From: nelson@sun.soe.clarkson.edu (Russ Nelson)
Subject: Re: Socialism, again
Organization: Clarkson University, Potsdam NY
	<1992Aug25.003220.25787@meteor.wisc.edu>
	<1992Aug25.035503.26120@ncar.ucar.edu>
	<1992Aug25.071059.29449@meteor.wisc.edu>
	<1992Aug26.021347.4879@ke4zv.uucp>
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 05:31:32 GMT

In article <1992Aug26.021347.4879@ke4zv.uucp> gary@ke4zv.uucp (Gary Coffman) writes:
   In article <1992Aug25.071059.29449@meteor.wisc.edu> stvjas@meteor.wisc.edu (Stephen Jascourt) writes:

   >No, rather because of a series of rulings and procedures the Bush
   >administration and previously the Reagan administration had put
   >through at the behest of their corporate sponsors. Some of the
   >unions have developed their own bureaucracies which undermine the
   >best interests of the workers, but the ability of labor to
   >effectively organize and make reasonable demands such as safe
   >working conditions has been wrecked by corporate sponsored
   >administrative rulings and some legislation corporate interests
   >were able to ram through, all in the interest of protecting
   >profits even at the cost of workers' safety.

   As a member of two unions, I must respectfully say this is bull.
   The unions have dug their own graves. They are stuck in a timewarp
   where miners and company cops battle it out on the picket line.

Indeed.  All union leaders should read "Getting to Yes".

   >If we had a more progressive taxation system, this would not be
   >the case. But those greedy corporate sponsors of politicians will
   >see to it that taxation is as flat as they can get. Yet again the
   >profit motive interferes with fair government-- a product of a
   >capitalist society.

   "Progressive" taxation is a misnomer if I ever heard one. Every time a
   person tries to make progress, he gets taxed more heavily. According to
   the Constitution and tradition, we are supposed to be equal under the
   law, but the tax code is anything but equal. A person's tax bill should
   reflect the level of service he demands from the government, nothing less,
   nothing more. An income tax has no place in a system that proclaims equality
   under the law. It should be replaced with a system of user fees that place
   the burden of taxation squarely on the people who benefit from the taxes.

Now, Gary, a progressive income tax reflects the fact that income above a
certain level (which goes up as your income goes up, hence the progressivity)
is in excess of living costs.  This income becomes capital.  And much of what
the US Government spends its money on is on keeping things just the way they
are.  So income taxes aren't as terrible as you imply, they're just not
as directly proportional to the use of services as you would like.

   It's socialistic aspects do rob the successful to pay the slacker,

Most social programs are indirect subsidies to industry.  They reduce
the social cost of firing someone, which makes industries more efficient.
This is good for capitalism (as it makes capital more efficient), but bad
for free markets (as it is a subsidy, and worse, a very indirect one).

--
--russ <nelson@sun.soe.clarkson.edu> I'm proud to be a humble Quaker.
Peace is not the absence of war.  Peace is the presence of a system for
resolving conflicts before war becomes necessary.  War never creates peace.
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