the defense of had been born in Zimbabwe, would he be a billionaire today? Of course not. it is because the US has the conditions in which people can become wealthy that people actually do become wealthy. Once they do, it is their responsibility to pay an increased share of their income/wealth so that the next guy has a decent chance as well. This is the social contract in our country, and it is at risk. Of late, it seems as though social mobility in this country is becoming a bit passe, with potentially catastrophic effects on our democracy. If we care about personal freedom, equality and democracy, we must not allow ourselves to become so segmented that the uber wealthy no longer operating under the same rules as the rest.

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