“Tax the rich!” — just because you struggle to keep up?

An uncomfortable look at taxation, inflation, and the silent erosion of net worth

“Tax the rich!” has become one of the most repeated political slogans of the last decade. It’s chanted at protests, amplified on social media, and recycled by politicians whenever living costs rise faster than wages. To many, it feels like a moral solution: if people are struggling, surely the answer is to take more from those who have more.

But what if this narrative misses the real problem?
And worse—what if it distracts from a system that is quietly shrinking everyone’s net worth, especially those who rely solely on labor income?

 
The comforting illusion of progressive taxation
Income tax in most modern economies is progressive. The more you earn, the higher the rate you pay. On paper, that sounds fair. It creates the impression that wealth redistribution happens automatically and that the system protects those in the middle and lower income brackets.

But income tax is only one layer of the system—and arguably not the most damaging one.

What’s rarely discussed is that taxes on assets and consumption are flat.
Property tax, vehicle tax, registration fees, VAT, fuel excise duties, insurance taxes—these don’t care whether you’re rich or barely getting by. The rate is the same.

A €30,000 car and a €300,000 car may differ in absolute cost, but fuel tax, VAT on repairs, insurance fees, and registration costs are structurally identical. A modest apartment and a luxury one are both subject to property taxes, maintenance costs, utility taxes, and inflation-driven expenses.

Flat taxes on belongings quietly punish ownership—especially for those whose income barely keeps up with rising costs.

 
Inflation: the tax nobody votes for
Now add inflation to the equation.

Official numbers often suggest inflation of 2–4%. Anyone living in the real world knows that’s fiction. When you factor in housing, energy, food, insurance, education, healthcare, and transportation, real-life inflation is closer to 10% per year, and that’s a conservative estimate.

Inflation is not neutral. It doesn’t hit everyone equally.

If you live off wages → you feel it immediately.
If you own assets that appreciate faster than inflation → you’re protected, sometimes even enriched.
For most people, salaries rise after inflation hits—if they rise at all. And even when they do, income tax is deducted at the source. You’re taxed on nominal increases, not real purchasing power.

In other words:
You’re paying higher taxes on money that is worth less.

 
Paying taxes straight out of your pockets
Here’s the part few people connect:

You don’t pay taxes only on what you earn.
You pay taxes continuously on what you already own.

• Property taxes
• Vehicle taxes
• VAT on every transaction
• Excise duties on energy and fuel
• Inflation-driven price increases that compound yearly
• None of this is offset by wage growth for the average worker.

So while your income struggles to climb 3–5% per year, the system quietly extracts value from your existing assets at a rate that often exceeds 10%. Your car costs more to maintain. Your home costs more to heat, insure, and repair. Your savings lose purchasing power unless actively invested.

Let me give you a vivid example. There has been numerous suggestions to tax every asset one owns. Because it's not “fair“ property get taxed and money sitting in your bank account doesn't, at the end of the day...thats an asset too. 

So going on with this logic...when you pay your property tax your property doesn't shrink $100 beacause you pay tax out of your pocket,  but if they tax your bank account it would. Which means eventually there would be barely anything left even if you don't spend a dime.

The result?
You are poorer every year—despite working harder.

 
The impossible math of staying “even”
To merely stand still, your personal economic output must grow faster than inflation.

Let’s be blunt:

• If real inflation is 10%
• And your salary grows 5%
• You’re losing 5% purchasing power annually
• Before taxes, fees, and asset-related costs
• To net zero, you’d need to increase your production—your income or asset growth—by more than 10% every year.

That almost never happens in regular employment.

Not because people are lazy—but because wage-based systems are structurally capped. Promotions are limited. Raises are negotiated annually. Labor is linear. Time is finite.

This isn’t a personal failure. It’s mathematical inevitability.

 
Why “tax the rich” feels good—but solves nothing
When people fall behind, they look for someone ahead of them to blame. “Tax the rich” offers emotional relief. It implies that someone else’s wealth is the cause of your struggle.

But the uncomfortable truth is this:

Most “rich” people aren’t getting richer because they’re stealing from workers.
They’re getting richer because they own productive assets.

Businesses. Equity. Real estate. Intellectual property. Capital that compounds.

Meanwhile, labor income is taxed first, inflated away second, and capped by time.

Taxing the rich more heavily doesn’t fix the structural problem—it often entrenches it. Those with capital adjust. They optimize. They relocate. They restructure. The system bends for them because it has to—capital is mobile.

The middle class? Not so much.

 
Capitalism: the villain—or the exit door?
Capitalism is often portrayed as cruel, exploitative, and immoral. And yes—unchecked systems can create inequality. But here’s the paradox few acknowledge:

Capitalism is also the only system that allows you to outrun inflation and taxation.

Owning productive assets isn’t a moral failing. It’s a survival strategy.

• Businesses can raise prices with inflation
• Assets can appreciate
• Capital compounds faster than wages
• Ownership scales without additional hours worked
• If you rely solely on labor, you’re playing defense in a game designed for offense.

This doesn’t mean everyone must become a billionaire.
It means that without ownership, your net worth is designed to decay.

 
Are we really free?
This is the final, uncomfortable question.

If you must work more each year just to afford the same life…
If your savings lose value by default…
If your belongings are taxed and inflated away regardless of effort…
If opting out requires entrepreneurship, investment, or capital ownership…

Are we truly free?

Or are we slowly leasing our lives from a system that takes a little more every year—quietly, legally, and relentlessly?

 
The real choice
This isn’t a call for anarchy or zero taxes. Societies need infrastructure, security, and order.

But it is a call for honesty.

You have two long-term paths:

Remain labor-dependent and watch your net worth erode slowly, predictably, mathematically.
Become a capitalist—at any scale—and participate in systems that compound faster than inflation.
The tragedy isn’t that capitalism exists.
The tragedy is that most people are never taught how to play it.

And so they chant, “Tax the rich,”
while the real tax—time, inflation, and compounding loss—keeps eating away at their future.