Posted on 03/28/2007 5:55:23 PM PDT by WesternCulture
Okay, so the SD folks, like our Democrats, view much of the Middle Class as "rich" folks.
"Okay, so the SD folks, like our Democrats, view much of the Middle Class as "rich" folks."
- To begin with, I think SD people are more Socialist than average US Democrats/liberals, but they're much more Capitalist friendly today than they were 20-30 years ago. The views of Conservative 'Moderaterna', the party which PM Reinfeldt is the leader of, I'd say are somewhere between those of traditional Democrats and traditional Republicans.
Concerning the Swedish tax system:
It would, naturally, be absurd to view average income earners as rich. The Swedish system of taxation is strange even to many Swedes, but it isn't that ridiculous. However, it views even a rather modest amount of free cash as wealth.
Most people in Sweden who have $200 000 on a bank account are upper middle class/upper class people (as you don't have to pay any money for sending your children to collage and university in Sweden and you seldom get into situations where you suddently need a large amount of money, people don't save up a lot of money on bank accounts like people on the same income levels would do in the US).
Some people in Sweden who dispose of a 'wealth' of $200 000 aren't high income earners, they're not even average income earners. For instance someone with a 'wealth of $200 000 could well be a university student (which in general are low income earners in most countries) that has inherited $200 000 and wishes to keep them for some years on a bank account and use them later on for buying a house, starting a business of his/her own etc. Such a person will also be punished. If he or she instead would've invested the money in say, gold, this capital wouldn't have had to be paid any taxes for at all.
My point is that it's a bit bizarre to pay taxes for an amount of money that is NOT especially high compared to the possesions of an middle aged, average income earner. On the other hand, we do have also have property taxes, but things like valuable antique furniture, diamonds, art etc is not considered wealth although it undeniably is a capital just like an equivalent sum of money.
Hope I made myself clear.
Best of regards!
(Concerning SD people viewing Middle Class as rich,) I forgot to say that a lot of people who vote for The Social Democrats are average or above average income earners, but don't seem to fully understand it. They feel no one else makes such a valuable contribution to society that they deserve a higher income than that of their own and furthermore they don't think people who perform the same kind of work as they do deserves their kind of salary.
At least that is my interpretation.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.