Idk what country you’re paying 40-60% tax in. I make very good money in the US and I don’t pay close to that.
Using the US as an example, most people pay an effective tax rate of 20%. This is equivalent to a peasant getting a 10% tax and their 10% tithe to the church, so it’s not far off.
Basically we’ve moved redistribution/welfare from the control of the church to the state. In medieval times these were effectively the same thing anyways.
You are probably not counting all the other US taxes: payroll, property, sales, state income tax, business taxes, etc. If you only consider personal federal income tax, the picture will of course appear rosier than it really is.
Once you include other taxes, the overall figure climbs rapidly. It's already almost 30% counting just federal income tax, social security, and medicare, and none of the other taxes mentioned above.
"The OECD reported that the U.S. "tax wedge" for the average single worker was 28.4% in 2021." ... "The OECD tax wedge only includes these three taxes: income, Social Security, and Medicare. It doesn’t include sales, property, vehicle, or state income taxes."
Lots, in Europe. Top brackets which are really easy to reach in most cases - think 50-60k per annum:
Austria 55%
Denmark 55%
France 52%
Sweden 53%
And so on...
Using the US as an example, most people pay an effective tax rate of 20%. This is equivalent to a peasant getting a 10% tax and their 10% tithe to the church, so it’s not far off.
Basically we’ve moved redistribution/welfare from the control of the church to the state. In medieval times these were effectively the same thing anyways.