Quote:
Originally Posted by MattyC
Yeah I don't disagree with you guys at all really. I've never argued for a total state-controlled economy (maybe a couple more industries than we currently have). I've mostly been arguing for tax as a means to offset gross imbalances. Not that truck drivers and doctors should make the same money, but that the kids of truck drivers should have the same opportunities to succeed as the kids of doctors, and that education should be incentivized towards what you're good at/interested in, not what makes the most money. In order to do that, there are certain things that you either A) need to provide the truck driver with enough income that he can afford them for his family, or B) have those things provided by state and funded by taxes on excessive wealth.
Either way, I've ranted a lot about it in here so I'll leave it to others to discuss.
|
The kids thing - sure, but a lot of that is beyond government control and beyond the reach of redistribution. The elite/meritocracy/upper middle class is self-perpetuating and becoming more exclusive because doctors (to take an example) will tend to marry other doctors (or similar), they will tend to stay married, the parents will spend more time with their children (I am typing this on my phone with a 2 year old on my shoulder). The truck driver (not specifically - pick whatever lower 2 quintile profession you want) is much less likely to marry in the first place, is much less likely to stay married and will spend much less time raising children. So, his/her kid is already well behind on the "nurture" front. This will be more controversial, but on the "nature" front things are made even worse because, given genetics the child of two educated professionals is likely to have an IQ 2-3 standard deviations higher than the child of the gas jockey or similar.
You can't fix this with minimum wages or taxes. I would argue that the best thing the US government could do is universal daycare/preschool - you have to get them early. And you also have to get them later (grade 9 or 10) by doing what Germany does and splitting off the less intellectually inclined into "practical" education (i.e. apprenticeships) because the biggest problem I see looming is a whole cohort of useless people, who have no brains and no skills and who are not needed in the new economy. There is a shortage of skilled workers and millions of people who have no economic value - you need to figure out a way to marry those 2 issues...