By: Zin Lee
To Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, controversy has never been news. The self-described socialist attended the Met Gala, the most glamorous red carpet in the United States, sporting a dress emblazoned with the words “TAX THE RICH” in bright red.
It’s no surprise to see the overwhelming amount of backlash on social media, her grotesque hypocrisy of enjoying the most ostentatious celebrations of capitalist excesses in a $300,000 dress while apparently opposing them is frustrating, to say the least.
Stemming from Ocasio-Cortez’s audacity, critics have been pointing out a particular fault in her stunt: taxing the rich doesn’t actually help the poor.
A report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has shown that “much of the income of wealthy households doesn’t appear on their annual tax returns, and what does appear enjoyed special tax breaks or discounted rates,” they later on reported that ”these changes would make the tax code more equitable by taxing income from wealth more like income from work.” (Ways and Means Revenue Bill Major Step Forward but Additional Steps Available, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
“Wealth is not only measured by money or income, it’s primarily measured by capital, private property, and other assets — hence, wealth redistribution is not simply redistributing money, it instead has to do with the communization of private property and the means of production” —— @itswalela on Twitter
Additionally, the tax system is not fair because it puts a greater proportional tax burden on wages than it does on investment income, the source of income for most upper class people.
Most notably, the middle class shoulder this burden because their income primarily consists of wages subjected to income, payroll, and other federal taxes. They are forced to pay a larger proportion of their income in taxes than the rich do.
The tax system has been rigged by special interests over decades. Any change to any parts of the machine will spark a cascade of unintended consequences to corporate investments, subsidies, and every aspect of our economy.
Taxing the rich is much easier said than done. It is an insufficient way to redistribute wealth as the state cannot be trusted to adequately disperse these funds into the communities that need them.
We must question the ethics of those politicians who advocate for taxing the rich, we must ask them specifically on how they’re planning on the wealth of the rich, and who they distribute it to.
They must ensure that police departments and the military will not privatize this revenue, their initiative must dismantle the systems of oppression that allowed the accumulation of obscene wealth in the first place, and for this policy to act as reparations for all victims of imperialism in and outside of the United States for all the pain the rich has inflicted upon them.
Only then can justice and equality be achieved.
such an interesting + informative article that is so relevant now, very appreciative i was able to read it!!