Monday, September 5, 2011

International banks and EU be damned!

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What to hear about a government that has a very sound approach to the financial crisis; which acts in the interests of its people, and not in the interests of international banks. Read this story - you will not hear about it from your local media conglomerate, and you ought to wonder why.
Iceland was in a financial crisis. Initially the ECB negotiated with the new government of Iceland for Icelanders to pay back their nation's debts. The problem of course is that the Icelandic people realised that it was ridiculous for them to be carrying the burdens of the state, and most particularly, the debts of privately-owned banks. So they lobbied the government to change their policy. Iceland has since snubbed the global financial community, and is looking at financing its own activities. Sounds like a good model. I hope Greece and the other 'weak states' of EU follow suit.

Taxation: Why not leave your kids a legacy

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This is just another reason to abstain from paying taxes. Wondering who the babes in the woods are?
The obedient, compliant majority. I however don't think for a moment that they deserve this oppressive system; given that its a very difficult task to understand the complexities of the system....and more difficult still to develop a strategy for dealing with the contemporary political paradigm. Certainly I don't think parents should be jeopardising their children's future to fight the government. I do however think that salary-men have the greatest incentive to government, most particularly those who have purchased a house in the last 3 years, or who find that proposition way impossible. If I was these people; I would be in the streets.
Its just just a case of 'ability to pay'; its a question of risk, the enormous opportunity costs entailed in this bad system, and most particularly, your requirement to sanction an immoral system.

Friday, September 2, 2011

Doctors wronged by Internal Revenue NZ

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A NZ couple - both doctors - have been found by the NZ Supreme Court to have engaged in tax avoidance. Their crime was diverting income away from their personal identities with the intent of reducing tax. There are several problems I have with this:
1. They have caused no injury to anyone
2. We have an incredibly unfair, immoral, unprincipled tax system
3. Unlike the government - this couple did not extort the money from others - they worked for it, and as doctors, they saved lives.
4. The government, which has the capacity to change the law, lobby the community for principles, spend money wisely, and withdrawal from its extortive practices, fails to do so.

So I ask you, who would you prefer to have the money, earned by the doctors, and extorted by the Internal Revenue Dept? I personal would love to see government funded, but not on the current terms. Given the huge public deficit, they cannot even do that. Not just NZ either. There are 9 of the 24 OECD countries around the world which have unacceptable deficits, and consider this as well:
1. There has been no substantive (debt crippling) war in 65 years
2. Add a 10th country, as Australia was until the unprecedented 'China-inspired' commodities boom a 'banana republic'.

This pair of doctors ought to be national heroes. As heroines, should we not expect them to fight for their cause - for a fair tax system? Perhaps, but I suspect they never had the moral or intellectual ammunition to defend their beliefs. Is that their responsibility? I say that its the governments. After all, our politicians are the custodians of the 'moral forces', namely the military, the police, and quarantine. Ought we not expect justice and principles from them. Where is the moral framework. I can't even see any mention of moral principles or human rights on the National Party website. What I do see is that the National Party philosophy is 'pragmatism', i.e. a philosophy of non-principle, and the National Party president Peter Goodfellow is the nation's 16th wealthiest men. Might we expect that, since the nation's governing party is also presided over by 'big business', and small business is getting such tax rorts, that it is the NZ salary earner, which includes doctors, who are getting such a bad deal. This couple is being persecuted for being doctors; for not having the time to attend to the government's complicated tax system, to create the same 'avoidance structures' as the wealthiest in the country. I personally can't be bothered to invest in such dishonest structures. I have neither the time for such 'low productivity', wealth-destruction measures, that I simply don't do it.

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