Taxes that message well are the bane of our existance.
It's like, sugar tax sounds great, but in actuality it just taxes the poor. The onlything you can say to defend it is "fuck the poor let them pay for their fat addictions!" (party flippage)
Same with smoking etc, "fuck em! if they want to die then make em pay, it's better for them anyway!" (more party flippage)
No actual game theory going on, how do people behave, why do the poor eat sugar? why do they smoke? Not realizing, it's because theyre poor so they spend what little the have on that shit because they cant afford to spend a night out at the bar after work like the people who vote for these things do.
Science doesnt come up with these taxes politicians (then people who believe the messaging link 1 study (they think is science and not a lobbyist payed for study) saying the politician designed policy has no effect on negative things we see that pop up in our community)
So the poor gets hit with penny taxes, and they just take cuts out of the parts of their lives they took cuts out of to pay for those small things we're nickle and diming them on in the first place. More cuts from their kids healthy diet, so they can give them a sugary treat after school etc. More cuts from their kids healthy diets, so they can buy the pack of cigs they already dont care will kill them.
Prop47 is another example, its messaging is to not punish people harshly for small crimes, but what it's really for is to reduce the money the state spends on prisons, who cares how it affects the poor. (I cant help you if you honestly dont think a reduction in penalizing these crimes doesnt result in an uptick of those crimes, but that's again tht's the power of messaging!)
The inheritance tax is the same thing, the messaging is that you are screwing over elon musk, and bill gates, but the rich get around it by buying everything with their companies or as separate companies, meanwhile the poor just hand over 50% of their families sacrifice and savings.
The worst thing to happen IMO to ourselves is that we allow "the hope of good" to explain "why we have taxes"
Taxes are used to pay people, and people like to get payed, so if their job is worthless, theyre going to message that it's of high value.
Taxes are too high, we spend 60% of them on baby killing and the other 39% we give to the banks and we hand over 1% to the poor.
Raising taxes does not mean a better society.
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