SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Demonizing Taxes, Heightening Inequality
Apr 19, 2011
Yesterday was Tax Day in the US, and that's almost universally greeted with groans and complaints. That tax word's been so effectively demonized that it may be there's no coming back. Is it time for a new word?
Some research by Duke University's Dan Ariely suggests it might be.
Ariely's study showed that Americans actually want a more equitable society--in fact, they think they have one. When asked to identify their homeland from a list of nations described only by their level of equality--a majority of those polled picked Sweden, thinking it was the US. When asked to create their ideal society, Democrats, Republicans, men and women, the rich and the poor all created a distribution of wealth that is much more equal than the one we've got.
All that "social mobility, low inequality" stuff--Americans love it. They just don't have it. In fact, social mobility here's been shrivelling, as the wealth gap's been opening up.
There are only a few ways to get that more equal distribution: government investment (benefits and services) corporate action (paying people more) or redistribution: taking from each according to their means, to help the whole. We call that tax.
Yet according to Ariely, the very same people who expressed an ardent wish for an equal society have an highly averse reaction to the word tax. Why, he wondered, recently, to National Public Radio.
It's not so hard to figure out. Day in day out, when you hear taxes mentioned, what's the context? Social citizenship? Tools of an equal society? Or is it rather all about how heavy the burden is, how overtaxed Americans are. The Taxman, the IRS--the first public workers our media teach us to hate.
There are taxes to hate--taxes that go to give a blank check to the military, or tax credits for corporations that export American jobs. But the truth is, taxes on the rich have done nothing but fall since the Reagan years. And inequality's only gotten bigger.
What's the money media's stake in all this? It's hardly hidden. Remember that GE tax refund for $3.2 billion? The co-owner of NBC and MSNBC isn't alone either. Time Warner and News Corp, owners of CNN and Fox, are also on a list of the biggest corporate tax avoiders.
When you hear that news story about how tax day is no fun, remember that you're actually paying more than the company behind the news. And remember who it was who taught you to hate taxes. And if you come up with a new word, let us know?
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
© 2023 Laura Flanders
Laura Flanders
Laura Flanders interviews forward-thinking people about the key questions of our time on The Laura Flanders Show, a nationally syndicated radio and television program also available as a podcast. A contributing writer to The Nation, Flanders is also the author of six books, including "Bushwomen: How They Won the White House for Their Man" (2005). She is the recipient of a 2019 Izzy Award for excellence in independent journalism, the Pat Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award for advancing women's and girls' visibility in media, and a 2020 Lannan Cultural Freedom Fellowship for her reporting and advocacy for public media. lauraflanders.org
Yesterday was Tax Day in the US, and that's almost universally greeted with groans and complaints. That tax word's been so effectively demonized that it may be there's no coming back. Is it time for a new word?
Some research by Duke University's Dan Ariely suggests it might be.
Ariely's study showed that Americans actually want a more equitable society--in fact, they think they have one. When asked to identify their homeland from a list of nations described only by their level of equality--a majority of those polled picked Sweden, thinking it was the US. When asked to create their ideal society, Democrats, Republicans, men and women, the rich and the poor all created a distribution of wealth that is much more equal than the one we've got.
All that "social mobility, low inequality" stuff--Americans love it. They just don't have it. In fact, social mobility here's been shrivelling, as the wealth gap's been opening up.
There are only a few ways to get that more equal distribution: government investment (benefits and services) corporate action (paying people more) or redistribution: taking from each according to their means, to help the whole. We call that tax.
Yet according to Ariely, the very same people who expressed an ardent wish for an equal society have an highly averse reaction to the word tax. Why, he wondered, recently, to National Public Radio.
It's not so hard to figure out. Day in day out, when you hear taxes mentioned, what's the context? Social citizenship? Tools of an equal society? Or is it rather all about how heavy the burden is, how overtaxed Americans are. The Taxman, the IRS--the first public workers our media teach us to hate.
There are taxes to hate--taxes that go to give a blank check to the military, or tax credits for corporations that export American jobs. But the truth is, taxes on the rich have done nothing but fall since the Reagan years. And inequality's only gotten bigger.
What's the money media's stake in all this? It's hardly hidden. Remember that GE tax refund for $3.2 billion? The co-owner of NBC and MSNBC isn't alone either. Time Warner and News Corp, owners of CNN and Fox, are also on a list of the biggest corporate tax avoiders.
When you hear that news story about how tax day is no fun, remember that you're actually paying more than the company behind the news. And remember who it was who taught you to hate taxes. And if you come up with a new word, let us know?
Laura Flanders
Laura Flanders interviews forward-thinking people about the key questions of our time on The Laura Flanders Show, a nationally syndicated radio and television program also available as a podcast. A contributing writer to The Nation, Flanders is also the author of six books, including "Bushwomen: How They Won the White House for Their Man" (2005). She is the recipient of a 2019 Izzy Award for excellence in independent journalism, the Pat Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award for advancing women's and girls' visibility in media, and a 2020 Lannan Cultural Freedom Fellowship for her reporting and advocacy for public media. lauraflanders.org
Yesterday was Tax Day in the US, and that's almost universally greeted with groans and complaints. That tax word's been so effectively demonized that it may be there's no coming back. Is it time for a new word?
Some research by Duke University's Dan Ariely suggests it might be.
Ariely's study showed that Americans actually want a more equitable society--in fact, they think they have one. When asked to identify their homeland from a list of nations described only by their level of equality--a majority of those polled picked Sweden, thinking it was the US. When asked to create their ideal society, Democrats, Republicans, men and women, the rich and the poor all created a distribution of wealth that is much more equal than the one we've got.
All that "social mobility, low inequality" stuff--Americans love it. They just don't have it. In fact, social mobility here's been shrivelling, as the wealth gap's been opening up.
There are only a few ways to get that more equal distribution: government investment (benefits and services) corporate action (paying people more) or redistribution: taking from each according to their means, to help the whole. We call that tax.
Yet according to Ariely, the very same people who expressed an ardent wish for an equal society have an highly averse reaction to the word tax. Why, he wondered, recently, to National Public Radio.
It's not so hard to figure out. Day in day out, when you hear taxes mentioned, what's the context? Social citizenship? Tools of an equal society? Or is it rather all about how heavy the burden is, how overtaxed Americans are. The Taxman, the IRS--the first public workers our media teach us to hate.
There are taxes to hate--taxes that go to give a blank check to the military, or tax credits for corporations that export American jobs. But the truth is, taxes on the rich have done nothing but fall since the Reagan years. And inequality's only gotten bigger.
What's the money media's stake in all this? It's hardly hidden. Remember that GE tax refund for $3.2 billion? The co-owner of NBC and MSNBC isn't alone either. Time Warner and News Corp, owners of CNN and Fox, are also on a list of the biggest corporate tax avoiders.
When you hear that news story about how tax day is no fun, remember that you're actually paying more than the company behind the news. And remember who it was who taught you to hate taxes. And if you come up with a new word, let us know?
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.