darkseer

Global economy. Nothing to prevent them from continuing to make a profit from a brand new tax haven country.

I wasn't talking about a flat tax. I was stating that if taxes increased for one part of society then it has to increase for everyone. Otherwise, whichever party is in power would increase taxes on the other party's registered voters.

It's hard to find even one thing that affects just one group of people. For example, increasing the Capital Gains tax will also impact retirees cashing in their retirement plans. Also, what's to stop them from just leaving the country and renouncing US citizenship when taxes get too burdensome?

Re reading Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson

Truck drivers hours are federally regulated. We can't be on duty for more than 70 hours in an 8 day period. We also can't drive more than 11 hours a day and are required to wait ten hours before we can start driving again. To reset our weekly hours we are required to wait 34 hours before we can go on duty, though we do get hours back if we manage our hours well enough for them to rollback on the ninth day.

It's not even that. Our currency's value isn't based on a constant value like precious metals or jewelry. It's based on the perceived strength of the US economy. Something even as negligible as an increase in the minimum wage devalues the currency.

The best analogy I can make is that the corporate world is a ladder. Minimum wage is of course the first step on that ladder. The idea to get more financially secure is to climb the ladder until you feel that you make a comfortable living. Raising the minimum wage is like calling the first step Step 5, Step 7, Step 15, etc... It doesn't change the fact that it's still the first step on the ladder. What's worse, every time they change the name of the step they knock the next step of the ladder out, making it more difficult for you to make it to the next step.

In a way you can effectively argue that the minimum wage is a tool of the rich to keep the majority of the people poor.

Out of the Dark by David Weber. Book dragged on forever then did a complete √-1 degree turn and gave the equivalent of a literary rickroll for an ending.

Eek!

Let's be honest. Guns aren't possessed, have an evil or sinister aura, or anything else that could possibly drive people mad or insane. As someone who grew up with guns in the house, they're just ordinary objects that you handle with care.