Saturday, November 18, 2017

The system cheaters

We all know that gaping loopholes exist in the international tax set up, with wide variations between tax regimes in different countries and many low-tax or no-tax havens.  These can be exploited by those with enough money to pay the very expensive tax planners, accountants and lawyers who feed off this. It means that the rich and powerful pay far less tax than they should, and one result of that is there is far less available to help feed the poor of the world.  This system of global tax evasion exacerbates inequality and deprives governments of resources that could be used to benefit the public.

An estimated $8.7 trillion—10 percent of world’s GDP—is currently stashed offshore, almost all of it belonging to the richest 0.1% of households. According to a 2016 study, the United States alone loses $111 billion in taxes each year due to this practice. 

That billions of dollars in wealth is stowed away in the Caribbean and elsewhere while every day families struggle to feed themselves is an injustice. But it is the system.

Many workers believe their antagonists are working people of colour and immigrants, rather than the wealthy capitalists who control their lives. Many members of the working-class tend to believe welfare benefit recipients are cheating the system—especially if they happen to be non-white and foreign.   By stoking racism and xenophobia the wealthy and powerful are able to protect their interests by redirecting anger towards the 'outsiders'. There are free riders in our economic system—people who have never known a hard day’s work and who enjoy its benefits who leech off the system, designed to cater to their every whim. They are the capitalist class and they must be overthrown.

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