On 2015-10-06 15:07:51 Steelcocktale said:
At last we have narrowed the gap between the haves and the have not's.
To quote a wise man, Kak... jy praat stront meneer...
The gap has in fact widened, and will continue to do so as long as the middle class is expected to shoulder the burden of the entire country. It is simply not sustainable to tax your middle class to death and put them in the position they are in right now.
A middle class person has to pay over a very large portion of his salary as tax, and yes while he is still wealthy enough to afford to go out a buy his really woolies things he is also paying much more in VAT because of it. His house in Bryanston is in a higher rates bracket then a settlement house in Tembisa, his power use is completely paid for by himself. He will never use a government hospital, he will never get a state pension, he does not use any government service that he does not pay for... And yet he pays through his nose.
Now as someone who has lived in countries where there is a social system that works I would say yes, there is a better level of equality there. In Barcelona for example if you go to any hospital you will see a rich man sitting next a poor man waiting his turn to see a doctor, their kids will go to the same school more often then not. All of this funded by the taxes, this is fair, this is equitable.