There aren’t a lot of people that have assets, money, or a real good income, that are exactly thrilled about paying taxes; but the thing is, that when those that have lots of money, assets, and wealth, aren’t taxed at some appropriate rate, progressive or not, then that society will tilt ever more dramatically in favor of all those that have established that wealth; of which, typically, these people with that capital still in their hands, will desire to see that wealth ultimately be distributed to family, friends, and causes that they support, above all, upon their demise.
The problem with this type of mindset, or of having a government, which does not appropriately tax those entities that have the most assets and wealth, is that it thus become inevitable that a nation that purports to be a republic or a democracy, is actually essentially under the controlling hand of those that have that money, wealth, status, position, and power.
As reported by fortune.com, as of 2020, the Fortune 500 companies had “…approximately $14.2 trillion in revenue, $1.2 trillion in profits, and $20.4 trillion in total market value.” Yet, the corporate tax rate, is set at just 21%, despite the fact that from 1951-1987 the corporate tax rate was never lower than 40% and was as high as 52.8%. The result is what we so see today, which is an ever growing divide between the corporate few that have so much, and the many non-shareholders that have so little.
So too, when it comes to the estate tax, as recently as 1997, the estate tax exemption was just $600,000 per individual, and as of 2023, it is $12.92 million per individual or $25.84 million per married couple. It doesn’t take a genius to know that for those that actually have assets above $25.84 million that they are going to almost for a certainty avail themselves of all the legal tax stratagems which will thus reduce their estate tax to a rate thus approaching zero.
Finally, we do so find that the baby boom generation, are according to the Boston Consulting Group estimated to have $53 trillion in assets as of 2020. In short, America has plenty of money, held in the hands of very powerful corporations as well as in the hands of the baby boom generation, of which, if America, so desired to do so, this wealth, could see a meaningful portion of such redistributed to the general population to help eliminate poverty, for education, for infrastructure and necessary repairs, and for research and development, all accomplished for the overall benefit of the people.
For an absolute certainty, America cannot be considered to be the land of earned individual meritocracy, when a privileged minority of its denizens are permitted to inherit their wealth, simply based upon being born into a family that has that wealth, thereby essentially bifurcating this nation into one in which the few have everything literally handed to them as their birthright, versus all the other people that must make do without such an incumbent advantage. Those then that desire the United States to be in fit, form, and function an aristocratic society, essentially have it – regrettably, to the lasting disgrace of what our Founding Fathers so valiantly fought against.