Archive for June 20, 2013

20 Jun 2013
A Contrarian View

The Impossible Dream of Fair Taxes and Income Equality.

via

The liberal left, assorted groups of anti-capitalists and genuinely concerned, but frequently misguided, do-gooders are clamouring for the heads-of-state attending the G8 conference in Ireland to Do Something about evil corporations not paying their “Fair Share” of taxes.

What hypocrisy.

As sure as night follows day, there are some corporations (and individuals) who have in the past, do now and will continue to, evade taxes, which is illegal. Although their tactics may be understandable given the oppressive and punitive tax systems in many countries, if it is against the law and if they get caught, they should not expect any sympathy.

Tax avoidance however is entirely legal and part of the duty of responsible corporate officers in their objective of running businesses at a profit. If that includes exploiting loopholes created by government incentives to encourage investment, how can they be criticised.

If that involves the creation of holding companies and taking advantage of offshore domiciles for business registration, as long as it is legal, what is the problem?

Those squealing for “corporations” to be punished should remember that those same corporations, are owned either publicly, or privately, by people. People who breathe oxygen and bleed red blood just like those who are doing the squealing.

Unlike the majority of those complaining however, the owners of corporations have generally exerted some effort to be productive in life and not merely demanded their share of the taxes paid by those same productive people as do the entitlement afflicted whiners.

Other than those employed by various levels of government or quasi government institutions – all paid by the taxpayer – sources of income are profits from businesses, returns on investments, self employment or salaries and wages from employment by corporations large or small.

Pensions paid to retired workers from both the public and private sectors are largely funded by dividends or interest paid to pension funds by the corporations in which they have purchased shares or bonds.

I have long argued that the only morally and ethically fair form of taxation is a standard rate on all expenditure in the form of a sales or value added tax. This ensures that the wealthy will pay more tax in absolute terms because they will spend more. It would also encourage a higher level of savings than would a flat rate on incomes.

As moral or fair as that may be, I am cynical enough to realise that it would not fly. It is quite all right for people with low or no incomes to demand that “the rich” pay their fair share of taxes. The top 5% of North American taxpayers already pay 54% of all taxes, not much “fair” about that.

In parallel to the clamour about evil corporations and taxes, is the whining about “income inequality”. The media are largely to blame for this one. Anyone with a very basic knowledge of the English language, economics and politics, knows that in a democratic, free enterprise society, incomes can never be equal. The correct term is “income disparity”. Although correct, it is not dramatic enough for biased headlines, it does not stir up enough resentment.

Income Equality could only exist in a pure communist system, we all know how wildly successful that system is. Cuba and North Korea being the last pathetic examples. Even in the original cradles of communism, the former USSR and China, some were more equal than others with disparity of incomes and standards glaringly obvious.

Yes, great disparity in income levels does lead to resentment, we should be concerned about it. But trying to re-distribute wealth from the productive to the unproductive is not the answer. That causes those who can to depart for greener pastures with their wealth and reduces those who cannot to the lowest common denominator.

Regrettably the rise of social media has allowed these myths to be propelled around the world with greater speed and reach than ever before.

There is one certainty about the attack on corporate and individual’s legal tax reduction strategies. It is that investments will be taken away from countries with punitive tax laws and moved to those with either more favourable or less rigidly enforced tax laws. Jobs will move with them.

That is human nature, we all want to protect what we have worked for, except of course those that feel entitled to steal from the productive.

 

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11 Jun 2013
A Contrarian View

Mandela – Mass Murderer Transformed into Saint by Media.

Justice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Much of the world is concerned about Nelson Mandela’s health as the 94-year-old spends a fourth day in hospital.

This concern is the net result of one of the greatest propaganda successes ever foisted on a gullible public in the West by the left-wing media.

To any thinking person with even the most poorly developed powers of discernment, the falsity of the Mandela myth should be immediately apparent.

Lets look at the facts:

Mandela was imprisoned for conspiring and supporting acts of terrorism, mainly the blowing up of infrastructure (power lines) plotting to place bombs in public places (railway stations etc.) and stockpiling explosives and weapons to carry out terrorist attacks.

He was not imprisoned for opposing the South African Government.

Had he been convicted of the same crimes in the USA, he would almost certainly have received the death sentence, in Canada or Europe, a life sentence in prison where he would probably have died years ago.

Approximately double the number of violent deaths have occurred in the 13 years since 1994 when Mandela was released from prison as occurred in the 46 years under White rule from 1948. Source   (warning article contains gruesome images of necklace victims)

As many as an estimated 5000 of those deaths were murders committed by Mandela’s ANC on Black South Africans of the Zulu people by the “necklace” method. A gasoline soaked tyre set on fire around a victim’s neck while he or she was alive.

Mandela’s wife at the time, the murderous Winnie, proudly shook her box of matches on national TV proclaiming “If we cannot win with the ballot box, we will win with the matchbox”

Add to those around 1000 White farmers murdered each year, many politically motivated in a strategy to drive farmers off their lands, impoverish farm workers and intimidate rural voters.

Despite the European settlers of North America and Australia having decimated their indigenous populations by introducing western diseases, alcohol, guns, residential schools and then swamping them with massive waves of immigration, liberals in those countries had the audacity to condemn South Africa and support the communist inspired and armed terrorists actively trying to take over the country.

If White South Africans were so bad, why has the indigenous population in that country increased over 30 times since the arrival of the first European? Yet in North America, it’s size has not increased and possibly decreased after being “settled”. In Australia a similar situation.

Well meaning but naive liberals shout about apartheid without any idea of what the real situation in Southern Africa was. How could you deny people the vote on grounds of colour they ask self-righteously.

Firstly there were aspects of the South African system that, with the benefit of hindsight, were wrong and can now be recognised as such. Just as here in North America, condemnation of slavery is universal, no thinking person can understand why, a hundred years ago, women were denied the vote and child abuse is now seen as the evil it is. All those awful practices were considered normal by a large part of the population in previous generations.

There were other aspects that were ridiculous and were slowly being eroded by common sense, education and pure demographics.

The key issue though is that in North America and Australia, the massive waves of European immigration in the 18th to early 20th centuries quickly reduced the indigenous people to powerless minorities.

In Canada today, for example, a recent report indicated that the indigenous population stands at 1.4 million, 4.3% of the total. () When a segment of the population is that small, it would not matter if it had 2 votes for every man woman and child, it could not materially affect the course of history.

In pre 1994 South Africa, a population of around 4 million Whites, 2 million Indian and Asian and perhaps another 1 to 1.5 million Black people with equivalent incomes supported a total population of 40 million.

With the best will in the world, it is not possible for such a small economic base to finance equal education, health and housing services for a large unproductive sector.

That is why Black schools were not all as good as White or Asian, why government hospitals for the masses were inferior to private ones for those with sufficient income to pay for their services. Why Black people migrating from rural, tribal areas could not afford Western type housing in the cities and instead created squatter camps.

It is a testament to the resilience of the South African economy and the efforts of its economically active minority that they were able to finance services for the majority of the population at all, even if those services were judged inferior.

It is interesting to note that despite claims that all Canadians have equal access to education and health services, there is ample evidence to indicate that the reality in the tribal areas, is somewhat different.

For those who still believe Mandela is an icon for peace, remember that his ANC terrorists murdered many veterans of the two great wars and their dependants, service men and women who fought and died shoulder to shoulder with Canadians, Americans, Australians and other Allied soldiers.

Politics always trumps loyalty, sadly the South Africans, just like the Rhodesians 2 decades earlier, were sacrificed by their former allies on the altar of appeasement and expediency.

Mandela is a mass murderer, terrorist and war criminal from the same mould as Pol Pot, Idi Amin and many others before them, he has escaped his rightful place before the International Court in The Hague. He is not going to get his just punishment in this world, perhaps he will in the next.

 

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