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Bill Gates thinks the super-wealthy should pay more tax – and plenty of rich people agree
(www.businessinsider.com)
this post was submitted on 22 Jan 2024
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TL/DR; The super wealthy own the politicians so much they can tell them to do something that they will never do. Democracy is a fool's word.
What's the other word? There's a lot of details that are missed where we could have a better functioning democracy, not that it'll happen. But other words tend to be authoritarian, could be a bias. Anarchism will never count imo :)
We live in a perpetual state of anarchy. Nobody is beholden to the law or state, they're just imaginary rules that we all adhere to like kids in a playground. Everyone does what they do based on the everyday needs of life, we put food on the table simply because we need to put food on the table, we keep the lights on because we want them on. Even within so-called "states" are a messy web of allegiances and alliances, where nobody knows what anyone's doing and are also doing what they do based on their everyday needs. Realizing that everyone is an individual with their own needs, that cooperative projects are agreed upon works by the needs of the many, and that the "state" has nothing to do with that process, is proof that we live in a perpetual state of anarchy, society can be whatever WE want it to be, and the notion of a "state" in opposition to "anarchy" is just copium.
Anarchism is a lack of hierarchy where nobody has power over another. If you get a job, you need to tell the state. You need to pay taxes to the state. If you buy something, the seller must have a bill to register the transaction with the state. If you want to give your property (like a house) to someone, you must tell the state. Every significant transaction between two induviduals needs to go through the state, otherwise that very state will use force (police) to punish you. We don't live in a state of anarchy as thought of by political anarchism.
Even if the "state" is a cooperative project, it still lies above you in the hierarchy and has power over you, that's why we don't live in a state of anarchy.
Using your example, if say a village or town wants to build a well to supply water to their inhabitants, they'll have to jump through hoops and abide by rules of the state and pitch to them the viability and cost of building the well, permits, etc. etc. Anarchism is when the town builds the well anyway and dares the state to stop them.
Worth noting I'm a communist, not an anarchist, so I'm not the best representative of "anarchy".