A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so many
others her age, she considered herself to be a very liberal
Democrat, and was very much in favor of the
redistribution of wealth.
She was deeply ashamed that her father was
a rather staunch Republican, a feeling she openly expressed. Based on the
lectures that she had participated in, and the occasional
chat with a professor, she felt that
her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire to keep what he
thought
should be his.
One day she was challenging her father on
his opposition to higher taxes on the rich and the addition of more
government welfare programs. The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by
her professors had to be the
truth and she indicated so to her father. He
responded by asking how she was doing in school.
Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let
him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she
was taking a very difficult course load and
was constantly studying, which left her no
time to go out and party like other people she knew. She didn't even have
time for a boyfriend, and didn't really have many
college friends because she spent all her
time studying.
Her father listened and then asked, "How is your friend Audrey doing ?"
She replied, "Audrey is barely getting by. All she takes are easy classes,
she never studies, and she barely has a 2.0 GPA. She is so
popular on campus; college for her is a blast. She's always invited to all
the parties, and
lots of times she doesn't even show up for classes because she's too hung
over."
Her wise father asked his daughter, "Why
don't you go to the Dean's office and ask him
to deduct a 1.0 off your GPA and give it to
your friend who only has a 2.0. That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and
certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA."
The daughter, visibly shocked by her father's
suggestion, angrily fired back, "That wouldn't be fair! I have worked really
hard for my grades! I've invested a lot of time, and a lot
of hard work! Audrey has done next to
nothing toward her degree. She played
while I worked my tail off!"
The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently, " Welcome to the
Republican party."
All analogies breakdown. This one shatters right out of the gate. Are grades the same thing as tax dollars? No.
Progressive income taxation is a staple of America endorsed by Adam Smith.
Why progressive rates?
Because those with the strongest arms do the heaviest lifting.
You don't ask your mother to move your barbells to the attic (unless you're Steve Martin) and you don't ask the poor and middle class to pay the same rate as the wealthy to maintain our american infrastructure and societal needs.
