Wealth taxes are immoral and should be illegal. Someone can play by the rules, pay all the taxes as they go, and then suddenly have what they’ve already earned confiscated under threat of government force? I feel like that’s normalizing a world without private ownership of anything. After all, a wealth tax would mean that the government can change its mind and seize what you own retroactively at any time. What separates such a “free” society from China? Property taxes are similarly immoral because they undermine private ownership.
Not to mention, with the government’s famous lack of efficiency and accountability, all the stolen wealth wouldn’t accomplish much. California already has an enormous public bureaucracy and has nothing to show for it. There isn’t a single public amenity or service that is any better in California than states that have lower taxes, smaller governments, and higher efficiency. Washington is a great historical comparison point for this (although the politics of WA have changed significantly in the last decade and it is turning into CA).
I’m also concerned that this is going to reduce the attractiveness of CA as well as the US more broadly for economic activity and innovation. Why would the next wave of builders trust in an environment and government that could take away what they’ve worked hard to build and earn?
Not to mention, with the government’s famous lack of efficiency and accountability, all the stolen wealth wouldn’t accomplish much. California already has an enormous public bureaucracy and has nothing to show for it. There isn’t a single public amenity or service that is any better in California than states that have lower taxes, smaller governments, and higher efficiency. Washington is a great historical comparison point for this (although the politics of WA have changed significantly in the last decade and it is turning into CA).
I’m also concerned that this is going to reduce the attractiveness of CA as well as the US more broadly for economic activity and innovation. Why would the next wave of builders trust in an environment and government that could take away what they’ve worked hard to build and earn?