Education, for all of its bubbly goodness, does have one advantage.
It isn't taxable and it cannot be confiscated.
I've often thought about this in that while I don't trust 401k plans or IRA's until there's a balanced budget, I try to find other investments that are not "confiscatable" or "taxable." Consumer items like bullets, booze, even cars are starting to provide more of a store of value than an investment, but education is also one of these "investments" that not only will maintain its value, but unless you convert it into earnings, it cannot be confiscated or repossessed. This allows you to mete out however much labor you wish to maintain however low a tax rate you want.
A point made more clearly here (replete with charty goodness).
9 comments:
A giant debt that can't be discharged through bankruptcy is worse than a tax, for all that it's voluntarily assumed.
Why can't education be taxed?
It's rather like an inventory tax. And hard to evade. A surtax not on the wealthy but on the educated. 10% of income for every year of post secondary education, for instance. It would be kind of an inverted means test. What a good idea, Aaron! Which will be the first state to institute it?
And fair? It would be a way for The STATE to gain a regular income from its investment in student education.
It's so rare to see an original taxation idea!
Yup, and while we're at it, after taxing education we should fortify our borders.
Because we don't want those pesky engineers, farmers and craftsmen leaving our lovely country, do we?
That's why I've encouraged my home-schooled children to get college education ONLY if it is necessary to achieve a specific goal that you have, AND only if it can be done without debt or with certain payback (e.g. trade school). Otherwise, not a good investment. Spend those 2-4 years working hard with purpose and you'll be much farther ahead in life.
One kid finished 2 year community college at age 19 without debt, and is in IT making $35K/year (at 19 years old).
Another kid is in sales making big bucks, on commision of course, at 21 years old. He works hard.
Both are adults - with adult attitudes and responsibilities, AND without debt.
Most kids their age are still children - living at home/college, racking up debt, sponging off parents, working part time JOBS (not careers).
College or not the problem is that we aren't preparing our children to be ADULTS that take responsibility for their future.
But education is HEAVILY subsidized (I know about India.
So, education is one of the major causes of Taxation. Some other causes are Roads, Trains, Defense, Police,Health ....
Taxes cannot be eliminated until Individuals give up their love for Subsidies.
I feel private schooling, home schooling and in fact UnSchooling is the way.
Srila Prabhupada's teachings on women and anti-feminism
http://prabhupadawomen.wordpress.com/
The purpose of this essay is to address the issue of feminism and misandry (hatred of men, the opposite of misogyny) and how it has destroyed modern society. We will be analyzing many of the statements made by Srila Prabhupada about women, their role in society, and the anti-feminism stance of his teachings.
Yeah, but get married and your ex wife can extract the benefits of that education from you as alimony and/or child support.
Government extracts that benefit through progressive taxation.
All other benefits to others are pecuniary, I.e. they either pay you for your skills or provide a service to you for your income.
The bad things about education are:
a) so much education is little more than leftist indoctrination (and hence is less than worthless),
b) education, particularly in technical fields has a short shelf life.
Not to argue, but it seems odd to me that one can fear a 401k being disappeared into the government,... and on the other hand invest in something like a car because it holds value.
It only holds value (beyond your use) because someone both wants it, and has the means to buy it from you should you sell it.
If the government should disappear large amounts of wealth, then whatever you own that you might expect others to buy at todays prices would be immediately devalued too since their ability to pay what it was worth today is diminished.
inelastic goods, food, bullets (I like, but mine seem to keep being consumed as it is), wood, the basics, or tools to help you obtain them when chaos explodes.
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