Re: MD MOQ and The Moral Society

From: Mark Steven Heyman (markheyman@infoproconsulting.com)
Date: Thu Jul 21 2005 - 18:19:46 BST

  • Next message: Ant McWatt: "MD Varieties of Buddhism and the Social Level"

    msh 7-20-05:
    As for the question of taxes, according to data available at the Tax
    Policy Center, there were a couple of years during the New Deal
    30's, and a few more years during WWII, when corporate income taxes
    paid were just slightly higher than the amount paid by individuals.
    After that, the gap between taxes paid by corporations and
    individuals steadily increased in favor of the corporations, with
    slight slowdowns (but still increasing) in the Johnson 60's and
    Clinton 90's.

    response 7-21-05:
    You don't seem to grasp that individual taxes are paid on incomes
    made possible in large part by corporate employment.

    msh 7-21-05:
    Oh, I can understand some stuff. The fact that a large number of
    people work for corporations is the result of corporate dominance of
    our society. It's this very dominance that's being criticized.
    Corporations are legal instruments designed to, among other things,
    prevent public scrutiny of business operations as well as to shield
    owners from liability for the negative effects of corporate business
    activity. I'm not suggesting that honest business activity has no
    place in a moral society; I'm saying that the corporate business
    model, with it's emphasis on profit-maximization and near-zero public
    accountability, is a threat to society and should be dismantled.

    response 7-21-05:
    Nor do you seem to grasp that ultimately all corporate taxes are paid
    by individuals because prices set for goods and services include
    provision for corporate tax liabilities.

    msh 7-21-05:
    I understand this, too. All the more reason to demand public
    oversight of internal business decisions, such as price
    determination; and to demand that business owners be personally
    responsible for any negative effects to society that stem from their
    externalization of costs, such as the downsizing or elimination of
    health plans, massive layoffs, and passing their tax burden along to
    consumers through price increases and any number of other tax
    loopholes; and to place limits on the accumulation of private wealth
    and, therefore, the power that always accompanies it.

    These are just a few of the business-related ideas I see as essential
    in establishing a MOQ-based moral society.

    Best,
    Mark Steven Heyman (msh)

    -- 
    InfoPro Consulting - The Professional Information Processors
    Custom Software Solutions for Windows, PDAs, and the Web Since 1983
    Web Site: http://www.infoproconsulting.com
    "Corporation: An ingenious device for obtaining profit without 
    individual responsibility." 
    -- Ambrose Bierce
    (American Writer, Journalist and Editor, 1842-1914)
     
    MOQ.ORG  - http://www.moq.org
    Mail Archives:
    Aug '98 - Oct '02 - http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/
    Nov '02 Onward  - http://www.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/summary.html
    MD Queries - horse@darkstar.uk.net
    To unsubscribe from moq_discuss follow the instructions at:
    http://www.moq.org/md/subscribe.html
    


    This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Thu Jul 21 2005 - 19:53:22 BST