Why do conservaties think taxes are immoral, but profits are somehow sacred?

Question

Taxes are just the price we pay for services the government provides. You don't think the price of bread is immoral, so why the price of government services?

Profits, on the other hand, take money away from those who actually do the work, and give it to the people who simply own the capital. That's hardly fair, is it?

Johnny, how many more factories would we have if capitalists weren't squirellling their money away, demanding unreasonable rates of return.

If that money belonged to the People, we'd have much more production.

Answer 1

Profits are earned and all taxes are not evil. The misuse of the taxes I pay might be considered evil.

Answer 2

I am speaking in regard to the British point of view. We have a Labour Party who, in the 1960s, charged a 95% top rate of tax to the rich- this sent out a message that high earnings, whether they are the result of hard working self-made entrepreneurs, the good fortune of a lottery winner or 'old' inhertited money, must be chopped right down for the 'common good'. It is arguably more fair to charge everybody the same percentage rate of tax.

Conservatives believe in self sufficiency as much as possible rather than the 'nanny state'. Self sufficiency entails a free market in which some people, from the working and middle classes, made quite a lot of money in the 1980s.

A middle way between the two seems to be the fashion now.

Answer 3

What makes taxation a tricky issue is that force is being used to require citizens to pay. Thats okay so long as the citizens can recognize a benefit. If we do not then it seems like extortion. Put it simply if you use laws and the threat of prison to demand my income then I won't object if I can see that you use the money wisely with my best interest at heart. If you use the money to enrich yourself or an ally then I have a complaint. If you use the money foolishly then I am irritated as well.

Profits are a separate issue. In order to provide a better quality or service or product a business must have capitol. They get capitol from profits or the trust of other people that they will generate a profit. One of the greatest purposes of a government is to make sure that business can operate.
You wish to live your life in general peace and security. To live, you buy things like clothing, food, medicine, tools, and so on from businesses. They provide these things because doing so gives them a profit which allows them to buy things as well. Government makes sure that laws are enforced and security is provided for the businesses as well as you. Thats how it is supposed to work. If government favors one bussiness over another then the system starts to break down.
Government should stay out of bussiness and vice versa.

Answer 4

The way I see it, profits pay the salaries of the people who do the work.

And conservatives don't think taxes are immoral. Where did you ever get that idea?

I am all for reasonable taxation. But huge government entitlement programs that just perpetuate bureaucracy and an entitlement mentality are unnecessary burdens on the tax payer and need to be eliminated.

By the way, many companies have profit sharing plans where the company makes significant contributions to the retirement accounts of the employees, or gives bonuses and raises, or stock options tp the employees, so the employees do benefit from the profits because without profits, that could not happen.

Answer 5

We dont think taxes are immoral... where did you get that?

We just think the government taking 40% or more of it to give it away to some lazy people that wont work hard for their money is wrong.

How is it fair for me to work 60 hours a week, give away half my money in taxes, for the government to waste on entitlements for people that refuse to work hard?

Or to take money away from a small business owner, that put his life savings at risk to try to build a business? How is THAT fair?

Why do you insist on punishing people for being successful? The people who "do the work" are the business owners. They are the ones that have the sleepless nights. They are the ones that took the risk... they are the ones that built the business. Not the workers. The workers are a tool, and if the business owner wants good workers, they will pay them right... because the business will not succeed without good workers...

But high taxes does not help anyone. And if the business owner did not have to pay 50%+ in taxes, he could PAY THE WORKERS MORE.

Answer 6

friend, you seem to forget that, so far, government is and always has been the most inefficient producer of anything.

all government services are overpriced by the amount of excess costs required to operate the government service. That means that your taxes are higher than the free market cost would be to provide the same services.

All economic inefficiency reduces the total size of the economic pie that is available to pay everyone.

So why do we have government at all?

It seems vital to protect the rights of the individuals.


Are there any goods or services that the private sector can't deliver cheaper and more efficiently?

So far, it seems that there are. Law enforcement is an example. Poverty relief, however, isn't one of them since jobs are the best exit from poverty.

It follows that small government is preferred to big government and therefore that small taxes are better than big taxes.

Not to mention that taxing income, as the United States does, is plain silly. Taxes always reduce the total volume of the good or service that is being taxed. It would be better policy to repeal all taxes on production and replace them with taxes on consumption.


Why consumption?

In economics, all current income is either consumed or invested. Investing some of your income leads to increases in future income, and thus increases in the ability to consume, as long as the economic return to added capital is positive.

Afaik, there is only one instance in modern economic history when the return to added capital was negative over a business cycle [this happened in Singapore when the government there interfered with the people's choices of whether to save or invest by making large amounts of saving mandatory for all wage earners and business owners -- and it took over a decade for this effect to occur after the policy change that caused it].

***
As to your statement "Profits, on the other hand, take money away from those who actually do the work, and give it to the people who simply own the capital. That's hardly fair, is it?" -- what you describe is socialism.

The "experiment of the two Germanies" showed that socialist East Germany failed economically in competition with the freer market West Germany. The experiment required two generations of East Germans to devote all their efforts to its success -- after which they had 1/4th the average personal income of the West Germans -- at which point, the East Germans stormed their own government and army with nothing but bravery and bare hands.

Given that socialism always requires that the government and its police seize all of private production, and therefore that the inefficient government bureaucracy expands to maximum size, this is the expected economic result.

***
Of course, you are welcome to repeat the experiment of socialism personally if you wish. You can do this by moving to Cuba.

You are not, however, welcome to force me to repeat that disasterous experiment. I'm happy enough that the East Germans tried it and failed -- I can learn from their example just fine, thank you.

:-)

Answer 7

And in the Democratic tax package the minimum rate will go from 15 to 10%, thus adding 5 million exempt working poor back to the paying tax rolls.....how come the left doesn't feel thats immoral... thats hardly fair.... oh yes the return of the Marraige penalty...... so the middle class can pay more taxes.... hmm another hardly fair

Answer 8

How many jobs would the people who work have if not for the capital that built the factories?

And why would anyone part with their money to build factories if not for the potential for profits?

Apparently, you Socialists have no sense of logic.

BTW, taxes aren't immoral, but excessive taxation is.

Freak: Where are they squirreling their money away? Under their mattress? They won't stay rich long if they do that.

Answer 9

Taxes are taken out of our wages from the Government without any regard to what services we receive, want, decline or accept.

It's like getting raped from the Government and you are in no position to say NO.

Profits are what someone earns by providing a service to you. You have a choice in what service you want provided no matter what that service is.
You can shop around comparing prices, service abilities, reputation, etc., and it always ends up being YOUR choice.

As you put it, "profits are sacred."

Those are your words diabolically describing someone earning money on someone else's needs. That's life.

Government taking money regardless of what services are provided, peoples needs, etc., based solely on income - is no different than picking someone's pocket and that have no say in the matter.

Answer 10

Taxes are fine if they pay for roads, schools and police. We have all heard of the tax dollars that go toward funding bizarre museums in the middle of nowhere, the arts and things that should be publicly funded. It is out of control.

Answer 11

You ought to find out some of the things the taxes go for. Businesses employ people. Get a job and you'll understand.