Taxes were always paid by those who could bear them. Nobility and landowners in the past, AmaGooBookSoft today.
It could well be motivated by envy. But it can't be any other way because you can only effectively tax people who have the money.
It could well be motivated by envy. But it can't be any other way because you can only effectively tax people who have the money.
If you have a flat tax on everybody, you simply can't raise enough money to run the government. It has to be at least roughly proportionate to something related to the amount of money that people have. It also has to be available to the government that needs it.
This is one reason why I'm not worried about letting the rich leave the country. How would it be a net loss? Their wealth is primarily hoarded rather than spent, and they use government policy against us. They would still need our markets if they did want to do something productive. I've heard New Zealand is nice.
It's like saying that really consumers are being taxed here because they are the ultimate source of revenue for Apple. True but you can shift the distribution of this burden between consumers and Apple's owners.