Steven, you are refering to value add tax with that "employment tax". There
is no resistance for value add tax in europe and it is commonly ca. 20%.
Many people however argue that the proportion should be increased because it
is unethical to tax incomes. Some even think that all tax revenues should be
taken from value add tax. So perhaps we have different cultture in this side
of Atlantic Ocean.
Robots add value for the economy. For sure we can tax it!
Automation increases leisure time due to productivity incresement. We should
enjoy it, not to oppose it.
I think that opposition for taxes in America is because the government of
America is so socialistic, that far too large portion of tax incomes goes
for military and government bureaucracy and thus they are not supporting the
economy. But e.g. in Denmark total tax rate is more than 50%, but it's
burden for economy is negligible because most of the money is returned to
the free markets, because they are used to boost purchasing power of those
who need economic support in order to be good consumers for capitalists.
In pure and ideal basic income economy, all tax revenues are returned to the
markets boosting purchasing power of consumers, therefore economic burden of
taxes is zero and no one has no economic reasons to oppose taxes.
—Jouni
On Sep 27, 2011 1:30 AM, "OrionWorks - Steven V Johnson" <
svj.orionwo...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Jouni sez:
>
>>> This article references Martin Ford's "Lights in the Tunnel" which was
>>> discussed here.
>>
>> I have not yet read the article, but one short comment about the topic.
>>
>> That robots are stealing our jobs is not an issue, because we can tax
>> robots and give money to the poor as a basic income.
>>
>> Robots may steal our McJobs, but they will not steal our money.
>
> Say what????
>
> "...tax robots???"
>
> Robots will never earn any income. They are slaves. You can't tax
> income from slaves that never earn income.
>
> It will have to be the corporations that all of these "employ" robots
> that will have to be taxed with an "employment tax". Unfortunately,
> and particularly within the United States, you can be sure American
> corporations will resist paying "employment taxes". Super conservative
> political organizations like the Tea Party organization will have
> nothing to do with it.
>
> Nevertheless, governments will have to go after corporations that have
> systematically thrown out employees in favor of "employing" robots
> that don't need to be paid and don't need expensive health insurance.
> Governments will need to institute some kind of a reasonably fair
> "employment tax" system that these corporations must pay.
>
> Unfortunately, I suspect most corporations and will vehemently resist
> any of these kinds of taxation measures. From their POV why would any
> corporation in their right mind want to be taxed in order to generate
> income for someone else that from their perspective contributes
> nothing to the value of their company.
>
> Such a perception is, of course, extremely short sighted. By not
> paying any kind of "employment taxes" these corporations will
> essentially sign our country's economic death warrant. They will end
> up eating their own young and all of us along with them. Too many
> unemployed will continue to remain unemployed, unable buy any of the
> very products and services that these corporations now produce through
> robotics and artificial intelligence. The will end up signing their
> own corporate death sentences.
>
> Hopefully, smarter heads than those running conservative organizations
> like the Tea Party movement will eventually prevail. Hopefully enough
> will see the light at the end of the tunnel. So far, however, nobody
> seems to be willing to look at these issues for what they is. As such,
> I have serious concerns.
>
> This employment/taxation issue is discussed in the book by Martin
> Ford, "Lights in the Tunnel"
>
> Regards
> Steven Vincent Johnson
> www.OrionWorks.com
> www.zazzle.com/orionworks
>
