"The higher tax argument implies that politicians know how to spend money better than we do; that they have some kind of moral authority to determine which causes are worthy, and which are not, and that their determinations supersede our own.
Most other notable tax proponents, like Warren Buffett, are terribly confused in that they think giving more money to the government to make these decisions is somehow giving more money to the 'country'. It's not.
Again, even if you presuppose that we all have an obligation to a piece of dirt, paying more taxes is merely giving more money to politicians. You and I aren't getting any of that money. The 'environment' isn't getting any of that money. It goes to the politicians.
And if there is one category of individuals that has shown throughout history, repeatedly, that it is completely and utterly incompetent at spending other people's money and determining which are the most 'just' causes, it is politicians.
More bombs, more wars, more political favors, more debt, more bailouts, more child molesting TSA thugs, more porno-watching SEC regulators, more legislation to take over the Internet and confiscate passports, more gun-happy government agencies with civil asset forfeiture and police authority... this is what politicians do with our money.
Continuing to nurse their largess, corruption, and pitiful decision-making is not the mark of patriotism-- it is the mark of insanity, a la Albert Einstein (doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result).
By paying higher taxes, you're feeding the beast. By arguing for higher taxes, they are the animal handler.
If you truly feel an obligation to society and to a piece of dirt, then starve the beast. Let the politicians run it all into the ground, watch the system collapse, and then come back in to create value in the exciting aftermath.
Ranting and raving about society's duty to continue supporting the most obtusely corrupt system in modern history only delays the inevitable...and hence delays the recovery."
Extract from Simon Black
