Dan,

>>I know that the redistribution of income bothers the right wing since they see it as counter to things like individual initiative. But for most people in a society and society in general income redistribution is a good thing. One might say the great equalizer.

>Hmmm...you might want to ponder why Communism has failed spectacularly everywhere it has been tried. And ask yourself this: are you willing to put in extra hours to support someone else that isn't able to? That, at the basic level, is income redistribution.

Note the change I made above. At one extreme you've got communism, the other is extreme capitalism. Now there is something in the middle here. Somthing that is practised in much of europe.

Extreme capitalism is not working anymore that extreme communism. I'm willing to pay taxes to support the ones who are not working for valid reasons:

- The elderly (65+) who build up this country from the ashes of WWII
- The ones who are mentally or physicall disabled
- The ones who lost their job without their fault for a limited time

I do this in the hope that if I or one of my family members (my parents are above 65) have to hold their hands up for valid reasons then they will be taken care off.

You and some other fellow americans stress the point that they don't want to pay for those who are not willing to work. Regardless of what you think, those people still exist in the US and will always exist no matter what income they get from the government. If they don't get any, they still will get their money to live somehow. Personally I would not like to walk on the streets alone where a high concentration of those people live.

Of course, we have those people as well, but with an unemployment rate of 6% and about 2% of all positions that cannot be filled because of shortages of skilled craftsmen, I would not say that the situation up here is any worse than yours. Even here, no-one really wants to be unemployed. You'll receive an income temporary depending on your working history.

But paying taxes is not all about paying for others, also for infrastructure of all kinds, healthcare, compensation in case of disasters, etc.

I pay taxes, much more than the average american, but I have no illusion that I'll be better off withouth those taxes. You live in a different world where people seem to live for getting a much as possible pleasure out of getting as much money as possible. In my world we strive for a world where we derive happiness out of the things we see arround us, not so much individual wealth. I'm happy to know that my government will do as much as possible (of course we have to poke them sometimes), to provide us services that keep us happy as much as possible.

To make an odd comment here, but IMO certainly valid: I have more faith in the government to provide a honest and equal society, than leave it up to selfish individuals.

Walter,