It is a curious phenomenon in life that for some people all that is required to understand the world, is an enemy, someone to point to, someone to blame. This thread OP is an example of the irrational nonsense that passes as thought. It used to be devils or pagans or Jews or Catholics, today it is immigrants, liberals, Muslims, government and oddly taxes. These things hardly change which makes the phenom even more interesting, how is it that the complexity of life can be boiled down to a simple finger pointing? Each in-group blames the out group, makes everything so simple.
The February 'Harpers' had a fascinating excerpt on 'The elusive American Century' By Andrew J. Bacevich ( See Video: [ame]http://www.amazon.com/The-Short-American-Century-Postmortem/dp/0674064453/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8[/ame]) that outlines the real circumstances behind certain times for the rational reader on USMB. As far as groupthink goes, consider quote below, from a book read long ago, but still relevant to modern time. Also see quotes on taxes, as that topic is tiring and boring.
If you like small government move to Somalia, government is small there. Let us know how it is there.
"The main hypothesis concerning group-think is this: The more amiability and esprit de corps among the members of the in-group of policy makers the greater the danger that independent thinking will be replaced by group-think, which is likely to result in irrational and dehumanizing actions directed at out-groups." from 'Sanctions for Evil;' Sanford and Comstock, 1971
"On moral grounds, then, we could argue for a flat income tax of 90 percent to return that wealth to its real owners. In the United States, even a flat tax of 70 percent would support all governmental programs (about half the total tax) and allow payment, with the remainder, of a patrimony of about $8,000 per annum per inhabitant, or $25,000 for a family of three. This would generously leave with the original recipients of the income about three times what, according to my rough guess, they had earned."
UBI and the Flat Tax
"There is no historical evidence that tax cuts spur economic growth. The highest period of growth in U.S. history (1933-1973) also saw its highest tax rates on the rich: 70 to 91 percent. During this period, the general tax rate climbed as well, but it reached a plateau in 1969, and growth slowed down five years later. Almost all rich nations have higher general taxes than the U.S., and they are growing faster as well."
Tax cuts spur economic growth
The Idolatry of Ideology-Why Tax Cuts Hurt the Economy by Russ Beaton
Spending Cuts Vs. Tax Increases at the State Level, 10/30/01
The rich get rich because of their merit.
http://www.usmessageboard.com/education/126617-reagan-and-taxes.html
