In my live classes, we practice the skills of written argument by discussing a number of issues. This was another class-generated topic – do you believe that the rich should have to pay a higher percentage of taxes than the rest of us? Why or why not?
Remember that initial discussion posts must thoughtfully address the topic, and must be at least 125 words.
Week 7 Discussion: Rich People paying a higher percentage of Taxes
It has been proven that 50% of the world’s wealth is in the hands of 1% of the world. This 1% comprises industrialists, authoritarian figures, and affluent personalities. Even with such an unfair distribution of wealth, there is an aspect of unity that is adhered to in the procedure of taxes. One of the major reasons behind it is influence. The affluent section of our society in order to feed their greed, wields considerable influence on authorities in power to maintain an equitable approach to taxes. The reasoning given in such cases is, that one of the ideals on which the country stands is equality. Therefore any sort of inequity shown towards the rich people, by instructing them to pay more, just because they have more, would surmount injustice.
This argument falls flat on its face. As it is clear that it is an argument that has been chosen just for the sake of justification. The spirit of ‘equality’ is not uniform, and therefore applying it just for the sake of taxes is inauthentic. During the Urban Renewal projects, most of the families that were asked to vacate their dwellings were either immigrants or people from the poor strata of society (Blessett, 2020, p.848). The spirit of equity was not attached there, no affluent person or 1%er was asked to leave their home. It was argued that since the rich section of the society lived in well-maintained areas, therefore there was no need to shift them. Similarly if the rich have more funds they should be asked to pay more. That is the logical solution. Though charitable efforts are a good deed, sometimes they are done solely for the purpose of availing considerable tax deductions. Thus, in place of doing charities, the rich section of the society can contribute towards the betterment of the society, by contributing more in taxes. Hence they should pay a higher percentage of taxes.
Reference
Blessett, B. (2020). Urban renewal and “ghetto” development in Baltimore: Two sides of the same coin. The American Review of Public Administration, 50(8), 838-850.
