Well this is interesting

The headline is misleading. This is about medieval air pollution and how productivity can be affected by political upheaval.

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On of my favorites! I collected some bubble gum cards with weird characters by him when I was a kid.

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Why does the USA have such a uniquely hostile view of taxation- This paper has an interesting theory why:
https://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/194876.html

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Another issue that might be relevant (and might tip the balance) is that the US income tax is a giant pain in the ass to file. Making a simple transaction tax progressive, though, makes stock trades and b2b activity subject to transparency.

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I disagree. The IRS makes both the forms and instructions freely available and they generally don’t require any more than a 5th grade reading and math level. If you run your own business, I understand it might be more difficult. But for most wage/salary people, it should be quite easy.

I have had a couple of cases where it took more than 30 minutes because I had to read into details:

  • I’m working from home now, can I and should I deduct something for that? (No, I can’t, and even if I could, it’d be way less than the standard deduction.)
  • My kid’s now an adult, but disabled, can I still claim her as a dependent, and if so what’s the proper way to do so? (Yes, and it’s in the instructions, though the result is not much.)

Otherwise, it’s basically just enter the number from form A on line X, subtract Y, and look up the result in table Z. Sign, date, stamp and send. Done. I have a couple more lines to fill out due to investments, but still it’s trivial.

I think a lot of people complain about how hard it is not because it’s hard, but because they’re scared of it. Much like tests in school. They weren’t hard, they weren’t a pain in the ass, you just read the question, figure out the answer, and fill in the right A,B,C,D bubble. Simple. Scary maybe, but not hard. Not a pain in the ass unless you sat on your freshly-sharpened pencil.

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It’s the longest, most condition-laden process of most Western tax systems. We had a farm when I was a kid. Mom did the taxes long form and it was usually a week of their office turned to one task. I’m not saying the anti-tax crusaders are right in their philosophy, but most taxes that aren’t straight-up transaction taxes are a bunch of bullshit of the most politically tone-deaf kind.

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I have to disagree.

I have no problem following complicated instructions: I have built some large Lego sets, I have built many pieces of Ikea furniture and have changed my car’s brake lights.

But when I look at an IRS tax form, all I see is


It says something, but I can’t read it.

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I normally ignore these sorts of things, but I’ve obviously got too much time on my hands these days. I complained to the original poster that this is unsolvable because the terms are too ambiguous. If you look closely, you’ll discover that sometimes the witch is holding things, others not. And sometimes the wands and brooms are doubled. But what mathematical functions do these variations represent? It’s not spelled out (although it’s easy to guess that it’s something fairly simple.)

Anyway to prove my point I solved it two different ways. I’ll tell more if anyone is interested.

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I get 7+4+4. Which would be 13.

But I’m terrible at puzzles and math.

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Uhhh…

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Since you failed to multiply, I’ll assume that’s a joke.

I told you, I’m terrible with puzzles and math.

How about 56 and 32?

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I’m getting 109 (assuming multiplication goes first then addition)

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That was my first guess, but notice the differences between the witches in the top line and the one at the bottom. Also, if you look closely, you should be able to see that one of the wands is actually two wands close together and the same for one of the brooms.

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OK, that’s it, I give up.

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I’d bet a couple of chips on 73.

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