Running a stable modern economy requires certain costs. These costs range from police, transportation, military, all the way to "keep people from fearing starvation, so they are willing to move around and try new jobs, and unwilling to engage in armed revolt against the state to increase their sense of security".
So, the question becomes, who pays for these costs?
Do you say "who benefits", and charge based off benefits?
Practically, the people who make the most money from a stable state and advanced economy are the rich.
Heck -- most of the structure of modern society is built around guaranteeing property rights. You own your house not because of a piece of paper, or because of the money you paid when you bought it, but because of the stable society that enforces your ownership.
The costs of maintaining a stable society should, thus, be charged based not off income, but rather off wealth. The wealth whose ownership the society is enforcing.
Interestingly, income taxes in the USA grow
far slower than wealth concentration rates do. 5% of the USA owns well over half of the assets -- but the top 5% in income pays only half of the tax burden.
...
So, in effect, the lower-wealth people
pay for the wealth protection of the higher wealth people. The rich are subsidized by the middle class, and to a lesser extent, the poor.
