Quote:
Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall
It's not as deep as that. When I ask people if they really want to live in the equivalent of the worst of India, with people washing in the streets, outrageously poor and uneducated, while they drive by in a limo with security to their gated towers, they shrug.
It's really just the natural extension of the "I vote with only my wallet in mind" approach to life.
TM
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I see your argument. But what I was describing is, I think, a mindset one or two steps beyond wallet voting. Wallet voters are self interested, yes, but having been one, I can offer this: A lot of the decision to avoid taxes at all costs accrues from recognition of the reality that govt wastes money. One of my biggest annoyances is the defense budget. It infuriates me to see it increased. Tax voters are not all ogres.
I also don’t like paying for things like the NSA to spy on me.
Welfare and ACA taxes don’t bother me. But yes, poorly run programs that spend more on administration than on helping people irritate me.
But putting all of that aside, the finance people I’m talking about are not just avoiding taxes. They are predatory. There’s a belief that we’re moving into a time of scarcity for most, fabulous wealth for a few, and they need to maximize gains ASAP. Bank it for the coming collapse. They also believe they will be protected if the shit hits the fan. And if you tell them their money will not do that, that the Czar and Shah said similar things, they will call you a fool. They’ll remind you that the 1% owns the govt.
These people, many in tech as well, believe the game is rigged so well that it can’t be unrigged. And they get very angry about things like Occupy. When confronted with the fact that it’s a rigged game, they assert that they deserve what they have. I’ve argued Taleb’s randomness theory to people in this strata — that a lot what they have derived from luck. The reply is usually, that’s what losers say.
No, that’s what thoughtful people say. And thoughtful people understand that in a world where the only law is power, Monday’s winner is frequently Tuesday’s corpse. Things turn like a descent into bankruptcy... slowly, slowly, slowly, then all of the sudden rapidly and horribly.
