Revolution Through Taxation

I saw a bumper sticker today that read, “The man who can get you believe absurdities, can get you commit atrocities.” It was a quote by Voltaire, who’s name I recognized but couldn’t figure out from where. My dad asked if I knew who he was and pointed out that he was a French revolutionary during the bloody revolution. My dad was remarking on how horrible it must’ve been that they were dragging nobles out of their homes and castles and either hanging or decapitating them. I then remarked on the fact that they were angry and he responded by saying, “Of course, they were starving and the nobles were living great lives.”
This all got me thinking a little bit. A fair warning, I was hoping this blog would turn somewhat political from time to time and I think now is a good time for it. We are currently not living in that much different of a philosophical situation. There are people starving, and there is nobility that live lavish lives. Those who own the yachts and the mansions are the ones who really control this country. If you have the money to lobby someone enough, you will get them to vote in your direction.
During his campaign, President Obama made the fatal mistake of proclaiming that we need to “share the wealth.” For a short time, he was laid down on a cross and hung high for this incredibly liberal, almost communist idea. But what’s interesting is the audience he was talking to was clearly not the common man. He was talking to that top 5% of people who own most of the wealth in this country. And if you think about it, while he said that we should share the wealth, what I feel he should’ve said was that we should share the power. Suddenly this incredibly liberal, almost communist, idea becomes an incredibly conservative, revolutionary idea. Some believe that taxing the wealthy is such a deterrent that people would be highly against becoming wealthy. Not only is this absolutely ridiculous, it’s harmful to try and get people to agree with this. Taxing the wealthy isn’t a way to keep the wealthy poor necessarily; it’s a way to insure that the wealthy aren’t able to control the country.
You might say that taxation is not the way to keep the wealthy from gaining too much power, but the things that could be subsidized with the money is another benefit to taxing the wealthy. It means more people getting a higher education. It means more people who don’t have to lose their entire paycheck to healthcare costs. It means more people who don’t necessarily have to join the military because it’s the only thing they feel they can do with their lives. A lot of people feel that what Michael Moore said about military recruiting is complete bullshit but I feel like there is most likely some truth to this.