The capitalist class turns its financial capital into political capital. It’s not the only way they gain political power, but it’s a major one. The less capital they have, the less political power they can buy.
The capitalist class controls the productive forces, what gives it political power is their command of the industry and finance, which would not diminish if they were taxed.
Also the bourgeois state is entirely built by the capitalist class and serves as their tool, and the taxes they pay would go primarily towards maintaining the capitalist system and suppressing liberation movements at home and abroad.
Of course, capitalists don’t want to pay for that out of their pocket and much prefer for the working class to foot the bill, but if the push comes to shove I’m pretty sure they’d find ways to get their dollars worth from the taxes they pay.
Taxing billionaires is good, especially if it’s done to put reigns on austerity, but it does not challenge the way capitalists are entrenched in the liberal government.
Tax money, like employment they provide, becomes another political leverage. It does not reduce the power the capitalist class can exert on the political system.
If you scare the state enough, the wealth that the richest capitalists have is distributed down, hopefully more of it ending up as real wealth and services for workers. By itself, taxation also can just be shuffling money to different billionaires (see: carbon tax credits and other green capitalism tax schemes)
Exactly. If pressured, govt might use that money for welfare although likely most of it will go into military industrial complex anyway. But taxes are not a way of reducing the political power of the capitalist class.
Edit: I’m not arguing against taxation. Better to tax them then not to. But their political influence will not diminish with taxation, if anything they will have more pull by threats of moving elsewhere. Again, definitely do tax them, and the more of it goes to workers the better, but this does not challenge the political system.
please explain how taxation reduces political power of the capitalist class
The capitalist class turns its financial capital into political capital. It’s not the only way they gain political power, but it’s a major one. The less capital they have, the less political power they can buy.
The capitalist class controls the productive forces, what gives it political power is their command of the industry and finance, which would not diminish if they were taxed.
Also the bourgeois state is entirely built by the capitalist class and serves as their tool, and the taxes they pay would go primarily towards maintaining the capitalist system and suppressing liberation movements at home and abroad.
Of course, capitalists don’t want to pay for that out of their pocket and much prefer for the working class to foot the bill, but if the push comes to shove I’m pretty sure they’d find ways to get their dollars worth from the taxes they pay.
Taxing billionaires is good, especially if it’s done to put reigns on austerity, but it does not challenge the way capitalists are entrenched in the liberal government.
Tax money, like employment they provide, becomes another political leverage. It does not reduce the power the capitalist class can exert on the political system.
If you scare the state enough, the wealth that the richest capitalists have is distributed down, hopefully more of it ending up as real wealth and services for workers. By itself, taxation also can just be shuffling money to different billionaires (see: carbon tax credits and other green capitalism tax schemes)
Exactly. If pressured, govt might use that money for welfare although likely most of it will go into military industrial complex anyway. But taxes are not a way of reducing the political power of the capitalist class.
Edit: I’m not arguing against taxation. Better to tax them then not to. But their political influence will not diminish with taxation, if anything they will have more pull by threats of moving elsewhere. Again, definitely do tax them, and the more of it goes to workers the better, but this does not challenge the political system.