11-27-2020, 12:06 AM
(01-04-2017, 11:05 AM)Warren Dew Wrote:(01-04-2017, 04:08 AM)Eric the Green Wrote:(01-04-2017, 12:57 AM)Warren Dew Wrote:(01-04-2017, 12:56 AM)pbrower2a Wrote:(01-04-2017, 12:41 AM)Warren Dew Wrote: If you want to tax the robots, though, income taxes won't do it, since robots have no income.
The owners typically extract the income. To tax consumption is shakier. Taxing the conspicuous consumption of elites is far trickier than taxing income.
Taxing the income of the elites is virtually impossible, though. Buffett pays an effective tax rate of less than one tenth of one percent.
That's a strange statement lol
Of course it's possible, but not with Republicans in power.
It's the Democrats that protect Buffett and Soros, and the investment billionaires in general.
The Democrats had filibuster proof power for a while, and they certainly didn't do anything about that then.
Quote:Quote:If you want to tax the robots, though, income taxes won't do it, since robots have no income.
Tax the robots! I like it! Hey, robots are taking over, and getting all the good jobs; they should pay their fair share!
That's why I suggested sales tax on what they produce. If people have other ideas, I'm interested.
A sales tax on taxable costs going into the robot, as on energy, maintenance, office supplies for recording costs, lubricants, etc.? Most states tax such. There is of course depreciation, a legitimate expense of business. But that is recovery of initial cost.
Robots are literal slaves. They may not earn income for themselves, but they certainly do for their owners.
OK, here's another analogy. You own a fast horse that wins lots of races. The horse generates $3 million in dollars for its owner and involves $1 million in costs (feeding, veterinary treatment, transportation, the cost of hiring a jockey and a trainer, shelter costs, etc. ... One of the costs may be depreciation, which of course is substantial over the working life of the horse.
The horse earns money for the owner, and the owner takes the $2 million net. The owner pays income taxes on the $2 million net that the horse generates.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.