What the fuck do you think a communist party would do if they gained power in a developed capitalist nation? It's literally the most straight forward mechanism for draining their wealth.
Do you really think the old economic institutions would disappear literally overnight if a revolution happened? That's not how it works.
Direct expropriation is fine eventually but the first course of action would probably be to just raise the taxes to the point where it's effectively expropriation.
And you think you'd be able to institute brand new property laws overnight along with mechanisms for the state to expropriate the wealth?
It doesn't work like that, the state is a massive machine, you can't just throw out the old one and install a new one overnight, even if you control the entirety of it. The first levers of power the new revolutionary government is going to pull are gonna be the old ones.
This is really a pedantic argument tbh, I think we're basically on the same page.
Again I realize I'm being pedantic but I don't think that's realistic considering how complicated today's economy is. Immediately expropriating everything from day 1 would likely result in a certain degree of economic disarray simply because the market mechanisms the whole world is built on are fucking stupid.
It'd probably be like a year before all everything is formally expropriated.
You won't get a 100% spanking brand new state with no historical baggage on day 1 of the revolution, that's my only point.
It'd probably be a combination of taxation and nationalization IMO, but I wouldn't completely disregard taxation as a valid mechanism for achieving revolutionary goals just because it's usually framed as a lib tactic.
The physical assets of the bourgeoisie would be taken by the revolutionary state and collectivized and there would be some kind of tansition to a new currency and obviously the stock market and other means of investment would be dismantled. I have no idea how long that would take exactly. But meanwhile, if they can be taxed, their bank accounts can be emptied just as easily. And they would be. Calling that a tax is really stretching the definition of tax. Taxes are for everyone else.
And this is all assuming they aren't parodied or forced to flee during or shortly after the revolution.
But anyway, that's clearly not what the band is talking about. "Tax the rich" means change the current state's system of taxation to a more progressive one, which is radlib shit, in contrast with the other cool shit they're talking about. They need to expand their imaginations.
What the fuck do you think a communist party would do if they gained power in a developed capitalist nation? It's literally the most straight forward mechanism for draining their wealth.
Expropriation and the seizure of wealth through force. You can't tax your way into a proletarian state.
Or do you think the bourgeoise will give up their wealth and power voluntarily?
Do you really think the old economic institutions would disappear literally overnight if a revolution happened? That's not how it works.
Direct expropriation is fine eventually but the first course of action would probably be to just raise the taxes to the point where it's effectively expropriation.
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And you think you'd be able to institute brand new property laws overnight along with mechanisms for the state to expropriate the wealth?
It doesn't work like that, the state is a massive machine, you can't just throw out the old one and install a new one overnight, even if you control the entirety of it. The first levers of power the new revolutionary government is going to pull are gonna be the old ones.
This is really a pedantic argument tbh, I think we're basically on the same page.
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Again I realize I'm being pedantic but I don't think that's realistic considering how complicated today's economy is. Immediately expropriating everything from day 1 would likely result in a certain degree of economic disarray simply because the market mechanisms the whole world is built on are fucking stupid.
It'd probably be like a year before all everything is formally expropriated.
You won't get a 100% spanking brand new state with no historical baggage on day 1 of the revolution, that's my only point.
deleted by creator
It'd probably be a combination of taxation and nationalization IMO, but I wouldn't completely disregard taxation as a valid mechanism for achieving revolutionary goals just because it's usually framed as a lib tactic.
The physical assets of the bourgeoisie would be taken by the revolutionary state and collectivized and there would be some kind of tansition to a new currency and obviously the stock market and other means of investment would be dismantled. I have no idea how long that would take exactly. But meanwhile, if they can be taxed, their bank accounts can be emptied just as easily. And they would be. Calling that a tax is really stretching the definition of tax. Taxes are for everyone else.
And this is all assuming they aren't parodied or forced to flee during or shortly after the revolution.
But anyway, that's clearly not what the band is talking about. "Tax the rich" means change the current state's system of taxation to a more progressive one, which is radlib shit, in contrast with the other cool shit they're talking about. They need to expand their imaginations.