Wednesday, June 27, 2007
The Pesky Little Tax Issue
My taxes here in Japan just went up – about $80.00 a month.
Of course, the tax issue is a centerpiece of the conservative/libertarian position. I can't get too worked up about it though, not because I'd ultimately be up against some powerful politicians but because – as in any locale – I'm up against lots of stupid people who will continually vote for the clown who promises to take someone else's money to “do good things.”
Of course most people's response to taxes is that, “we gotta pay for the roads and police etc...” What a total crock! We could pave and patrol the entire solar system for what the worthless clowns of socialism inc. have fostered upon the public.
The only sure things are – supposedly -- “death and taxes.” Of course you can't say “no” to death, but taxes are another thing. Perhaps we should say, “death and public stupidity are the only sure things.”
In my little town, there will definitely be more than a few people with families and greater expenses than my own, who will now forfeit an extra evening out at a restaurant, pass on a movie, or perhaps they'll just stop buying that 400 yen latte or new pair of shoes.
A minor tax hike rarely bankrupts anyone (though I'm sure more than a few small businesses have had their “camel's back” broken by this pathetic “straw” of state coercion).
No doubt, next year the city elders will be whining about the local economy and reduced shopping in the downtown area. Leave it to politicians to be so f___ing stupid that they're unable to see a relationship between excess theft and a reduction of expenditure on the part of their constituents.
Consistently, a reduction in taxes results in increased business activity (for those who hate the “B word,” that simply means making, selling, and buying stuff) and ultimately an increase in tax revenue from a more dynamic economy. But the left likes, or is at least apologetic to, the concept of taxes. Left-of-center politicians forever chastize those "unwilling to pay their 'fair share'." Taxes “pay for government programs,” but they also do something far more important in the eyes of a statist. They punish success and achievement, they “redistribute” wealth – from “the rich” to the political class (politicians and bureaucrats). Socialism in all its guise is ultimately a punitive philosophy.
Here in Japan, people complain about taxes just the same as anywhere else but I'd dare say they're less likely to see the ultimate solution (not that Americans or anyone else, acts on the solution).
The solution is to support any politician who promises to reduce government spending and taxes, and to make any politicians who wants to seize more funds unemployed – throw the asshole out of office. But..., most people aren't going to do that. Japan is pretty weak on a libertarian mentality favoring – very limited – government and equally limited taxation.
People want their “free” stuff, and as long as there's a politician promising to materialize free stuff on a rich person's dime, they're all for it. “Give me more government grants to the cheese industry, more money to 'help the poor' (that's always a favorite), more government grants to investigate the effects of second-hand methane emissions.”
If a socialist says they're going to punish or extract wealth from “the rich,” you can be certain that, regardless of your income or living circumstance, you'll eventually be classified as “rich” (your taxes are going to go up).
“Death and Taxes.”...
...Death of taxes has such a nicer ring to it, but don't hold your breath waiting.
