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Comment by dsfyu404ed | Hacker News Reader

Surely you’re talking about all those wealthy HNers who vote for higher taxes on themselves.

Why is it that when some people vote for their principles but against their wallet it’s a good thing but when others do it it’s a bad thing?

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If you think being taxed is a bad thing then you don't really understand what taxes do

If you think being taxed is a good thing you really don’t understand what taxes do. I’m very sympathetic to the argument that they are a necessary evil of a functioning society but to call taking peoples resources under threat of violence good implies a perverted moral compass to put it mildly.

Regardless, that’s not the point. The point is that there’s a double standard.

It's not taking peoples resources, you never had that money to begin with, you are just the point in which its being collected.

taxes give more money for politicians to steal, whats good about it?

I'd rather have politicians steal it and use at least a sliver of it for some good than for private individuals to sit on top of their pile of gold while people are in tents outside their compound.

Taxes in a fiat currency system only exist to remove currency from circulation to prevent excessive inflation. There is no real connection between tax revenue and government expenditure since any shortfall can simply be printed. If you are a US citizen every dollar you've ever given to the federal government has been thrown into a 30 trillion dollar black hole never to be seen again, I wouldn't characterize it as a good thing

Taxes exist to fund the government and I support having a government and public programs.

They don't though, that's what I'm saying. Take a look at https://www.usdebtclock.org- the US government is funded by debt, not taxes. If the government accumulates so much debt that it becomes a mathematical impossibility for tax revenue to ever pay it down then what is the actual purpose of paying those taxes? The purpose is to remove privately held currency from circulation, which is necessary if you want to print trillions of newly-created dollars without instantly triggering hyperinflation. If that were not the case, they could stop collecting taxes altogether and operate exactly the same as before- the only difference being the national debt rising at a faster rate. In the US at least, taxes exist solely as a release valve to enable shockingly irresponsible monetary policy

If people stopped paying taxes things would not go smoothly for long

That only holds up if there is only a single tax recipient that is controlled by the same entity as the entity that controls the money printing. That is almost never the case, as there are local taxes, rebates, fines, deductions and exemptions. In fact, even the central and local governments pay each other.

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