Quote:
Originally Posted by HockeyIlliterate
Ridiculous.
1) Taxes should not be based on what someone can afford to "lose."
2) In your example, why do you believe that the $200K earner can "handle losing" any money at all? Perhaps the $200K earner earns their income by virtue of many years of education, paid for (temporarily) by debt, which now must be serviced.
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I fundamentally disagree. Though I wouldn't phrase it as "I can afford to lose more because I make more".
I can afford to give more to help out those that don't because, yes, I make more and am in a privileged situation. By giving more I give others a better chance to end up in the same situation I am in. A situation I'm in because my parents worked hard and allowed me to have an education (and several other benefits) they didn't have a chance to have. It's a social fabric thing.
To me, and many can feel free to disagree, but it is my personal belief: that is what it means to be Canadian. Even further to me that is what it means to be a responsible and caring citizen. And yes even though I no longer live in Canada I identify very strongly with that belief. There is plenty of money in the system to have fantastic safety net systems and as a whole those safety nets are advantageous to a country not a detriment. Now if we talking ludicrous levels of taxation things might change but it isn't ludicrous. It's pretty middle of the road in the world.
I fundamentally don't believe that I make what I make (which btw isn't some huge amount) just because I worked hard. Sure I did. I also had major advantages provided to me others don't. You know who else works hard? The guy sweeping up floors at two different companies and can barely make ends meet. You think he wants a better education? Sure he does. But you know what? Maybe he couldn't do it because of financial reasons. Maybe he couldn't do it because he made a mistake at 18. Maybe he couldn't do it because he was not capable of doing it. It's a fact of life that some people are smarter in doing certain things and it is easier to earn more when you are smarter in those things. It just is. I'm good in science and math. I'm useless at fixing and building things no matter how much I try. What I'm good at, by and large, will earn me more than a guy who is good at fixing things. That doesn't mean the "smarter" person is a better person or a person who worked harder than someone making a fraction of what they do. It doesn't mean I'm a better person than the person who cuts my hair. It does mean I can help out society more through financial contribution.
Unlike popular belief, there are not a huge amount of lazy drug addled bums sitting on their asses sponging off the system. Are there some? yes. But they are a very small minority and no matter what system is in place those very same people will be sponging off the system. They won't be out getting jobs because someone took the money or food stamps or whatever away.