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To: The Philosopher who wrote (14360)	6/6/2002 8:04:45 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21057

BTW, according to Russell Fears, a lecturer on Roman history, the Roman citizen worked two days a year to pay his taxes. I have no doubt that taxes where a lot lower in the Roman republic and later in the empire then they are in 21st century America but I don't think they where quite that low. I think there may be taxes that are not included in that two day figure perhaps tariffs or special taxes that most citizens did not have to pay. Tim

To: The Philosopher who wrote (14360)	6/6/2002 9:33:27 PM
From: Lazarus_Long	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21057

the Roman citizen worked two days a year to pay his taxes. I found that hard to believe when I read it, BUT clawww.lmu.edu seems to support it.

To: The Philosopher who wrote (14360)	6/10/2002 7:26:12 AM
From: jttmab	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 21057

Well, you really can't. The whole issue of taxation is bound up with the role and function of government. At least I did for that one post, which is all I hoped for. <s>. Maybe logical, but it isn't how the real world works. Look, for example, at farm subsidies. Non farmers don't get even a nominally equal crack at them. Look at schools. Nonparents don't get a shared equity in those costs. There are, in fact, remarkably few government services that realistically everybody can have an equal opportunity to take advantage of. It's still to a great extent a services organization. Some of the points you make depend on how you look at them. Society tends to think that an educated populace benefits the entire nation whether or not you have snotty little brats yourself. Farm subsidies, I don't get a subsidy, but I get lower produce prices as a result; I'm a secondary beneficiary to the subsidies. Your system would only work if the only things government did were things that all citizens had an equal opportunity to take advantage of. Actually where the fixed bill system fails is not on the bais of equal opportunity, but because a very significant percentage of people couldn't pay the bill. BTW, according to Russell Fears, a lecturer on Roman history, the Roman citizen worked two days a year to pay his taxes. For this he got some of the best roads ever built, a superb military, sewers, a court system, and on and on. Very interesting. How much of the Roman operating expenses were supplemented through pillaging and plundering? jttmab