Letter writer fails to understand purpose of taxation
In response to Josh Gordon’s horribly inaccurate and poorly researched “”redistribution test”” letter, clearly there is a misunderstanding of the supposed “”spreading the wealth”” mentality (“”Obama fans don’t care for redistributing wealth in the real world,”” Oct. 31, 2008).
Taxation is a must: There is no modern democratic society that survives without a degree of taxation – period. Our schools, police departments, army and many cultural and bureaucratic institutions are financed through taxes. We look to the “”welfare states”” of western Europe and see high tax rates; Sweden, for example, taxes residents on a sliding scale ranging from 30 percent to 60 percent, something we as proud individualist and hard-working Americans could not fathom and quickly label as “”socialism.”” The “”high”” tax rate in Sweden affords 100 percent free universal education all the way through graduate study (even for foreign students might I add), universal health care coverage, maternity benefits one wouldn’t believe and the continuation of a democratic process to serve the people. Sweden, and most of western Europe for that matter, barely mirrors the scandalous socialist extremism McCarthy urged us to fear, rather such a situation presents opportunity. Health care and education are the cornerstones to a successful society.
In my mind, it is pitiful that the U.S. spends more on health care per citizen than any other developed country in the world, yet ranks below Cuba, Slovenia and the Czech Republic in terms of infant mortality rates, a major human development indicator. The gap between rich and poor continues to grow, further exacerbating stresses on our “”great social institutions”” such as higher education. Contrary to popular belief, Swedes who make high salaries are not grossly penalized for their hard work – they enjoy many of the same amenities the wealthy here enjoy: lavish vacations and expensive goods, but the middle class is also able to enjoy vacations and quality goods thanks to the benefits of simply remaining healthy and obtaining an education.
Even looking to the United Kingdom where some of the world’s most prestigious universities and lavish goods exist, the “”spreading of the wealth”” serves the population superbly, as health care is deemed a right rather than a commodity good as we so keenly insist. It is just as disappointing that despite the pool of brain drain foreign citizens and high-class research institutions in this country, we still lag behind many countries in terms of math, science and overall literacy (the ranking of Arizona as 49th or 50th in public school education is no prize either). Without a healthy and educated population, societies dissolve. To ensure those two simple aspects – which in the long run pay for themselves – we must tax. One must be horrendously na’ve to expect to live in a country where taxes will never be charged and life is just dandy – rather taxation on its own with responsible representatives to execute spending demonstrates modernity and security. Gordon’s simple experiment demonstrates nothing but a failure to understand the concept of taxation.
Ashley C. Emerole
geography senior
Governor Palin also believes in ‘redistributing wealth’
Josh Gordon’s Oct. 31 letter was a fascinating parable that I mysteriously had encountered before on right-wing blogs (“”Obama fans don’t care for redistributing wealth in the real world,”” Oct. 31, 2008). Instead of trying to refute his logic, or lack thereof, let me recount my own story.
There was a hard-working oil company working in the far off land of Alaska. They worked hard for their profits, but one day the government swooped in like Robin Hood and told them they had made too much money. They took an additional 6 billion of their cold hard cash in a windfall tax hike on top of the nearly $5 billion they took anyway. The people rejoiced and each received part of the haul as a $3,200 dollar check.
One question remains: who was the nefarious hero of our little tale? Gov. Sarah Palin.
What is the take-home message? Apart from the thing about right-wingers throwing stones in glass houses, is that apparently Sen. John McCain has been “”palling around with socialists and wealth-redistributioners”” himself. The horror.
Carlos Chiquete
mathematics graduate student
Strong replacement for Olson worth the money
Should Jim Livengood be fired? Well, since Lute Olson has left, many distractions seemingly are occurring everywhere in the basketball program. Three committed recruits have de-committed (Abdul Gaddy, Mike Moser and Soloman Hill) and one player has announced his transfer. My question is, what will Livengood do to ensure the success of this prominent program will continue? I’ve heard rumors that Livengood doesn’t want to spend the money to get a decent coach. So will the declining of a solid program forever continue?
I understand some out there reading this might not care and would rather the university be dedicated to academics anyway, but I do know universities make money off athletics and if our team(s) are not good, people won’t come! Have we really come that far to not care about school pride anymore? Thanks for listening and Bear Down!
Eric Townsend
pre-journalism sophomore
