The chinese gov't also funds those things - but just not via taxes collected from people's incomes. They collect "profit" off foreign exports, debase the local currency to pay for it.
> taxing individuals directly begets the familiar resentment
but on the other hand, taxing individuals means those individuals should have some say over what taxation gets spent on (in theory), where as an authoritarian regime can simply ignore the populous.
I still think taxing individuals are better, despite it being slower and less agile at adapting.
Well, when you explain it like that, of course I have to agree.
Maybe 20 years ago I had the very clever original idea ( /s ) of allowing tax payers some autonomy over how to allocate at least some of their taxes. Like maybe I could earmark 5% of what I pay towards public school lunchs and restoring habitat for wild salmon.
I'm sure it's a terrible idea. Any more, I just want some experts to survey known tax regimes, summarize their pros and cons. Somehow ground this evergreen slap fight so we're not stuck rehashing what color to paint the bikeshed.
Who pays for all that stuff in China?