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Originally Posted by Lindy
$50,000 will obviously go farther in Manhattan, KS than it will in Manhattan, NY. Bur when it comes to federal taxes, it is never "that simple," and that is part of the problem.
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Meh. Too much simplicity is often just as problematic as too much complexity. If the idea behind a "fair" tax systems is that we charge people enough money to fund the things we think are important while at the same time ensuring that we don't charge people so much that they can't afford to make ends meet, then I'm okay with complexity if that is what is required to make it a reality.
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The time/labor of some is not worth a "living wage." Should a living wage be provided regardless of that? How about for those who don't work? Should they be provided a living wage as well?
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Who said anything about providing a living wage? What does that have to do with the relative value of $50,000? The fact that $50,000 seems like a lot of money to you doesn't make it a lot of money.
However, since you asked, I think that one of the measures of a civilized society is how that society treats the inevitably existent people who are unable to provide for themselves adequately within the constraints of the system. Free market systems seem to produce these people by design- they provide the cheap labor that makes everything else possible. It seems reasonable to me that in more civilized societies (societies that value the minimization of human suffering and its consequent social and economic costs), there will be institutional mechanisms in place to ensure that these people and their families are able to live in relative comfort. Because, you know, if left unchecked, market forces tend towards squalor for the many and comfort for the few.