I’ve been thinking about this on and off for the past couple weeks. People who work for the government tend to get greater job security, better benefits and sometimes much higher pay than their counterparts might get in the private sector. Not to mention the fact that their salaries are paid for with stolen money.
Therefore, it seems reasonable to assert that in order to steer people away from working for government (or to make sure the ones who want to work for the government aren’t doing it just to parasitically siphon taxpayer dollars into their pockets) shouldn’t government officials, especially congressmen and senators be taxed higher than anyone else?
They’re always trying to take money away from successful businesses, from smart investors or from wealthy people when they die, wouldn’t it be nice to see them have to pay a heavier fine for their “public service”?
I know this thread is heavy on rhetoric, but seriously, why should they be allowed to spend other people’s money and then get to keep their own?
Is there a way to deincentivize the hunt for political power? Yes, the solution is to stop paying taxes and fees and take jail instead and to stop using Federal Reserve Notes.
This makes me wanna play Assassin’s Creed 2 again. Lol, just kidding.
But seriously, as tempting as it is to imagine simply eliminating evil people from government and wherever else, I’d be afraid of the precedent it would set. Not to mention the retaliation the government would take. Seems to me the first thing we’d get would be the police state lockdown.
So I dunno, but it’s kinda fun to think about. Even though it’s awful and violent.
Regardless of what is done, as long as they own a monopoly on the use of coercion they will just re-establish themselves at a later date. They have the legal right to use force against all without fear of competition.
Well, if there is legislation that takes away the reward of government work, couldn’t that remove the reward for advocating coercion and non-competition?
Alternatively, the private sector would have to have a military force comparable in power to the US armed forces I suppose.
This will backfire. In Texas, our reps get paid the same as they did a hundred years ago; about a thousand dollars a year. This makes it so only a rich person can become president.
Senators/Congressmen aren’t loaded because they get paid sweet…
Anyway, you’re asking if the system can correct itself. It is physically possible but the incentive structure just isn’t there.
I’m saying its bad that only rich people can get into office if the office doesn’t pay enough. In Texas, you get paid ~$1000/yr. This is not enough to live on.
Its not just the incentive structure of America, its the incentive structure of government in general: It is a monopoly of supreme power in the land. Whichever group controls this power can use it to their own ends. Whether we suffer a tyranny of corporations or mob rule, it will serve the purposes of those who control it, and its owners have no incentive to share its powers.
I see. You’re saying that basically only people with money will be able to get elected. Which makes sense. Thanks for the clarification.
You might be right. But I still think the rhetorical value of asking government officials to put themselves through the same nonsense they put everyone else through could have an effect on how the public views the government. They play spin games so can we.
I am not sure steering people away from working for the government would be the answer to reducing “power seeking”. In fact, by taxing away much of their income, you would likely only be left with people who are involved for the purpose of seeking “power”.
You are right that if you actually want to deincentive the hunt for political power, you would want to reduce the rewards of the hunt, but the reward they recieve is not the relatively small income that comes with government positions (a charasmatic go getter like Barack Obama could easily earn more money in the private sector), it is the power itself.
So the real question is how reduce the political power politicians can hope to gain. And I don’t think there is an easy answer to that question outside of radical reforms to the government itself.
Perhaps you’re right. I’ve just been thinking to myself for the past few weeks “maybe they’d stop trying to control my economic activity if they knew what it was like to have theirs controlled as well.”
But you make a good point, removing the monetary reward probably isn’t enough. Removing the actual power of the government would be the true solution. And I’m totally in favor of doing that.