Quote:
Originally Posted by Slava
I guess this is where we differ. I'm pretty sure that I disagree that people who are struggling to make ends meet should be out buying vehicles and iPads. I mean we might have differing views on the working poor, but buying a bunch of depreciating crap is exactly what should be taxed. These are luxury items (no matter how commonplace they are today).
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The point, slava, is that they shouldn't be struggling to make ends meet, because if they are, they are a drag on the economy.
Our lifestyle is built on the buying and selling of depreciating crap. That's what makes our cruddy oil so valuable.
We can have a discussion on the merits of building a society around the economics of buying and selling depreciating crap, but as long as we are actually doing it, we might as well go for the gold.
Our modern standard of living is based on crap like TVs and toasters. Now they are flatscreens and toaster ovens, but the principle is the same: the more of that crud people can buy, the more jobs and higher wages which creates more consumption and in turn more jobs and higher wages. There is a historical precedent for this in our society, and going the other way hasn't exactly yielded positive results.