• kunaltyagi@programming.dev
      0·
      2 months ago

      Progressive tax (based on income as well as the value of the item) isn’t a scam. Flat fee is a scam (eg: a hypothetical 0.02 cents to support veterans). Percentage based taxes like sales tax aren’t much better. Cliff based tax like luxury taxes are better but not as good as progressive taxes

      • DiarrheaSommelier@lemmy.ca
        0·
        2 months ago

        I’ve always been in favour of tiered consumption taxes. Basic neccessities of life aren’t taxed. Sorta nice stuff gets taxed a bit. Uber lux stuff and harmful stuff gets taxed all the fucking way.

        Example: bus pass? Free. Subcompact cheap EV? 20% tax. Lambo? 300% tax.

        Rich fuckers have way too many ways of getting out of paying income tax. Tax the stuff instead so that you can’t live like a rich person without paying the kind of taxes rich people should be paying.

    • Squidious@lemmy.ml
      0·
      2 months ago

      I like tipping (in the US). I feel like servers would be a lot less friendly if they weren’t so directly incentivized to be nice. Plus I’ve been treated somewhat gruffly by servers in countries that do not have tips. Maybe that is just dislike of U.S. citizens.

      • smeenz@lemmy.nz
        0·
        2 months ago

        Ah yes, the culture of punishing people pre-emptively with the threat of not being able to afford to live, in order to force them to be nice to your smug ass

      • Bluetreefrog@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        2 months ago

        | Maybe that is just dislike of U.S. citizens.

        Quit possibly. I live in a country without a strong tipping culture and people are (generally) nice.

  • Amnesigenic@lemmy.ml
    0·
    2 months ago

    Passive income. If value is being created and you’re being presented some of it without doing any work it necessarily means that someone else isn’t receiving the full value of the work they’re doing.

      • amorangi@lemmy.nz
        0·
        2 months ago

        Why should you be paid in perpetuity for work you did once? I’d love it if someone paid me residules for the work I did today making widgets.

        • spongebue@lemmy.world
          0·
          2 months ago

          But how should a singer who produces an album, or an author who writes a book, or whatever be compensated? Its popularity isn’t really known until after it’s published, it’s not really fair for a damn good writer to get paid the same as someone who produces slop.

      • Duamerthrax@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        2 months ago

        Cap it at the original 28 years after creation. The current 70 years after the creator’s death is ridiculous.

        • DupaCycki@lemmy.world
          0·
          2 months ago

          Even 15 years is a lot of money for something you most likely spent under 6 months creating. Of course, we could always have a detailed system and not just one flat time frame.

          • Duamerthrax@lemmy.worldEnglish
            0·
            2 months ago

            I think people overestimate how much the average creator can get from their work over time. They need to keep creating to maintain a livable income. Also, 28 years is a good number because it prevents mega corporations from stealing from small creators. Imagine if some novel series becomes a big hit, but Disney or Warner Brothers could just adapt it whenever they pleased without paying the author.

        • kunaltyagi@programming.dev
          0·
          2 months ago

          Even if the assets aren’t people, not squeezing value is required to maintain some fun and life as well as long term sustainability. If you squeeze it, you might squeeze it dry. I hate all the adverts everywhere. Can I just go somewhere to save my eyes…

        • HeHoXa@lemmy.zip
          0·
          2 months ago

          No no no. I gave them CULTURE! A wonderful work culture.

          And security! Sure, not the security I decided I need for myself, and it’s only really present as long as they’re profitable to me, but security nonetheless.

          After all, I had the idea and stuck my neck out to secure the financing, which is far more important than the actual daily labor that keeps things running.

          We’re like a family, see.

    • sunbeam60@feddit.uk
      0·
      2 months ago

      Some places are worse for this than others. London, for example, chews up 20-somethings in shitty accommodation, underpaid jobs and plenty of places to spend the few pennies you’ve got left. Eventually, 95% leave the city to actually build a life after they’ve realised that London will never deliver a suitable lifestyle for them.

    • dantheclamman@lemmy.world
      0·
      2 months ago

      As a scientist, yes, it is a horrible scam. The scientists give them rights to the paper for free. The reviewers review for free. Then they charge other people to look at it. And now they came up with open access where the scientists have to pay out of pocket (aka usually with public funds) for the whole process. Meanwhile the review process gets worse and worse, and their profit margin gets bigger and bigger. Last time for a ‘high impact’ journal, I had people in Sri Lanka copy editing my article writing messages to me in broken English. It is all a horrific scam