The Tax Structure People often cannot understand why Americans
vote against their self interest. Some claim that Americans
imagine that someday they will be in the upper classes and they
don’t want to face the higher tax rates. In fact it’s much
simpler. - They cannot imagine what the rich people really make.
- They don’t understand the difference between income from your
labor and income from your investments. Investment income, money
making money is not familiar to people who labored for
generations. - When the tax rates are discussed, the first
thought is: ” Wow, 35% of what you earn, that’s not fair”. They
imagine their meager income in the blank, since they cannot
imagine the rich American’s income from #1 above. Empathy is not
for the rich person, the leap is made to their meager income. -
They don’t understand arithmetic. Most people have a hard time
figuring out a tip in a restaurant, understanding taxation
arithmetic is horrifying. - They don’t get the nuance that the
higher rates are applied to an a