I am coming into this late so forgive me if I am repeating any point already made.

Quote Originally Posted by Thorne View Post
I'm not sure this is accurate. Throughout history people have only had those "rights" which the ruling classes allowed, and they could be taken away at the whim of any member of that ruling class.
I don't think you are accurate. The ruling classes have rarely given rights, the ruled have fought to win those rights. King John was forced to sign the Magna Carta, we cut of a Kings head because he refused to grant rights and the American Bill of Rights did not come without a fight did it.

As regards equality, nobody is seeking equal wealth not even communistis. People seek equal opportunites, to raise the standard of the poor to eradicate poverty and to make the difference in wealth fairer.

The rich always moan but if you look at most super rich they have made their obscene fortunes through some form or criminality or trickery. Joe Kennedy makes a fortune bootlegging and puts his son in the White House and nobody cares where the money came from. Before any of the super-rich moan we should take a serious look at how they got their wealth. Denuseri is spot on in that the wealth buys Presidents, politicians and lawyers to give the wealthy an unequal and unfair advantage over the common man.

But the loadest complaints about wealth spreading comes from the middle and upper middle classes. Yes they work for their money but they moan about how they "work hard" as if other workers dont. I don't know about you but I would rather have hard work in the air conditioned office with executive lunches than the easy life working down the mines or at MacDonalds.

The capitalist would have no tax and you pay your way. This means the rich man sends his kid to a good school and college and the poor man cannot. The rich man's kid is now educated and gets the better well paid job while the poor man's kid follow in his fathers footstep down the mine. This is not equal opportunity.

I do not know how it works with education in America and in England it has now changed. But when I went to university it was free and paid for from taxes. But its not really free because the graduate gets a better job and moves up the salary ladder. As he moves up the ladder he pays more taxes. Those extra taxes he pays is the cost of the education he received which allowed him to earn that higher salary. Now that seems perfectly fair and reasonable to me and is an example of how equal opportunity can achieved through taxation. But he will moan of course because lets be honest nobody likes paying taxes not even the rock stars who earn zillions from bashing out some crap song.

In my view the principle of taxation and wealth distribution is valid and noble. The problem is the inept politicans make a balls of it and are so inefficient such that people pay too much tax for the services received. If governments worked like companies they wouild all be bankrupt and the leaders in jail.