Why should the wealthy fund services they don’t use?
"Why should wealthy people fund services that they do not need to use?"
Answer
We are all in this together and all of us (including people who acquire wealth) have been supported by tax funded public services in many ways, for example:
- Most of us are likely to have been educated in the public education system or
benefited from having a workforce that has been educated in our public education system. - Most of use roads and rail systems funded in part through taxation, whether to
travel ourselves to transport goods. - Just about all of us are eligible for universal NZ Superannuation (which was the
largest single item of expenditure on social security in 2020 at $15.5bn out of a
budget allocation of $44bn). - We all benefit from our public health system, whether we or our whānau have had
to use it ourselves or through the support it provides in maintaining the health of the nation, including supporting a healthy workforce. - The justice system helps manage the disputes that naturally arise in any society,
including those that arise out of commercial relationships essential to businesses. - The Department of Conversation helps protect our natural environment while
enabling access to it for the public and for business. - The Police help keep the public safe (and help protect the assets of the wealthy)
In addition, business owners may well have benefited from such things as the regulation that supports fair competition, the research and development funded by government or from procuring contracts with government agencies.
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