# Is Smapti Serious? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 16, 2012, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-smapti-serious/609666 "2012-01-16T04:20:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-smapti-serious/609666/81 "2012-01-17T20:40:44Z")
**Qin** - your contribution to a thread on the potential future of China was to say that we need to encourage Christianity there as a solution to the problem of it being a rival to the US. If anyone is smoking crack on this board it’s you. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-smapti-serious/609666/82 "2012-01-17T22:17:36Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > Second, making sure public officials don’t lie to us is totalitarian? And I totally agree with getting rid of religion, we just don’t need it. I don’t agree with the other things, but given his stated goal of making a more egalitarian society, my disagreement isn’t that he holds those beliefs, but that I think the goal can be reached through other, more efficient means Well, why just politicians? Maybe we can execute anyone who lies while on the job\*. Then we can have a perfect honest society. You’d almost have to implement that anyways, because who the fuck would be a politician if it was the only job where lying=death penalty? \*I’m looking at you, mechanics! ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-smapti-serious/609666/83 "2012-01-17T22:36:11Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > A 100% inheritance tax will simply mean that parents will find ways to pass on all of their assets to their children \*before \*they die. Which is why, in my proposal, nobody knows who their children are. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-smapti-serious/609666/84 "2012-01-18T00:27:38Z")
> [@The\_Man\_In\_Black](#): > > But if what you laid out was followed, the kids would be rotated through different homes, and lose all there friends. After time, I’d bet many would stop making friends all together. I fail to see how that helps create an extended family group. > > I just had a thought. Did you mean all the kids in a home would be moved to the same new home at the same time? That would allow them to keep friends, but I do not see the point in doing that. So I am at a loss. Smapti idea was to create a system where no could have the advantages of birth into a family that was richer, more powerful, etc., in others words some sort of society of absolute equality at birth. I personally wouldn’t want this because we would have to destroy all human culture diversity. However, it’s an very interesting thought exercise. The point in such a society would be not to create an extended family group which would mean reducing the possibilities of children forming quasi-family tribes among their peer groups. The kids would probably have to be shuffled around to new peer groups periodically. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-smapti-serious/609666/85 "2012-01-18T00:30:07Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Which is why, in my proposal, nobody knows who their children are. Your ideas could make a great sci-fi novel. May I steal them? ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-smapti-serious/609666/86 "2012-01-18T01:25:34Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > Your ideas could make a great sci-fi novel. May I steal them? You two should shake on the deal! ---
**Author:** ![Nocturne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9fc348/32.png) [@Nocturne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nocturne)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-smapti-serious/609666/87 "2012-01-18T04:46:54Z")
> [@Condescending\_Robot](#): > > you Christofascist retard I only wanted to comment because the username and the quoted text matched so perfectly. I laughed out loud–LITERALLY. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-smapti-serious/609666/88 "2012-01-18T06:05:33Z")
Any system that relies on death squads who stand ready to summarily execute anyone who annoys them isn’t a very good system. Obviously the whole thing about children being raised as slaves to the state is just nonsense, no real need to pay attention to that is there? But I see a few people appreciating the idea that a lie by a politician means a death sentence. Really? Really? You don’t see the problem with that idea? It just means that death squads are the real dictators. You won’t have real politicians if you honestly tried to shoot liars in the face. The death squads would just kill anyone who doesn’t do exactly as the death squads say. Pretty soon the only officials left are those that are the minions of the death squads. And how often do you think those minions are going to be shot in the face for lying? Never, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-smapti-serious/609666/89 "2012-01-18T07:17:47Z")
You were with the death squads. Were they with the death squads? They’re assassins. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-smapti-serious/609666/90 "2012-01-18T17:01:05Z")
> [@Nocturne](#): > > I only wanted to comment because the username and the quoted text matched so perfectly. I laughed out loud–LITERALLY. Did you hear that post in the Stephen Hawking/ MS Word voice, too? ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-smapti-serious/609666/91 "2012-01-18T17:06:14Z")
Huh, I guess life insurance goes by the wayside with a 100% inheritance tax, except for maybe paying for the funeral. But hell, I’d just run myself into debt while I was living, let the state pay my bills when I died. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-smapti-serious/609666/92 "2012-01-18T18:43:53Z")
Life insurance isn’t inheritance and benefits aren’t taxable, unless you designate your estate as the beneficiary. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-smapti-serious/609666/93 "2012-01-18T18:45:45Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Life insurance isn’t inheritance and benefits aren’t taxable, unless you designate your estate as the beneficiary. Huh, I did not know that. Are they taxable as income for the recipient? ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-smapti-serious/609666/94 "2012-01-18T18:59:51Z")
> [@kidchameleon](#): > > Huh, I did not know that. Are they taxable as income for the recipient? As opposed to…? No, they aren’t. That’s what RNATB was saying. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-smapti-serious/609666/95 "2012-01-18T19:04:36Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > As opposed to…? > > No, they aren’t. That’s what RNATB was saying. Okay, I know that estate taxes are different from income taxes, just wondering if it was tax-free income in addition to being not included in an estate tax (100% or otherwise). ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-smapti-serious/609666/96 "2012-01-18T19:20:22Z")
> [@kidchameleon](#): > > Okay, I know that estate taxes are different from income taxes, just wondering if it was tax-free income in addition to being not included in an estate tax (100% or otherwise). I see what you’re asking. No income tax implications, but there can be estate tax implications on life insurance if the value of the estate exceeds $5 million. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-smapti-serious/609666/97 "2012-01-18T22:12:20Z")
Obviously with 100% inheritance tax you’d need to outlaw life insurance, otherwise it’s a loophole so big you can drive a luxury yacht through it. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-smapti-serious/609666/98 "2012-01-18T23:59:05Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Obviously with 100% inheritance tax you’d need to outlaw life insurance, otherwise it’s a loophole so big you can drive a luxury yacht through it. No it isn’t. The government still gets its taxes. Doing away with life insurance makes no sense in this scenario. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-smapti-serious/609666/99 "2012-01-19T02:37:22Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > No it isn’t. The government still gets its taxes. > > Doing away with life insurance makes no sense in this scenario. The point is that nobody gets an advantage because of the wealth of the parents, yes? So if the parent is a billionaire, and can take out a billion dollar life insurance payment, then they can transfer a billion dollars to their heirs, yes? The life insurance company just becomes a middleman to launder the money. And even for middle class people, you want some kids to get tens of thousands of dollars just because their parents were middle class? When poor kid’s parents have nothing? That’s unequal! We can’t have that. Life insurance is just a scam to allow parents to provide for their children after they’re dead, which is fascism. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-smapti-serious/609666/100 "2012-01-19T02:52:09Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > The point is that nobody gets an advantage because of the wealth of the parents, yes? So if the parent is a billionaire, and can take out a billion dollar life insurance payment, then they can transfer a billion dollars to their heirs, yes? > > The life insurance company just becomes a middleman to launder the money. > > And even for middle class people, you want some kids to get tens of thousands of dollars just because their parents were middle class? When poor kid’s parents have nothing? That’s unequal! We can’t have that. Life insurance is just a scam to allow parents to provide for their children after they’re dead, which is fascism. Do you even know how life insurance works? You have to pay for it, and you have to either start early in your life, or pay through the nose. It isn’t a way to launder money through a private entity. On top of that, the purpose of it isn’t to pass wealth down to the next generation, it’s to provide for income lost due to your death. ETA: upon review, I may have missed a good bit of sarcasm in your post. My apologies, if so. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-smapti-serious/609666.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-smapti-serious/609666.md?page=6)