I think many on the far right (I'm not using that term derisively) have come to see all forms and levels of government in the US as adversarial or at least complicit in the general scheme of liberalism / anti-Whiteness. They can point to examples like local cops enforcing COVID mandates, local judges being lenient on black criminals, and local politicians promoting pride / diversity. As a result, they adopt a "burn it all down" mentality.
It seems more like a personnel is policy problem rather than negating the taxes. So the cops enforced a COVID mandate? Hire different cops and fire the ones that are covid crazy. The police department itself isn't going anywhere.
Yeah, I don’t agree with the “burn it all down” position; I was just offering it as an alternative explanation for why many right-wingers are opposed to things like property taxes. I don’t think it’s just childish anti-social libertarianism as is claimed in the article. I’m very much in favor of capturing the institutions.
Exactly. People who allow blacks to live in a community, and neighbors who believe all sorts of dangerous ridiculous crap about race don't get to tell me to mow my lawn or anything else. The trouble is, trivial things like this (I don't like weed, but smoking a joint on your porch is not the same as crazy homeless people on fentanyl just squatting downtown) seem to matter more to a lot of whites than what actually matters...race. Middle age, Zoomer, Boomer, doesn't matter.
This attitude of "let's take care of the little things, the big things fix themselves" is just wrong. Having said that, nice presentable clothes (a clean white t-shirt, jeans without holes) are not expensive and expecting people to look normal when they go outside is...well...normal. And while I think porn should be legal, I'm strongly in favor of banning tattoos. I don't, however think someone is a weirdo for not wearing a suit, unless that's the required dress at their job or it's a wedding or something. I also agree with Scott that this whole "screw property taxes" thing is reckless, misguided and will further exacerbate heavily entrenched wealth disparities.
I agree completely about the need for property taxes. This has become a cause for 'conservative' politics in my state much to my chagrin. Property tax forces us to keep our feet in the game of local governance. This is not an argument for high or unnecessary taxation or spending.
There were a lot of valid criticisms to your property tax article that you didn't address.
"They support local services we benefit from everyday."
Does NY spending $40k on public schools I wouldn't send my kids to really benefit me?
I get a breakdown of where my property taxes go and I know a little something about the budget of my local government. I've lived in a lot of places with a lot of different property tax regimes.
1) In general I've found there is a strong correlation between high property taxes and poor governance.
2) The best services your local government offers are usually the cheapest (parks for instance are a small part of the budget even though they are often the best run).
Property taxes are primarily a giveaway to the teachers union and education administration. A few bloated city/county spoils system spots coming in second place.
Florida has a model where 80% of its revenue comes from sales taxes. Even without an income tax it manages to have universal school vouchers. It keeps spending low and has a surplus.
I just think this is a better model then sky high property taxes to support bloated education budgets and then hoping the SALT deduction can subsidize the giveaway to the teachers union.
I live in Florida. I really, really want there to be police, firefighters, local roads kept in good shape, nice parks and public beaches, animal control (as in someone you can call when an alligator or rattlesnake decides to makes its home in your yard) and yes schools even though I have no children-- I certainly do not want gangs of feral kids, illiterate and unemployable, running around in gangs. Oh, and I know too many teachers to hate on them as a group. By all means fire bad teachers-- and also bad cops-- but we need both teachers and police. We cannot "defund" either of them. Indeed "get rid of public schools" is the Right's version of "Defund the police". Both are monumental;y stupid ideas.
This is valid. Blue areas really are gouging people using property taxes to fuel administrative bloat. Scott however is right that income taxes are far more abused as property taxes are actually going to tangible things in the community. Income taxes are primarily just redistributive schemes, taking money from whites, men, the young and giving them to browns/blacks, women, and the old.
You seem to be ignoring the amount of money spent on the military-- as well as all the money spent on healthcare (which money goes to healthcare providers) Oh, and the money comes from everyone, not just one race or gender.
It runs a tight spending ship where modest property and sales taxes pay for necessary services, but not bloat. The current debate in the legislator is whether to use the budget surplus to increase the homestead exemption (amongst other property tax reforms) or decrease sales taxes. I'd much rather property taxes went down versus sales taxes.
Tourists contribute 16% of the sales tax collected by the state. That helps (and is a good reason not to cut sales taxes), but its mainly just that the state had budgetary discipline.
The fact that we are the fourth most populous state also imposes some heavy burdens on us. We're not some little rural Delaware that can afford low income and property taxes and no sales tax at all.
There are many prominent libertarians who are fine with laws that prevent vagrants, etc., e.g., Bryan Caplan. And, of course, if streets are privatized, as many libertarians want, then vagrants will be booted off private property. Can you name any prominent libertarians who want their communities to be crap? When libertarians protest taxes, they are mainly complaining about over-taxation due to inefficient/wasteful spending.
Well, one reason they are not (yet) likely to happen is that so many people oppose these solutions because most people don’t understand economics. I see this problem everywhere. That’s why MAGA is anti-free trade.
Privately-owned streets already exist as part of gated communities. This would be extended to non-gated communities. Business districts could develop/own their own roads. Thoroughfares would be operated with tolls, just like many roads today.
So everyone would need to stop and pay a toll every time they crossed into an area that was operated by another private company? Just thinking about the daily commute where millions of people each day cross through multiple different municipalities on their way to and from work. I don't see how this could ever be widely adopted.
Re: Many don’t even bother wearing suits, and all kinds of stupid haircuts, facial hair, and visible tattoos are present.
OK, while most of the critique lands right on target, this fashion policing is rather silly. Suits are not de rigeur in most white collar jobs these days, or in churches. Ugly haircuts-- yeah, bleech, but that strikes me as a trivial complaint. Beards? Come on, they've been fashionable for men for years now. I am not a fan of excessive tattooing (I have none), but alas its day has come and there are guys in my church with lots of tattoos I like and respect.
Given that your neighbors are likely to hate you for being a racist pervert misogynist or whatever their thing is, I can kind of get where the libertarians are coming from but for completely different reasons.
It’s better to read all of this from reputable sources than on Substack. It’s usually un-filtered with the biased, ideologist BS. Critical thinking skills are a decadence in today’s society and you’re only contributing to it. All of your followers are just a bunch of puppets and you know it.
What would a reputable source be to you? If it’s legacy corporate media, I would disagree. And I’ve learned a lot from articles on this site, even articles written by people I disagree with politically.
I think many on the far right (I'm not using that term derisively) have come to see all forms and levels of government in the US as adversarial or at least complicit in the general scheme of liberalism / anti-Whiteness. They can point to examples like local cops enforcing COVID mandates, local judges being lenient on black criminals, and local politicians promoting pride / diversity. As a result, they adopt a "burn it all down" mentality.
It seems more like a personnel is policy problem rather than negating the taxes. So the cops enforced a COVID mandate? Hire different cops and fire the ones that are covid crazy. The police department itself isn't going anywhere.
Yeah, I don’t agree with the “burn it all down” position; I was just offering it as an alternative explanation for why many right-wingers are opposed to things like property taxes. I don’t think it’s just childish anti-social libertarianism as is claimed in the article. I’m very much in favor of capturing the institutions.
Exactly. People who allow blacks to live in a community, and neighbors who believe all sorts of dangerous ridiculous crap about race don't get to tell me to mow my lawn or anything else. The trouble is, trivial things like this (I don't like weed, but smoking a joint on your porch is not the same as crazy homeless people on fentanyl just squatting downtown) seem to matter more to a lot of whites than what actually matters...race. Middle age, Zoomer, Boomer, doesn't matter.
This attitude of "let's take care of the little things, the big things fix themselves" is just wrong. Having said that, nice presentable clothes (a clean white t-shirt, jeans without holes) are not expensive and expecting people to look normal when they go outside is...well...normal. And while I think porn should be legal, I'm strongly in favor of banning tattoos. I don't, however think someone is a weirdo for not wearing a suit, unless that's the required dress at their job or it's a wedding or something. I also agree with Scott that this whole "screw property taxes" thing is reckless, misguided and will further exacerbate heavily entrenched wealth disparities.
Re: And while I think porn should be legal, I'm strongly in favor of banning tattoos.
Huh. My opinion is 180 degrees opposite. I do not like gaudy tattoos but I think porn is vastly more injurious to individuals and society.
I agree completely about the need for property taxes. This has become a cause for 'conservative' politics in my state much to my chagrin. Property tax forces us to keep our feet in the game of local governance. This is not an argument for high or unnecessary taxation or spending.
There were a lot of valid criticisms to your property tax article that you didn't address.
"They support local services we benefit from everyday."
Does NY spending $40k on public schools I wouldn't send my kids to really benefit me?
I get a breakdown of where my property taxes go and I know a little something about the budget of my local government. I've lived in a lot of places with a lot of different property tax regimes.
1) In general I've found there is a strong correlation between high property taxes and poor governance.
2) The best services your local government offers are usually the cheapest (parks for instance are a small part of the budget even though they are often the best run).
Property taxes are primarily a giveaway to the teachers union and education administration. A few bloated city/county spoils system spots coming in second place.
Florida has a model where 80% of its revenue comes from sales taxes. Even without an income tax it manages to have universal school vouchers. It keeps spending low and has a surplus.
I just think this is a better model then sky high property taxes to support bloated education budgets and then hoping the SALT deduction can subsidize the giveaway to the teachers union.
I live in Florida. I really, really want there to be police, firefighters, local roads kept in good shape, nice parks and public beaches, animal control (as in someone you can call when an alligator or rattlesnake decides to makes its home in your yard) and yes schools even though I have no children-- I certainly do not want gangs of feral kids, illiterate and unemployable, running around in gangs. Oh, and I know too many teachers to hate on them as a group. By all means fire bad teachers-- and also bad cops-- but we need both teachers and police. We cannot "defund" either of them. Indeed "get rid of public schools" is the Right's version of "Defund the police". Both are monumental;y stupid ideas.
I live in Florida. All of those services work fine at low tax rates. I sent my kids to private school with the vouchers and they love it.
This is valid. Blue areas really are gouging people using property taxes to fuel administrative bloat. Scott however is right that income taxes are far more abused as property taxes are actually going to tangible things in the community. Income taxes are primarily just redistributive schemes, taking money from whites, men, the young and giving them to browns/blacks, women, and the old.
You seem to be ignoring the amount of money spent on the military-- as well as all the money spent on healthcare (which money goes to healthcare providers) Oh, and the money comes from everyone, not just one race or gender.
Florida doesn't have an income tax.
It runs a tight spending ship where modest property and sales taxes pay for necessary services, but not bloat. The current debate in the legislator is whether to use the budget surplus to increase the homestead exemption (amongst other property tax reforms) or decrease sales taxes. I'd much rather property taxes went down versus sales taxes.
Florida is in an advantaged position with tourism revenue and having a great political and governance culture. I am a bit envious.
Tourists contribute 16% of the sales tax collected by the state. That helps (and is a good reason not to cut sales taxes), but its mainly just that the state had budgetary discipline.
The fact that we are the fourth most populous state also imposes some heavy burdens on us. We're not some little rural Delaware that can afford low income and property taxes and no sales tax at all.
nice article
There are many prominent libertarians who are fine with laws that prevent vagrants, etc., e.g., Bryan Caplan. And, of course, if streets are privatized, as many libertarians want, then vagrants will be booted off private property. Can you name any prominent libertarians who want their communities to be crap? When libertarians protest taxes, they are mainly complaining about over-taxation due to inefficient/wasteful spending.
Im sure libertarians who call cops "pigs" will be thrilled with private police roughing up vagrants.
Reality is calling and this ain't it
Again, can you name prominent libertarians who say things like this?
Because the "solutions" they propose tend to be as likely to happen as me marrying Miss Universe.
Well, one reason they are not (yet) likely to happen is that so many people oppose these solutions because most people don’t understand economics. I see this problem everywhere. That’s why MAGA is anti-free trade.
How exactly would streets become privatized?
Pregnant moms abusing tylenol. Next generation fully autistic, ready to privatize roads at any cost
Privately-owned streets already exist as part of gated communities. This would be extended to non-gated communities. Business districts could develop/own their own roads. Thoroughfares would be operated with tolls, just like many roads today.
So everyone would need to stop and pay a toll every time they crossed into an area that was operated by another private company? Just thinking about the daily commute where millions of people each day cross through multiple different municipalities on their way to and from work. I don't see how this could ever be widely adopted.
Thanks for your comment. This short article deals with some of your concerns. I may dig up some more. https://www.libertarianism.org/topics/transportation#:~:text=Most%20publicly%20owned%20roads%20are,the%20wishes%20of%20road%20users.
Good for your kids. But private schooling is beyond the means of most people. Beware of an "I got mine" take on things.
Re: Many don’t even bother wearing suits, and all kinds of stupid haircuts, facial hair, and visible tattoos are present.
OK, while most of the critique lands right on target, this fashion policing is rather silly. Suits are not de rigeur in most white collar jobs these days, or in churches. Ugly haircuts-- yeah, bleech, but that strikes me as a trivial complaint. Beards? Come on, they've been fashionable for men for years now. I am not a fan of excessive tattooing (I have none), but alas its day has come and there are guys in my church with lots of tattoos I like and respect.
Good article, though I would disagree with localism not being an answer. I think it can and should play a part in the solution.
Is it wise to put “Anti-Social” and “Convention” in the same post?
A better example of a paralogism would be hard to imagine.
Given that your neighbors are likely to hate you for being a racist pervert misogynist or whatever their thing is, I can kind of get where the libertarians are coming from but for completely different reasons.
Libertarianism only works with high trust societies. That's why it's so ridiculed by DR types - it's liberalism but with more drugs.
Heh. Heh heh. >makes popcorn while waiting for indignant responses<
You wrote all of this just for a few clicks
Yes, I do write articles people will actually read. Thanks for your informed opinion, Enrique
It’s better to read all of this from reputable sources than on Substack. It’s usually un-filtered with the biased, ideologist BS. Critical thinking skills are a decadence in today’s society and you’re only contributing to it. All of your followers are just a bunch of puppets and you know it.
Yet you're here ofc..."reputable sources" = someone I agree with on whatever BS I believe
Never heard of this platform actually until he told me to watch his podcast on Hernan Cortes.
So far I’m disappointed where my $5 went.
What would a reputable source be to you? If it’s legacy corporate media, I would disagree. And I’ve learned a lot from articles on this site, even articles written by people I disagree with politically.