This article is rather unusual, in that it talks about richer Germans petitioning the government to raise their taxes. I say unusual, because never in the United States has such a thing happened where a group of rich people demand the government to raise their tax rates.
"The group say that they have more money than they need, and the extra revenue could fund economic and social programs to aid Germany's economic recovery."
Germany has the capacity to raise huge sums of money, nearly equaling 100 billion euros if such a thing becomes a reality. The group of rich Germans who are petitioning for this tax rate are concerned with the poverty, unemployment and the social inequality. This is in contrast to the American public who despite their concern would never want a tax hike for the richer people. In fact historically, tax rates have been lowered for the rich over the years. That also shows the welfare nature of the German economy who despite being capitalistic in nature show hints of their older ways of running the economy, which was social welfare and to a certain extent social inequality.
2 comments:
This is certainly an unpopular concept in the United States. I have heard of some very wealthy people saying that they were OKAY with progressive taxation, but never have I heard them demanding it from the government. This says a lot about the German public's feelings of trust towards their government (as they know that their money would be used appropriately) as well as their stronger desire for equity than Americans.
When I first read this title I almost thought there had to be a mistake. The concept of giving more of your wealth to the government, I think, is completely foreign to most Americans. I think Maria pin pointed one of the reasons that Americans would laugh at a petition like this one when she talked about the German's feelings of trust towards their government. It seems that at least 44 people in Germany feel that their government will be able to use their money the best to improve the country. With the way things are today I doubt that you could find 44 Americans who feel the same. Why is this? What makes our political environment so different from Germany's? I am not sure what the answers are here but I find it fascinating to study how it is that some cultures value equality more than individual wealth. Like we have talked about in class it is not fare to say that one system is better or worse than another. It all depends on what a countries goals are.
Post a Comment