I’m not sure how turning the dial to 11 works, but there seems to be a pretty glaring asymmetry in your analysis here. If turning the dial to 11 on progressivism takes you to Soviet Russia, why doesn’t turning the dial to 11 on classical liberalism take you towards complete stateless anarchism, which I imagine would be considerably less congenial than Burning Man.
“But,” the classical liberal might say, “we believe the state does have a role to play in protecting its citizens from violence inflicted by others, and in enforcing contracts.” Yeah, and progressives believe that the market has a role to play in solving the economic calculation problem. They also have commitments to civil liberties and individual autonomy that are incompatible with a Soviet-style dictatorship. If turning the dial past 10 is sufficient to erase those commitments, maybe it’s also sufficient to erase the classical liberal’s commitment to a night watchman state?
This line of conversation seems to focus on the “turning the dial to 11” idea, which I take to mean “increasing the distance from the mainstream”.
I think I see a couple of problems with this.
First, a political ideology is composed of not one, but several “dial settings”. Correlations between them are at least partly matters of historical accident, not logical necessity. We can conceive of dialing up or down any of these somewhat independently of one another.
Why is anti-colonialism linked to opposition to private property, instead of to protecting the private property rights of oppressed people? Why is it in the interests of “big-business conservatives” today to oppose scientific education, whereas in the mid-20th century the business establishment was strongly supportive of it? Why is antisemitism today found in both the far left and far right, whereas it once was a defining characteristic of right-wing nationalist populism? Because of the formation and breakdown of specific political alliances and economic conditions over historic time — not because these views are logically linked.
Second, a political ideology often opposes what outsiders see as more extreme versions. Conservatives may say that progressivism is nothing but watered-down Stalinism, and progressives may say that conservatism is merely watered-down fascism. But conservatives have reasoned arguments against fascism, and progressives have reasoned arguments against Stalinism — and these arguments do not merely amount to “too much of a good thing”.
why doesn’t turning the dial to 11 on classical liberalism take you towards complete stateless anarchism
It takes me towards, that is, in that general direction. It doesn’t get there, though, because classical liberals were quite familiar with stateless anarchism and have rejected it.
and progressives believe that the market has a role to play in solving the economic calculation problem. They also have commitments to civil liberties and individual autonomy that are incompatible with a Soviet-style dictatorship
Again, turning the dial to 11 moves the progressives towards Soviet Russia without necessarily getting them there.
Note my examples—they do not mention hanging capitalists on the lampposts.
Imagine a committed (maybe even a radical) progressive finding himself in a country which taxes incomes over, say $500,000 at the 99% tax rate. Would he start to demand lower taxes on the rich? Not bloody likely, and this is a confiscatory tax regime.
Imagine a committed (maybe even a radical) progressive finding himself in a country which taxes incomes over, say $500,000 at the 99% tax rate. Would he start to demand lower taxes on the rich? Not bloody likely, and this is a confiscatory tax regime.
By the way, the marginal income tax rate in the US on incomes over $100k was 92% in 1953, and 70% on incomes over $108k until 1981, when Reagan first started trading taxes for deficits.
Sure, 92% on $1.7m/yr it’s not quite 99% on $500k/yr, as in your example, but it’s not too far off, and it is interesting to examine how people on different sides of the political spectrum reacted to it. I don’t know if any of the “progressives” (meaning leftists?) demanded lower taxes back then.
I’m not sure how turning the dial to 11 works, but there seems to be a pretty glaring asymmetry in your analysis here. If turning the dial to 11 on progressivism takes you to Soviet Russia, why doesn’t turning the dial to 11 on classical liberalism take you towards complete stateless anarchism, which I imagine would be considerably less congenial than Burning Man.
“But,” the classical liberal might say, “we believe the state does have a role to play in protecting its citizens from violence inflicted by others, and in enforcing contracts.” Yeah, and progressives believe that the market has a role to play in solving the economic calculation problem. They also have commitments to civil liberties and individual autonomy that are incompatible with a Soviet-style dictatorship. If turning the dial past 10 is sufficient to erase those commitments, maybe it’s also sufficient to erase the classical liberal’s commitment to a night watchman state?
This line of conversation seems to focus on the “turning the dial to 11” idea, which I take to mean “increasing the distance from the mainstream”.
I think I see a couple of problems with this.
First, a political ideology is composed of not one, but several “dial settings”. Correlations between them are at least partly matters of historical accident, not logical necessity. We can conceive of dialing up or down any of these somewhat independently of one another.
Why is anti-colonialism linked to opposition to private property, instead of to protecting the private property rights of oppressed people? Why is it in the interests of “big-business conservatives” today to oppose scientific education, whereas in the mid-20th century the business establishment was strongly supportive of it? Why is antisemitism today found in both the far left and far right, whereas it once was a defining characteristic of right-wing nationalist populism? Because of the formation and breakdown of specific political alliances and economic conditions over historic time — not because these views are logically linked.
Second, a political ideology often opposes what outsiders see as more extreme versions. Conservatives may say that progressivism is nothing but watered-down Stalinism, and progressives may say that conservatism is merely watered-down fascism. But conservatives have reasoned arguments against fascism, and progressives have reasoned arguments against Stalinism — and these arguments do not merely amount to “too much of a good thing”.
It takes me towards, that is, in that general direction. It doesn’t get there, though, because classical liberals were quite familiar with stateless anarchism and have rejected it.
Again, turning the dial to 11 moves the progressives towards Soviet Russia without necessarily getting them there.
Note my examples—they do not mention hanging capitalists on the lampposts.
Imagine a committed (maybe even a radical) progressive finding himself in a country which taxes incomes over, say $500,000 at the 99% tax rate. Would he start to demand lower taxes on the rich? Not bloody likely, and this is a confiscatory tax regime.
By the way, the marginal income tax rate in the US on incomes over $100k was 92% in 1953, and 70% on incomes over $108k until 1981, when Reagan first started trading taxes for deficits.
Source.
From your source, in 1953 the marginal tax on ordinary income over $200K was 92% for single filers and that’s $1.7m in today’s dollars.
I do wonder how many people were in this tax bracket. For the rich most of their income was dividends and capital gains—not part of ordinary income.
Sure, 92% on $1.7m/yr it’s not quite 99% on $500k/yr, as in your example, but it’s not too far off, and it is interesting to examine how people on different sides of the political spectrum reacted to it. I don’t know if any of the “progressives” (meaning leftists?) demanded lower taxes back then.
By the way: a nice graph and an amusing fact:
The Wealth Tax Act of 1935, applied the top rate to income over $5 million and had only a single taxpayer: John D. Rockefeller, Jr.