punishing the rich

i don’t often read the newspaper, or watch the news, but sometimes inbetween reading my books i pick up a newspaper simply to read something quick during my lunch break. this week, the big story is how the australian government is rearranging taxes, superannuation payments, medical benefits and other financial benefits to its citizens in exchange for our votes.

i’m afraid i’m a bit of a noob when it comes to that kind of thing. i find financial matters are probably the single most virulent cause of headaches, migraine and stress in the world and i try my best to avoid such promotors of pain and concentrate on the issues which matter, like satisfaction and overall cheerfulness in relation to life. not a very easy task, i grant you, in this modern world obsessed with cash – and, let’s face it, who can escape the desire to hold squillions in their fists and the dream of purchasing our own island?

nevertheless, i was intrigued by an article in the newspaper which attempted to point out the evils of one of the government’s decisions – that of means testing the private health insurance rebate. this means that dentist frank furfaro (according to the story) whose income “tops $150,000 a year” will now lose his 30 per cent private health insurance rebate. he reckons this is punishing high-income earners.

well.

i was reading this, and i was thinking how nice it must be to be able to complain about such things. as someone earning only $40K a year and knowing it will probably never be more than this, i certainly wouldn’t mind being “punished” by earning $150K a year.

perhaps i’m over-simplifying things, but i’m always a little annoyed at how much high-earners whine about paying taxes. i don’t get any loopholes. i don’t get any ways out so i can get my taxes back. i can’t even afford private health care to begin with. so i fail to see why these people think they have a right to spend their money on their luxuries and benefits whilst claiming tax benefits for doing so. the whole point of earning higher levels of money than the rest of us is so they could spend it on these things, not so they could get more free stuff. i’ve always believed tax incentives should be offered to those with low incomes than with high. high incomes – what do they need more money for? don’t they feel they have enough? even i, on my meagre $40K salary (yay, retail manager position), feel i have mostly what i need. i can afford a few books, a few cds, a few movies, and some nights out with my wife. i can afford the rent (just), and the bills which swing my way. i feel someone earning more than three times my wage can probably do a lot better so they have very little to complain about. so, the government taxes them? great. they tax me, too, and i bet it hurts me more when they do. for frank, it means he may not be able to buy himself another luxury item (boat, car, house in the bahamas), yet for me, it means i may not be able to afford many vegetables – as fruit and vegetables are obviously priced toward the high income earners who no doubt get some kind of tax benefit for purchasing them, so as far as i can see he’s still doing a damn sight better than i am.

perhaps i’m a complete communist, but i notice in elite sports they have a thing called a salary cap. players’ salaries are capped at a certain level and then they’re very closely monitored to be sure they don’t earn too much. great idea. fantastic. makes everyone feel a little more equal on the field, i guess, and makes for good balanced teams across the sport. it just amazes me, then, that the managers and owners of these sports don’t implement such a salary cap on themselves. if it’s good enough for the slugs, then it should be good enough for them. i wonder what would happen if all jobs had a salary cap, not just a minimum wage. what the hell do these people do with that much money, anyway? the obsession with having squillions – to buy what?

my wife and i are happy buying a dvd and spending the night watching it. these high-earners must have some very bizarre and expensive definitions of happiness.

i wonder if it’s worth it.

story from the west australian newspaper.

Tags: home, money