Actually, "the Rich" Don't "Create Jobs," We Do

In a de­moc­ra­cy the rich are sup­posed to pay more to cover th­ings like build­ing and main­tain­ing the roads and schools be­cause these are the th­ings that en­able their wealth. They ac­tual­ly do use the roads and schools more be­cause the roads en­able their busines­ses to pro­sp­er and the schools pro­vide educated em­ployees. But it isn't just that the rich use roads more, it is that every­one has a right to use roads and a right to trans­por­ta­tion be­cause we are a de­moc­ra­cy and every­one has the same rights. And as a citiz­en in a de­moc­ra­cy you have an ob­liga­tion to pay your share for that.

A de­moc­ra­cy is sup­posed have a pro­gres­sive tax struc­ture that is in pro­por­tion to the means to pay. We do this be­causethose who get more from the sys­tem do so be­cause the de­moc­ratic sys­tem of­f­ers them that ab­il­ity. Their wealth is be­cause of our sys­tem and therefore they owe back to the sys­tem in pro­por­tion. (Plus, his­to­ry has taught the les­son that great wealth op­poses de­moc­ra­cy, so de­moc­ra­cy must op­pose the ac­cumula­tion of great, dis­propor­tion­al wealth. In other words, part of the contra­ct of li­v­ing in a de­moc­ra­cy is your ob­liga­tion to pro­tect the de­moc­ra­cy and high taxes at the top is one of those pro­tec­tions.)