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Japan's Hometown Tax

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Re: Japan's Hometown Tax

#181

Post by eiaoa »

TheCoelacanth wrote: post #180
eiaoa wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Small states are slightly overrepresented in the House, radically overrepresented in the Senate and in judging electoral votes, and overrepresented at a level between those two in the Electoral College. It's only over-representation if representation must only be proportional to population. > There's no real compromise or two-sided balance there. There is a compromise and a two-sided balance: in the House, big stat…

> It's only over-representation if representation must only be proportional to population. Right, it's only over-representation if you believe that all men are created equal.

>> It's only over-representation if representation must only be proportional to population.

> Right, it's only over-representation if you believe that all men are created equal.

You're being glib and forgetting important concepts like the tyranny of the majority, etc.

Re: Japan's Hometown Tax

#182

Post by TheCoelacanth »

eiaoa wrote: post #181
TheCoelacanth wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's only over-representation if representation must only be proportional to population. Right, it's only over-representation if you believe that all men are created equal.

>> It's only over-representation if representation must only be proportional to population. > Right, it's only over-representation if you believe that all men are created equal. You're being glib and forgetting important concepts like the tyranny of the majority, etc.

Because tyranny of the minority is much better...

Re: Japan's Hometown Tax

#183

Post by southphillyman »

googlryas wrote: post #176
delinka wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are Souther Italians their own race?

Not technically but if you had 1000 naked northern and southern Italians in a room you could probably achieve an 85+% success rate in segmenting them into their respective class. Northern Italians generally look much more like Germans or Swiss - on average taller, lighter skin, lighter eye color, whereas southern Italians are much swarthier and slightly shorter, coming from many years of arab, greek, and north africa…

Perhaps this explains why Italian Americans don't really look like the Italians I see on Italian television shows? Seems most of them migrated from southern Italy/Sicily.

Re: Japan's Hometown Tax

#184

Post by dragonwriter »

eiaoa wrote: post #181
TheCoelacanth wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's only over-representation if representation must only be proportional to population. Right, it's only over-representation if you believe that all men are created equal.

>> It's only over-representation if representation must only be proportional to population. > Right, it's only over-representation if you believe that all men are created equal. You're being glib and forgetting important concepts like the tyranny of the majority, etc.

Overrepresentation of select groups doesn't prevent tyranny of the majority, it makes it more likely (and tilts which majority is likely to enjoy it), and even makes tyranny of the minority possible.

Tyranny of the majority can only be prevented by establishing norms that limit what government can do even with support of majorities in representative institutions either as absolute norms or with some things requiring a higher bar than a one-time majority (bicameralism with both houses not being elected fully simultaneously does this, requiring concurrence between branches does this, supermajority requirements for certain actions does this, Constitutional limitations with amendments requiring supermajorities of states even after legislative passage do this.)

Re: Japan's Hometown Tax

#185

Post by Pxtl »

Anybody else figure out the endgame when they saw the beginning?

"Oh crap, the hometowns just kick back a percentage to the taxpayer and suddenly Tokyo is bankrupt - as the hometowns outbid each other in a race to the bottom, eventually they lose too and it ends just being an expensive and complicated tax cut".

Reality turned out even worse, with brokers skimming off a percentage.

I suppose it's fair. In Japan, registering yourself in Delaware for bullcrap reasons isn't just for corporations anymore!

Re: Japan's Hometown Tax

#186

Post by WalterBright »

> it’s like running an e-commerce business with the special wrinkle that your customers are entirely price insensitive.

It's obviously very economically inefficient. The larger this thing grows, the more it will distort and hurt the economy.

Re: Japan's Hometown Tax

#187

Post by dsfyu404ed »

mikeash wrote: post #178
dsfyu404ed wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're over-estimating how much the federal government actively does to protect people's rights. The federal government doesn't seem concerned that the state I live in requires you to pay about $200 and get the local chief of police to sign off before you can exercise a particular right in any capacity whatsoever. Civil asset forfeiture is still a thing in many states. Some state could adopt an obviously unco…

I think you’re underestimating just how useful those weak protections still are. The increase in freedoms over the past ~50 years has been gigantic, and a huge part of that came from federal intervention. The state I live in would almost certainly still have segregation and still outlaw my marriage, for example. Consider all the crazy shit that certain states have started doing since the Supreme Court struck down the…

I'm not saying we need to dissolve the federal government, I'm saying that if a lot of the stuff currently done by the executive branch (the alphabet soup of federal agencies) was done by the states there's really wouldn't be much of a difference from the individual liberty point of view.

Re: Japan's Hometown Tax

#188

Post by eiaoa »

TheCoelacanth wrote: post #182
eiaoa wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> It's only over-representation if representation must only be proportional to population. > Right, it's only over-representation if you believe that all men are created equal. You're being glib and forgetting important concepts like the tyranny of the majority, etc.

Because tyranny of the minority is much better...

> Because tyranny of the minority is much better...

That comment is basically a repetition of your last one with no further explanation or elaboration. It's pretty clear that you have the opinion that political representation should only be proportional to population and that all other systems are bad. We can't have a discussion if you don't want to engage other ideas.

Re: Japan's Hometown Tax

#189

Post by ajmurmann »

iscrewyou wrote: post #6

What a fascinating concept. I would love to donate to my hometown and just get some raisins back as a gift once in a while. But I could really see the idea struggling through city council meetings because of the “well you could just donate to the city and then just buy some raisins on the side?”. And that’s a testament to how ideas can evolve overtime and be accepted which otherwise would never be considered.

I think the "but some raisins in the side" thing wouldn't happen, since it's a opt-in system and it's in the interest of the town to keep the relationship up and stay on your mind.

Re: Japan's Hometown Tax

#190

Post by mikeash »

dsfyu404ed wrote: post #187
mikeash wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you’re underestimating just how useful those weak protections still are. The increase in freedoms over the past ~50 years has been gigantic, and a huge part of that came from federal intervention. The state I live in would almost certainly still have segregation and still outlaw my marriage, for example. Consider all the crazy shit that certain states have started doing since the Supreme Court struck down the…

I'm not saying we need to dissolve the federal government, I'm saying that if a lot of the stuff currently done by the executive branch (the alphabet soup of federal agencies) was done by the states there's really wouldn't be much of a difference from the individual liberty point of view.

I strongly disagree. In some states that would be the case. In others, there would be enormous regression.
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