"The goal of a speeding ticket is not to collect $50, it is to save lives by detering people from speeding.."
It was once, maybe.
I wonder how many people are actually turned from minor offenders into full criminals by the current law/jail system. To me it looks like the goal is to operate an artificial selection on the human species to encourage those who help the economy more. That is, legalized Eugenics.
I think the goal of private prisons is to make more money (which is easier when spending less money and keeping prisoners longer, which also makes them more likely to re-offend), and the goal of politicians is to appear tough on crime and respond to lobbying (by private prisons).
Or something like that, anyway. Alignment of petty individual goals usually makes more sense than grand conspiracies.
I have gotten exactly 1 speeding ticket in my life.
It was for $200 in highschool and it stung.
If i got that same speeding ticket now, it would not sting nearly as much, and i would probably be over it by the time i went to work the next morning.
A $50 ticket is not going to deter bill gates from speeding.
Of course. But I don't think we can sensibly, or ethically, charge him an amount that would. How much would deter him to the same degree? $1m probably wouldn't cut it either.
Instead, surely we should either accept that and charge everyone the same absolute amount or find other more equitable ways of deterring him. License points, driving bans, community service, prison time, anything that isn't just taking obscene amounts of money simply because the guy has worked smart and earns more.
Use those other things for punishment then, don't sting them additionally just because they're wealthier (or rather, have a higher income).
Getting off track here, but I'd rather there were as few tax rates as practical. Perhaps even one under a basic income system. Then the rate is upfront, clear and honest. Not a compounding system of stealth taxes.
Worth noting that wealth is not the same as income, but we tend to tax income rather than wealth, at least until death.
It was once, maybe. I wonder how many people are actually turned from minor offenders into full criminals by the current law/jail system. To me it looks like the goal is to operate an artificial selection on the human species to encourage those who help the economy more. That is, legalized Eugenics.