About the flat tax, that is definitely interesting. I think most tax systems are horribly broken. Buffet recently complained that he paid less in taxes than his housecleaner. I think he's a great man for saying that, and it's truly atrocious. Something has to be done.
Actually, they're not as big as you might think. The problem is that outsiders can't tell the difference between bad and poor.
There's a rather interesting "crime map" of Chicago that shows that violent crime is incredibly concentrated. (An interesting fraction of the total murders occurred within the equivalent of a couple of blocks) In other words, "bad areas" are mostly just poor.
Buffet lobbies for a tax that puts money in his pocket. He's arranged so his estate will not pay that tax.
He also lobbies for accounting changes that make companies that rely on stock options seem less attractive to investors.
No one is stopping him from paying more tax....
Buffet strikes me as a pull-up-the-rope-behind-him kind of guy.
And there are no such places in Bratislava. There is essentially no violent crime. There's no fear. It's a big difference, and every American I know who has moved to Europe talks about the difference.
Yes, outsiders. Let me guess, you lived in a nice area of Oakland. What makes you think that you know anything useful about the poor areas of Oakland? (I lived in them when I was a kid.)
As for Buffet, who do you think will spend $50 billion in a more socially productive way: United States Government or the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation?
There's Richmond, Hunter's Point / Bayview, West Oakland, parts of Hayward and... ?