The "I'm not a neoliberal, but a pale American imitation of a social democrat" Michael Lind is pushing his "radical centrism" idea again.
And, one of the ideas he touts is a value-added tax.
My thoughts?
A VAT is OK if:
You eliminate food, for one thing, and other basic necessities. On the flip side, like some states that have a goods and services tax instead of a sales tax, it MUST tax things like consultation of lawyers and MUST be assessed on corporations, not just individuals.
Lind gives no indication of just how "radical" his VAT ideas are, but, knowing him, I'm guessing the idea is quite possibly limited to individuals and does not include corporations.
That said, his larger conceit?
"Social democracy," even here in the US, is NOT the same as his radical centrism. Though his version of "radical centrism" is better than the corporatacracy's version. Also, while I agree on wanting to move the country to a "post-racial" stance, it isn't actually there yet. And, Lind is a Texas native and should know better. Plus, he gives no indication on how much more aggressive he would be on addressing class-based issues if race is removed from the picture.
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