A penalty-ruling that I like

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Hitman

While I agree with your initial assesment Skybird, I must concur with Snestorm in that this might be more difficult than it seems. It is not unusual to see someone you would consider "rich" by the external look have almost nothing on paper. For example, I know a guy whose industry is owned completey by a company whose only shareholders are the wife and childs, through another company (A family assets one). He has a regular wage (About 40.000 Eur yearly) but otherwise nothing else belongs to him. Then the whole benefits of the industry, which might raise up to several million euros a year, go to the other company via the shareholders. The guy is rich, and drives alternatively a Porsche 911 or an Audi S8, but if you would put him a fine according to his incomes tax yearly bill, then you would end up still with a sum that could make him laugh.

Then there are also lots of people who work a lot with black money (Money never revealed to the tax administration) and are on paper poor as rats, while they enjoy in fact a high living standard.

In conclussion: The idea is good and fair, but ultimately too difficult to put in practice. Not that I say we shouldn't try it, but the results will probably be less than satisfactory.

Let'S not split hairs, I lined out a principle thing only. that there are details to be solved, should be clear, and in some parts I ndicated that. The guy with that industry he does not own, but driving two cars: he could sell the Porsche and the Audi and buy a cheap 2nd hand Toyota, right? That thing drives, too. I mentioned monthly income levels as one example only, but also indicated that one could count all possessions.

Let'S not split hairs here, focus on the principle I am after. It goesa without expalnation that we also should delete the many (even legal!) options for people to hide income from taxes and authorities. I could imagine for example that people get one or two bankoing accounts at their birth - and keep these accounts for all their life, without anybody being allowed to open more accounts later on. These two banking accounts then are known to the authorities for all a citizen's life, and all business and interaction he ever does, must run via these accounts, and all oney he ever makes can only be saved on these accounts. The probelm is that today we have a plthory of laws and special rules and exceptions from the laws that make it hilariously complex a matter and intentionally create a lack of transparency so that people have options to hide from taxes, researches, or whatever. What's more, lobbies and interested people do not want these complex things being simolified and cleared up again, for they not only make profitable use of the chaos around, but maybe even base their professional existence as "experts" for this complexity on this chaotic situation.

I am certain that the law codes of our nations cannot be reapired and sorted out, for that they are already too much messed up and too complicated. I would like to see them getting thrown out of the window completely and being done new froms cratch, while we must find ways to make sure that they cannot againb mutiate like cancer again and do not get written by politicial and economical lobbyists. Difficult a thing to do, yes. But absolutely desirerable, and I say: even necessary. Currently we strangle ourselves with our societies drowning in their own disorder and adminsitrative chaos, we accelerate more and more although already right now more and more people cannot keep up with the already insane pace. The old ways do not work anymore, allow more and more deformation only, of which the few can benefit at the cost of the many, increasing inner-cultural tension.

It's one big, whole metastasis we are living in. We will not get rid of it in clean, painless ways. We need a whole new concept of what "order" and "justice" is. Else we gonna implode in the centre of the spiral.