The Minds of the People

So I was sitting here doing my taxes for hours on end this weekend.  While I was taking a break between cursing congress for being so stupid and trying to finish I had a thought.  (I will later write about the stupidity of tax law as it is conceived of in the united states.)  The thought was as follows:

"Whatever you do, you must be consistent."

Now let me explain what this means before I get to the application of which I thought.  Basically it means you have to have a political philosophy and voting/implementation/beliefs that are consistent.  I think this is best shown by discussing a counter-example: "A person who wants the government to provide health care but refuses to sacrifice to pay for it."

Now you know that I am not a huge fan of health care reform as it currently stands however the most vile aspect of this reform is that people refuse to sacrifice (a.k.a. pay) for their fair share of the pot.  Ideologs are this way.  Now this is bad mostly because it is like an al-a-carte way of picking your voting record which leads to gridlock and stupidity in Washington.  (See this article for a good start-up on this.)  How can someone represent your interests if you interests have no consistency?  Basically if you want to preach 'equal access to health care for all' but then refuse to give up your benefits through you union then you part of the problem.

So now for the example I thought of while doing my taxes, basically I asked myself: 'In what universe does it make sense to have a tax system this ridiculous that a really smart person cannot figure out their own taxes?'  Well there are two systems of taxation broadly.  One is one that taxes little.  You keep what you make mostly.  The other end is tweaking the taxes to affect behavior as if there is some magic combination that is most 'fair'.  However can you for instance be in the former camp and believe the government should provide free health care.  You can't.  Pure and simple yet there are people there.  I don't want to do into the economics of taxation but there is a lot I could say in this area and won't.

So what is the problem to solve here?  Be consistent.  If you want large government looking into your every action in life then don't be shocked when they look into some aspect you didn't think they would.  If you want the government to be hands off then stop saying you want universal health care.  If you say you want the ability to retire at 40 and not work then stop voting for people who continue to tax investments and earnings.  If you want to tax my earnings and benefits then don't be surprised when the government comes after yours.  Just have a consistent philosophy, it will make you easier to govern and maybe the gridlock in Washington will at least support the will of the people.