Comments by Ivan Kirigin

what, does Arc auto-remove vowels?

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Those that receive that currency as pay will find it valuable, as will those who want to provide services to them.

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I came up with a scheme that is un-dodgeable (kinda). Print money to pay expenditures, and limit expenditures to keep inflation in check. The tax is implicit, so you can't avoid it. Those holding the currency can't help but give a percentage of the value to the government. It's perfectly flat too.

The only way to get around it is to operate in another currency. But if there are any expenditures at all, they are going to pay someone in the currency, and need to be spent somewhere. This would work best with minimal government expenditures to minimize the motivation to avoid using the currency.

It would be pretty easy to make the implicit tax small enough to not only discourage avoiding the currency, but actually make the currency more stable than others tied to governments that don't know how to control spending.

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Ohh, another idea: if there is a single dial to adjust, correcting for distortion is easier. If the effects of the distortion are more costly on society than diminishing government expenditures, then the government should shrink and collect less tax.

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If the concern in the distortion is that people don't pay taxes, my comment is valid. If the concern is for the people themselves, I'm not sure what the problem is with low population density. It doesn't even need some government program to correct if we decide it is bad for society. People already have social and economic incentives to live near eachother.

Also, I'm surprised you would suggest that law makers give a shit about the distortion taxes cause, and hope to minimize it. A politician's actions can pretty much always be directly tied to motovations to increasing influence and getting elected. Altruistic politicians that actually care about society don't exist.

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I think you have it exactly backwards. The more points of attack, the larger the vulnerability. There are laws passed for specific corporations to reduce tax liability.

What's wrong with low density? There is a real economic value to variety and a minimum density to support certain kinds of commerce. You can't take this to a limit assuming there is no cost (if only opportunity cost) to moving to a less dense area.

Also, at least in the easy coast, the least dense areas are typically already state or national parks. Wyoming is the exact opposite. 5 digit license plates are common there.

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Taxing land (and not the buildings on top of it) would incentivize people to improve the buildings to add value. Currently, other taxes such as capital gains disincentivizes improvements to the property.

The biggest benefit to such a simple tax system is the simplicity itself. It isn't just that a complex tax code makes for dead weight loss in paying taxes and the loopholes to evade them.

The process of creating loopholes is extremely corrupting.

If you want a heathly democracy, keep things simple to disincentivize corruption. The US is not a healthy democracy, largely due to the incredible size of government and extreme corruption of our tax code. Other problems such as unfunded liabilities or overly influencial corporations stem from this core issue.

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As mentioned, the regulations are the biggest problem. Rather than scheming, just make secure webapps from a new country. Having thought it through a bit, I'm pretty confident micro nation building is easier than taking on banking regulations.

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someone from boston should also make a microsite, is_it_raining_in_boston.com

def index( request ): return HttpResponse('yes, damnit')

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someone from boston should also make a microsite, is_it_raining_in_boston.com

def index( request ): return HttpResponse('yes, damn it')

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If you're not exceptionally talented, it is a mistake to measure your life and set your expectations to have a successful career.

You can certainly take pleasure in purposeful work (from a non-profit to chopping wood). But don't expect the same praises you might have received in an easy college class.

They should suck it up and focus on something more interesting than work, like making or consuming some creative content, travel, sports, etc.

The 4 hour work week was made for people who can't excel in a career.

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I'd heard 300K not 200K. And if you're married it is total joint income. It's automatic

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No. Way too many people go to college. They'd be freed from the debt & infantilizing lifestyle and generally would better off if they didn't go to college.

"Everyone should go to college" is like a giant, farcical real-world existential play about the Lake Wobegon fallacy.

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There are many niches looking for different kinds of people. That is an easy way a majority can stick out. They don't all stick out to the same people.

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you can post custom javascript on tumblr. That means you can do pretty much anything you want.

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