National dialogue and social justice….

Ali Café “Dreamers of Tomorrow”
National dialogue and social justice….
The young man said: What is the concept of social justice, Doctor, as it has become vague and undefined before us? Where is his position in the national dialogue?
I said: I see that there are two different philosophies that deal with social justice: the first philosophy deals with social justice as a result that must be reached regardless of the justice of the means even if it impoverishes the whole society, as communism did and as some politicians in Egypt are calling now, and the second philosophy deals with justice Social is the justice of equal opportunities and the reward of effort and at the same time making certain services and rights available to all, such as education, health care, public transportation, sanitation, and clean water, for example, regardless of income disparity. Social justice cannot be achieved without spending on infrastructure, preserving the environment, financing justice institutions (the judiciary and its services), the homeland defense institution (the army) and law enforcement institutions (the police). Acknowledgment of the multiplicity and difference of capabilities and sustenance.
Studies and experiences have proven that economic policies that support investment in human resources and equal opportunities contribute to supporting economic growth, employment and achieving social justice, more than just taking from the most capable and the richest to distribute to the poorest and least capable.
Building capacities and providing opportunities achieves social justice, and equal opportunity is achieved through spending on a basic and higher education system that does not differentiate between the rich and the poor or the marginalized, and a basic system of health services that does not discriminate between classes, decent public means of transportation, and a transparent business climate that prevents monopoly and protects small business owners It guarantees them in the productive process and in creating decent job opportunities and generating income for their families. If the government plays its role in laying the brick of equal opportunities with transparency for all, then everyone will contribute through their work to achieving economic growth – (increasing the size of the pie) – and income growth for all workers through reaping the fruits of this growth in which all workers contribute – i.e. a greater share of the pie for each Diligent. Through the fruits of this growth, there is an opportunity to redistribute a percentage of it among the Muhamasheen as they are defined.
His colleague asked: Who is responsible for achieving social justice?
I said: Achieving social justice in this concept falls on the state as a regulator and guarantor of rights, and on the citizen who is able to use his money to create new job opportunities, and the worker with his effort and mastery of his work to achieve more income and prosperity for him, his family and society.
Such policies aimed at achieving economic growth and social justice require huge resources, efficient administration, and a clear vision for the state and policy makers.
The first young man came back to ask: And where does the tax system fall in achieving this justice.?
I said: Establishing an efficient and fair tax system faces several challenges in developing countries in which small businesses and informal businesses that do not contribute to paying taxes constitute a large share of the economy, in addition to the evasion of many home and free professions that do not deal with receipts.. We will find in Egypt that Less than twenty percent of institutions pay more than eighty percent of taxes because a large part of businesses are not included in the radar of the well-known official sector, because the tax collection system is sometimes unfair with arbitrary estimates unjust to small and medium-sized companies and self-employed and makes many evaders and even pushes them out of the market Work, and even that would be difficult because exiting the labor market is not easy.
Taxes are not an end in themselves, nor are they a punishment for the rich just because they make profits, because the state is not a profit-oriented company. Thus, the required levels of tax revenues vary from country to country, depending on its ability to provide services decided by society. The goal of social justice is originally determined by the areas of public spending, and taxes play an important role in achieving this goal.
Therefore, the role of taxes in achieving social justice is achieved by efficiently financing aspects of public spending in an equitable manner for the poor and the able alike. Taxes are fair to the poor in that they are participatory and symbiotic, meaning that the poor has a share of the income of every hardworking person who earns work and participates in a specific percentage of his income for public spending to support social solidarity and fair empowerment of opportunity. It is fair to the able because it achieves economic efficiency, so it does not eliminate the incentive to work or cause investment to flee, creating opportunities. the work . We must bear in mind that Egypt is competing with other countries in attracting investment to the Egyptian market, because our self-capacity, at least at the present time, will not be able to create a million job opportunities annually to accommodate the needs of the rising population. The growth of investment and the collection of taxes from its profits contribute to the provision of services and a business climate that enables everyone to produce, innovate and grow. The greater the ability to work, produce, and make profits, the greater the growth rates, the wider the economic pie, and the wider the tax base – that is, the rates and levels of taxes increased due to the increase in the number of workers on the one hand, and the increase in income resulting from economic growth. Hence, it is clear that the tax policy must achieve an optimal combination of economic efficiency and social justice.
According to my non-professional understanding, taxes are divided into three basic types: income taxes, consumption taxes, and service user taxes. In industrialized countries, the greatest share of financing comes from taxes on income, then consumption taxes of all kinds, such as sales tax and value added, as these countries consider consumption taxes unfair because they are imposed on commodities that are bought by the poor and the rich at the same rate. The only way to be exempt from this tax is to “not consume”, that is, to avoid buying, and the poor may avoid it