It also strikes at the very basis of people's self respect (that they are where they are due to their virtues and hard work). Seems to go against basic human nature for people to eagerly submit to being penalized for these same virtues.
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A much more likely outcome of a wider societal acceptance of hereditarianism would be support for an explicit Plato-style meritocracy at which point the drive for redistribution (which is really just needed to gin up support against the petty bourgeoisie types) would disappear
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Rawls makes this argument too I think?
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Yeah, although I think he differs in that he doesn't argue for total redistribution just for any redistribution to be in favor of the less naturally lucky
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Although I'm not sure where DeBoer stands on the extent of redistribution that's desirable either. Who knows.
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Wait, isn't social security a popular "program of permanent redistributions with not much hope of it having any improving effect"? (I mean no improving effect other than material stuff like "your rents don't have to eat dog food" etc.)
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I dunno...i think there would be a huge difference in popular perception of an IQ tax to explicitly benefit the less cognitively gifted vs social security
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I don't think folks are proposing IQ taxes though. The actual policy now that lefties want to beef up is progressive income and/or wealth/property taxes. The idea is that much of the money is due to luck, and that luck could result from any number of sources (including IQ).
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I was arguing about what would happen to public opinion when it was broadly accepted that most of this "luck" is being lucky to be born with certain traits rather than racial/SES privilege, etc
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Right, but my point is that some forms of redistribution are meant to remedy supposed defects in meritocracy (e.g., affirmative action), and some are not (eg, EITC, universal programs). Not clear why this hypothetical change in public opinion would reduce support for the latter.
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