After Steve Jobs died, there arose plenty of complaints about his tax “givings”. For being a man who has introduced the world to the iPod, iPad, and iPhone, apparently those massive benefits to mankind are not enough. He apparently needed to give money to the US government to spend on fighting wars in other countries and funding turtle tunnels.
The logic behind criticisms of Steve Job’s tax avoidance mystifies me. What does Steve Jobs do with his money? Evidence is that he produces masterpieces like “Toy Story” and seeks to prolong his own life, leading to even more new innovation and increases in standards of living for the rest of mankind. Even the bums these days are equipped with iPhones! What does government do with money? They waste it atrociously. So, why should anyone be criticized for tax avoidance?
In order for these critics to make any sense at all, they need to claim that the government would benefit society more than Steve Jobs would with the same money. The critics just assume it so against all experimental evidence. Basic economics teaches us otherwise; if Steve Jobs was not taxed at all his innovation would have been greater, with more incentive to produce and less time wasting activity sheltering his earnings from IRS thugs.
Any rational person can look at how government spends money and how Steve Jobs spends money and clearly see that society would be better off not taxing Steve Jobs at all! Steve Jobs has single-handedly given society a standard of living never before imagined. What has government done except impede progress and destroy lives?