On Sat, 17 Mar 2007 09:39:27 -0600, chico wrote:
Derek wrote:
On Fri, 16 Mar 2007 21:21:21 GMT, "nemo" wrote:
[..]
I think my generation will probably be the last to be so lucky.

Nope. The aging population is growing fast, and if they're
looked after properly they'll keep voting the right way.

By "right way" you mean for their own interests in spite of the economic
consequences of them.

Yes. Like all pensioners, when I start receiving my pension
I won't reproach myself for being an economic burden, and
I won't be feeling that it's before time to retire when I do.

Unfortunately, self-interests don't give a ****
about things like actuarial science so the "right way" simply means
"let me tax (rob) this group for my own group's benefit."

I don't see tax as robbery.

Never forget that governments govern by consent of the
governed.

Likewise, never forget that a Ponzi scheme like a pension plan can only
continue to function so long as the number of people joining the bottom
(downstream) of the pyramid remains greater than the number on top
(upstream). When such programs were conceived and instituted, there
were multiple workers for every person receiving benefits; this made
the financial burden on the taxed rather light. Both our nations are at
a point where the upstream and downstream in such programs are nearing
a balance (1:1), and very soon -- within the next decade -- those
numbers will quickly trend to be downstream heavy and *increasingly*
heavier as time goes on barring unrestricted immigration policies,
which doesn't seem to be the most popular solution on either side of
the Atlantic.

Leave it to me to cite the Guardian on this matter...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/population...130742,00.html

That consent of the governed you mentioned can lead to tyranny. And it
IS tyranny when a growing majority imposes excessive taxation -- in
this case, at rates much higher and more confiscatory than the majority
ever paid into the system -- onto a shrinking minority. The result of
excessive taxation is no better than under taxation: those taxed tend
to act in manners that reduce their taxes, whether it's working/earning
less, emigrating, or participating in black markets.

The breaking point won't be pretty, and the solution means much more of
England in 2027 will resemble Eastern Europe and the greater middle
east than the England of old, but it doesn't seem to bother "ethical"
sorts like you anyway so long as you get what you perceive to be yours.
Just how much more do you want your kids and grandkids to be taxed,
Derek, and how well do they speak Urdu and/or Slavic languages?

I want them to be taxed to a degree that is fitting an just, and if that
means more, then so be it.