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When I hear about an unfair form of government tax that affects people who run their own business, where in their first couple of years of trading, their profits can be taxed twice, I feel very riled. It feels utterly unjust, downright dishonest. And this deeply stirs my resentment.
(Traders are able to reclaim the overlapping double tax, when they cease trading - when they stop running the business. Years down the line, when inflation has rendered the money worth much less. And the promise that they'll pay you back in a few years time doesn't mean much when you're trying to feed a family.)
It doesn't affect me financially at all.
It doesn't really surprise me as such.
However, the sense of injustice and dishonesty are fairly powerful.
In contrast, I can look at some of the mass killings and oppression in the world, and although rationally it's obviously worse, it doesn't emotionally connect with me so powerfully.
Watching films, you can see hollywood villains who do worse than tax people a bit unfairly, but still you don't 'hate' them, and in many ways kind of look up to them.
I observe similar feelings in most other people.
What's going on here?
(Traders are able to reclaim the overlapping double tax, when they cease trading - when they stop running the business. Years down the line, when inflation has rendered the money worth much less. And the promise that they'll pay you back in a few years time doesn't mean much when you're trying to feed a family.)
It doesn't affect me financially at all.
It doesn't really surprise me as such.
However, the sense of injustice and dishonesty are fairly powerful.
In contrast, I can look at some of the mass killings and oppression in the world, and although rationally it's obviously worse, it doesn't emotionally connect with me so powerfully.
Watching films, you can see hollywood villains who do worse than tax people a bit unfairly, but still you don't 'hate' them, and in many ways kind of look up to them.
I observe similar feelings in most other people.
What's going on here?
To me, this is similar to finding things funny, or not. I find that if I want to laugh at something, no matter how crude or politically incorrect it is, I can.
The same goes for compassion, empathy: if I want to feel the suffering, so to speak, I can. All it takes is imagination and a serious mindset. When emotional responses involve strangers and distance, I'd say there's always an On or Off switch.
It's the same with expressing opinions: do I believe what I've just thought up? For a moment perhaps. After that, I shrug.
The same goes for compassion, empathy: if I want to feel the suffering, so to speak, I can. All it takes is imagination and a serious mindset. When emotional responses involve strangers and distance, I'd say there's always an On or Off switch.
It's the same with expressing opinions: do I believe what I've just thought up? For a moment perhaps. After that, I shrug.
Proximity may be part of it. But I think I get similar reactions (to a lesser extent) when I hear about it happening overseas too.
For an analogy, obviously the Virginia Tech shooting was an atrocity. However, I feel sad about it, but not monumentally moved, and not really angry at the killer - just sad. But whenever Bush does something slimey, I tend to have quite a strong emotional disgust.
Israeli soldiers use live ammo to shoot Palestinian kids who were throwing stones at them (immediately after using rubber ammo on the media reporters filming the confrontation) - not that big an emotional pang.
Media-puppet Israeli soldier chick tries to justify it saying 'a stone can be a deadly weapon', and I want to smash faces and wring necks.
Perhaps the key is hypocrasy.
You brutalise people honestly, and it provokes a smaller response.
You abuse a position of trust and power and lie and manipulate, and the dishonesty and betralay trips and anger switch.
Maybe it's cognitive dissonance too - you create a situation of bare-faced inconsistency between the ideals and principles you pretend to support, and your actions, then vacuously insist the inconsistency isn't there, it creates cognitive dissonance, and to restore order the brain tries to overcome with *Hulk smash* behaviour patterns.
Given the nature of instinctive ('hard-wired') behaviour patterns, I think that might be a very significant factor.
Garin wrote:
> Also, I'm curious what double taxing you're referring to?
Having reflected on it, as usual, it's only 'half-dishonest' - the government have left themselves enough wiggle-room to create a slightly convoluted justification for it that you can't prove beyond reasonable doubt to be dishonest.
(This was an important technique in the war thing too - 'we *believed* they had WMDs, I promise, look at this untennable thesis evidence that you can't prove we didn't rely on', 'resolution whatever it was says there will be repercussions, and if you twist those words not quite completely out of context, that means everyone gave consent to us bombing them'.)
This increases the frustration - being able to see the immoral trickery, but being unable to pin it down in a perfectly conclusive proof.
For an analogy, obviously the Virginia Tech shooting was an atrocity. However, I feel sad about it, but not monumentally moved, and not really angry at the killer - just sad. But whenever Bush does something slimey, I tend to have quite a strong emotional disgust.
Israeli soldiers use live ammo to shoot Palestinian kids who were throwing stones at them (immediately after using rubber ammo on the media reporters filming the confrontation) - not that big an emotional pang.
Media-puppet Israeli soldier chick tries to justify it saying 'a stone can be a deadly weapon', and I want to smash faces and wring necks.
Perhaps the key is hypocrasy.
You brutalise people honestly, and it provokes a smaller response.
You abuse a position of trust and power and lie and manipulate, and the dishonesty and betralay trips and anger switch.
Maybe it's cognitive dissonance too - you create a situation of bare-faced inconsistency between the ideals and principles you pretend to support, and your actions, then vacuously insist the inconsistency isn't there, it creates cognitive dissonance, and to restore order the brain tries to overcome with *Hulk smash* behaviour patterns.
Given the nature of instinctive ('hard-wired') behaviour patterns, I think that might be a very significant factor.
Garin wrote:
> Also, I'm curious what double taxing you're referring to?
Having reflected on it, as usual, it's only 'half-dishonest' - the government have left themselves enough wiggle-room to create a slightly convoluted justification for it that you can't prove beyond reasonable doubt to be dishonest.
(This was an important technique in the war thing too - 'we *believed* they had WMDs, I promise, look at this untennable thesis evidence that you can't prove we didn't rely on', 'resolution whatever it was says there will be repercussions, and if you twist those words not quite completely out of context, that means everyone gave consent to us bombing them'.)
This increases the frustration - being able to see the immoral trickery, but being unable to pin it down in a perfectly conclusive proof.
Ron Jeremy has changed the world, he's made it sexier/hairier/uglier*
*Delete according to taste
*Delete according to taste
Nin wrote:
> It's something to do with having a pennis and believing you can
> change the world.
You mean like Ron Jeremy?
> It's something to do with having a pennis and believing you can
> change the world.
You mean like Ron Jeremy?
It's because you're a bad person.
But seriously, I don't know. I don't think I can ever guage how much something like this annoys/upsets/angers me... I think it's just different for every case.
I guess for this issue it's partly the hypocritical side of politicians that are actually elected officials. They bang on about helping the economy, but what have we here? Screwing over small businesses, but they're happy to give tax breaks to big companies...
Mass killings and oppression are obviously far worse, but I suppose if you feel powerless to be able to do anything about a situation, you detatch yourself from it more... So yeah, what Nin said... i-Pens and stuff.
But seriously, I don't know. I don't think I can ever guage how much something like this annoys/upsets/angers me... I think it's just different for every case.
I guess for this issue it's partly the hypocritical side of politicians that are actually elected officials. They bang on about helping the economy, but what have we here? Screwing over small businesses, but they're happy to give tax breaks to big companies...
Mass killings and oppression are obviously far worse, but I suppose if you feel powerless to be able to do anything about a situation, you detatch yourself from it more... So yeah, what Nin said... i-Pens and stuff.
Its difficult to generalise with such specific examples I suppose. I suspect it comes down to empathy though. Its far easier to have emapthy for things around you even if you're not directly involved. As terrible as all the death and destruction in the world is, you're disconnected from most of it so its far harder to have a more personal response.
Also, I'm curious what double taxing you're referring to?
Also, I'm curious what double taxing you're referring to?
It's something to do with having a pennis and believing you can change the world. Conflict resolution something or other i think. Thats why women arent supposed to get as angry at injustice.
Pfft, that word shouldnt have to be edited.
Pfft, that word shouldnt have to be edited.
When I hear about an unfair form of government tax that affects people who run their own business, where in their first couple of years of trading, their profits can be taxed twice, I feel very riled. It feels utterly unjust, downright dishonest. And this deeply stirs my resentment.
(Traders are able to reclaim the overlapping double tax, when they cease trading - when they stop running the business. Years down the line, when inflation has rendered the money worth much less. And the promise that they'll pay you back in a few years time doesn't mean much when you're trying to feed a family.)
It doesn't affect me financially at all.
It doesn't really surprise me as such.
However, the sense of injustice and dishonesty are fairly powerful.
In contrast, I can look at some of the mass killings and oppression in the world, and although rationally it's obviously worse, it doesn't emotionally connect with me so powerfully.
Watching films, you can see hollywood villains who do worse than tax people a bit unfairly, but still you don't 'hate' them, and in many ways kind of look up to them.
I observe similar feelings in most other people.
What's going on here?
(Traders are able to reclaim the overlapping double tax, when they cease trading - when they stop running the business. Years down the line, when inflation has rendered the money worth much less. And the promise that they'll pay you back in a few years time doesn't mean much when you're trying to feed a family.)
It doesn't affect me financially at all.
It doesn't really surprise me as such.
However, the sense of injustice and dishonesty are fairly powerful.
In contrast, I can look at some of the mass killings and oppression in the world, and although rationally it's obviously worse, it doesn't emotionally connect with me so powerfully.
Watching films, you can see hollywood villains who do worse than tax people a bit unfairly, but still you don't 'hate' them, and in many ways kind of look up to them.
I observe similar feelings in most other people.
What's going on here?