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Originally Posted by Black Peter
First, you got your money because you were born with certain traits and environmental factors that motivated you to make that money.
So you have a robot view of human nature? There's no internal locus of control, it's all external? That's the view you categorically espouse above. Do you think such a view is healthy, for individuals or society?
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Yes, the government is taking it from someone else. Someone else who probably had a better starting spot in life. Someone who probably was born with a higher IQ, had a better environment growing up, better schools, more inherent motivation, better mentors, etc. Someone like you.
How do you incentivize healthy culture and mentoring and hard work when you teach people that they what have isn't properly theirs, but a result of their environment and genes, and should thus be redistributed to those without a healthy culture and environment and genes? This is crazy, man.
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We don't all start at the same place in life. Ever play golf? Know what the handicap is for? It's to give everyone an equal chance. Would you run a mile race against someone with one leg? Then why run the race of life against someone who is handicapped without giving them a fair shot? That's just selfish.
Everyone has a fair shot. We live in a highly meritorious school and work system. It's up to you to organize your brain and your actions such that you make money, or don't. This view that we should baby people and try to fix all perceived inequality is ridiculous. And you don't believe it yourself.
Ugly people get about the shortest end of the stick. They do worse in relationships, in personal happiness, in life options. Should we redistribute the advantages of beauty as well? Perhaps a "model tax", so that models have to give a chunk of their money to ugly people. I mean, why not? You want to level the playing field, handicap the winners, so why not do this? It makes more moral sense than what you're proposing - beauty is a pure unfair advantage, unlike success which has lots of free will involved.
What about midgets? They are hugely disadvantaged compared to normal people. Should we have a tax on normal height people, and redistribute it to midgets? It's only fair. After all, your stated goal is that things should be more fair. Midgetness is pure unfairness, unlike success which has lots of free will involved.
What about evangelical Christians? They are burdened with false beliefs from their environment, which takes up their time and causes them to not pursue opportunities. Should we subsidize them and their culture as a result? Should atheist New Yorkers be taxed and have the money given to bible belt Christians?
I could go on and on, taking your utterly nutty worldview to its logical conclusion.