Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1938-05-26
ABOLISH PROFIT SYSTEM
kOV American:

ABOLISH PROFIT SYSTEM
Editor Askov American:
There are many different opinions.
We are having reactionaries, con-
servatives, progressives and radicals.
Nobody will admit that they are re-
dictionaries, but they do their best
to do away with what little progress
we have made and that is proof of
what they are. The conservatives
stand still and let progress pass by;
they hold onto the old rotten system
which is the cause of few being the
owners of nearly everything and the
masses of the people having nothing.
Then comes the progressives, but
they can not make much progress
becase they are afraid of radicalism
and that is absolutely necessary in
order to make progress. 1t is by profit
that five percent of the people have
become the owners of nearly every
thing, so the profit system is the root
of the evil, and that root must be cut,
for as long as that root is nourish-
ing the evil it is bound to grow worse.
According to Webster's dictionary
the word radical" is defined: Pertain
ing to, or proceeding directly from
the root; pertaining to the root or
origin; reaching to the principle; etc.
So a progressive must be radical and
help to cut the root of the evil in
order to make progress. One can
not be progressive without being rad
ical One can be conservative and
conserve rotten eggs as well as fresh
eggs. To be conservative is to hold
onto and conserve it as it is, good
or bad.
1t is not by earning that the rich
people have gathered all the wealth;
we know that they have not produced
it, so they are getting it from profit
out of others work; we know that
nothing is produced without work.
Here we find the root of the evil which
is the profit system; the next prob
lem is how to cut it. The profit
system is legal and constitutional; so
the profiteers are the legal owners
of the wealth and confiscating is un-
constitutional, so we are bound to
let them keep it, but the profit system
can be made harmless by taxing it.
to the 18th Amendment to
the Constitution there can be passed
a law by Congress to tax all incomes
from whatever source derived, and
without limit.
Some people think of an income tax
as an additional tax, but it should
be tax to take the place of sales
tax. Taxes of whatever kind it is,
can be paid only out of income. When
one gets a dollar from income and
needs dollars worth of goods, when
he has to pay a large part of the
dollar in tax to get the right to buy
the goods, he can not get dollars
worth of goods for what he has left
of it.
The one with large income does
not buy goods for it all, to live on,
so he is not paying tax in proportion
to the one who uses all his small
income for living.
With an income tax at a rising
scale-rising for each $1,000 the tax
on the low income would not amount
to much for each; but from those with
the large incomes paying tax to the
full ability, it would take the excess
profit. 1t would not be unfair that
they pay to the full ability when
common people pay above ability.
Excess profit, when they keep it, is
used to gamble in products; loaning
out on interest; or taking it to other
countries to do business with in COM
petition with the workers here in
the United States. For this last pur-
pose 16 billions have been taken out
during the last 20 years. All of this
has been taken in profit out of the
working class instead of letting
them have it to pay for products.
Then our government protects them
in foreign countries. In the case of
sugar, they shall have the right to
slip III ~ pClSCiiI VI liiS ooSoi
we use. Is such government for
the producing class, or is it for our
capitalists? l only ask for informa-
ton
All net cash incomes should be
taxed at rising scale, leaving every
one enough for living and to run
the business, but not to get rich, as
by that it takes the living away from
others, and that has been done to
such an extent so that there are mil
lionaries and billionaires out of 9TH
ers work and the producers have
nothing.
Tax the incomes high enough so
all taxes can be taken off the cost
of living, so the poor class can be
cayed from having tax on eVerV-