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Originally Posted by Andaras
In socialist society their is not 'taxation' because you provide the product of your labor (whatever it is) to the community, and in exchange the community provides it's product back to you..
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How does society determine how much of its product to give back to you? And how does it determine who is allowed the positions that will gain more product?
How does it determine the value of product in general?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andaras
Money and currency economics distort the relationships between labor and value, for example if money equals value (as capitalists claim it does) then how can a CEO individually own the labor to which he is actually incapable of doing because it is so much value (millions of dollars). The conclusion is simple, that money is not an accurate representation of value in society.
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Fair enough... but what is a better determinant of value? It seems to me that we eventually end up trading one seemingly arbitrary system for one that's even more arbitrary.
I ask about income tax, because I'm starting to fall more in line with the ideas of the single tax... something that capitalists and socialists alike hate!
Seems to me that income and sales tax, as well as capital gains tax and the type of property tax we see, are all government taking of people's labor and product of labor...
I guess it's a necessary evil... but it makes more sense if there's another way.
What about land value? Land and natural resources are not the product of anyone's labor and yet people allegedly "buy" and "sell" it and reap huge rewards from it. The concentration of land ownership in few hands is insane (especially consider who really owns most homes- banks).
It seems that if anything is to be taxed for use in public good, it should be land and natural resources.
Of course it is pointless to try to get hardcore capitalists to buy into it, as most are more interested in maintaining the current wealth status quo than any form of justice or economic efficiency... But I figure some of the young socialists, as they get older and get a better grasp on economic reality (I realize some socialists actually are pretty learned on it, but in general...), maybe they'll start to give it some thought and look into ol' Henry George.