Neo liberalism promised a better economy - by economy Milton Friedman meant more money - this of course isnt the definition of economy . An economy is the mechanism to deliver goods and services people need (to survive) Neo liberalism has failed in this with stagnant real wages and increasing gap between wealthy and poor with increasing debt on workers and governments and decreasing social services .
Tax is the ONLY way to fix this increasing wealth gap. they managed to increase tax after world war II when all the western countries were in dire straights but now they are back in competition they arent interested . But its more than that , todays politicians seem unwilling to impose tax on the very wealthy to redistribute wealth under neo liberalism, maybe they are captured by the ruling capitalist class.
But history shows theyve had trouble in the past . people selfishly dnt want to part with their money. As post on Quora ;
Back in the 17th and 18th centuries, England had this thing called the Window Tax.
The idea was, the more windows you had, the richer you were, so you should pay more.
But folks back then weren't too keen on forking over their hard-earned cash.
So, what did they do?
They started bricking up them windows.
Imagine living in a house with barely any natural light?
Dark, damp, and downright depressing.
Wasn't just the poor folks who suffered either.
Even the fancy lords and ladies had to sacrifice a few windows to save a few shillings.
Some buildings ended up looking like they'd been in a brawl, with mismatched bricks and boarded-up holes where windows used to be.
The tax collectors weren't too happy about this, either.
They had to go around counting windows, which wasn't exactly a walk in the park.
Some folks would get creative, trying to trick the taxman with fake windows or those hidden ones.
The Window Tax actually ended up hurting public health.
With less sunlight and fresh air, diseases like tuberculosis spread like wildfire.
The classic case of unintended consequences.
Eventually, the Window Tax got repealed in 1851, but its legacy lives on.
You can still see bricked-up windows on old buildings in England, a reminder of a time when the government tried to tax the very light out of people's lives.
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