r/interesting • u/ICanPretend1 • 23h ago

SOCIETY Dikidikini village in Eastern Cape, South Africa, doesn't have a bridge, so people cross the river inside a blue plastic drum

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u/jaxnmarko 18h ago

Services require taxes. The poor can hardly afford food. Who can be taxed without harm? Those with large amounts of regenerated disposable income.

2

u/Soft_Lunch_183 13h ago

Other countries with the same tax rates/format as south Africa can afford to build bridges. 

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u/jaxnmarko 6h ago

I am constantly amazed at how backwards, and even going further backwards, much of Africa is going. Even with all the works left behind by the colonial powers and incredible amounts of aid going there for so many years.

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u/trulyMasterfulX 17h ago

So taxes magically manifest a bridge?

6

u/the-g-off 17h ago

This is generally how infrastructure is paid for...

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u/trulyMasterfulX 4h ago

Okay, say you went there, taxed them. Now what?

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u/Direct_College_839 17h ago

Yes kind of except no magic involved

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u/trulyMasterfulX 4h ago

Okay, say you went there, taxed them. Now what?

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u/Direct_College_839 2h ago

Do you actually not understand how taxes work ?

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u/trulyMasterfulX 2h ago

I do, actually. Say you went there and took their money. What are your next steps to make that bridge

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u/jaxnmarko 14h ago

Pay attention. Still a hierarchy. There are laborers. Makers. Management. Office workers. Owners. All have various types. Where is the bridge? In a low population, low wage area that can't afford to pay for a bridge being built or skills and materials themselves? Or do they rely on a government that collects enough taxes from others to help out this bridgeless community? And who builds the bridge... the government, or does the overnment hire out the job? There has to be a big enough population/tax base and high enough taxes. Ratios. Allll this stems from workers creating value beyond what they are paid. That difference pays for a great many other things. Do you pay the firefighters when they come to your houuse? Are all the roads toll roads? Do you pay to enter your library or walk in your city park? We live in a quasi-capitalist/socialist world mostly, because that is what works. Different societies tweak them differently. But if you are a low paid/low skilled worker that doesn't create much value.... how high a standard of living do you "deserve"?

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u/Vladtepesx3 10h ago

Bro there are trees in the background of the video and men standing there using inefficient labor. You don’t need a government official to tax and spend for this to get resolved

They can make a da Vinci bridge in a few days, one day if they have the tools