[MD] On Indian Values (Part I?)

[Arlo J. Bensinger]

[Platt]
>From the Marxist thinker's post of 4/5:
"Go with a 100% consumption tax. Higher rates for luxury items, lower  rates for
necessities. Low rates for your first car/home, higher rates  for subsequent or
luxury cars/homes, zero tax on cars/homes in the  lowest 5% of the average
local market. High rates for dining out, low  rates for unprepared produce,
zero for produce that's grown/raised  within a 50 mile radius of the store.

[Arlo]
Um, first this is a call for the abolition of the income tax, Platt. And the
consumption tax along these lines was something I first came to support when it
was advanced by the editors of Forbes Magazine.

My contribution, to ELIMINATE TAXES ALTOGETHER on necessities (such as houses
and cars) that are valued in the lowest 5% of the local market is so un-Marxist
its funny. There is no "penalization" here, if the more wealthy person wants to
buy a modest home, then they can do so at the same low tax rate as anyone else.

Maybe you misunderstood "100% consumption tax", which does not mean a "100% tax
on goods", but rather a taxation system that relies 100% on consumption taxes,
a la Forbes.

Tell me, though, how you see this as "Marxist"? Is Forbes a front for a Marxist
organization that I am unaware of?

[Platt]
"Interest rates on loans can be lowered by agreeing to do public  service. For
example, a loan offered at 5.5% could be brought down to  4% by someone willing
to spend 10 hours a week helping kids learn how  to read, or delivering meals
on wheels, or assisting in eldercare.  Those willing to do public work, then,
would pay less. This runs  counter to the current system that makes poorer
people pay more for the  same loan.

[Arlo]
And, again, I see nothing Marxist in this. Offering a REDUCTION of interest
rates to ANYONE (rich OR poor) who offers to volunteer some community time is
nothing I read in Marx. Can you cite me where you find Marx saying anything
like this? Like I said, you, me, the millionaire behind the tree, want a point
off your interest rate, volunteer to teach literacy 10 hours a week. And you
find this Marxist?

[Platt]
Eliminate bankruptcy, private and business.

[Arlo]
The conservatives had pretty much abolished private bankruptcy. Why is it
"Marxist" to ask that if a company goes under, those who owned it must continue
to pay their outstanding debts. We ask that of private citizens, don't we? Tell
me, why is it Marxist to demand that individuals AND businesses cannot absolve
themselves of debt simply by declaring bankruptcy. (And, when you get a chance,
can you tell us poor readers why "bankruptcy" is not a "regulation on the
market"??)

[Platt]
One wonders what other "thoughts" the Marxist thinker can conjure up to 
engineer society, control our lives and eliminate DQ?

[Arlo]
Still ad hominem games and fear, Platt. I've answered your substantive comments.
If you want to debate the Marxism of what I said, I'll do so, because I have
read Marx, and I can assure you, nothing I suggest above is Marxist. But I will
have that debate. In the meantime, you only embarass yourself with these
continuing "fear-distort-ad hominem-Wurlitzer" comments. Put down the Role of
the Perpetual Party Jester, Platt.

Arlo