Yes? That's why I was very specific about who should pay it. This is such a common response to any taxation. It is true that any solution done wrong can make things worse, but that's not a reason not to try and solve the problem, it's a reason to do it right.

The alternative, not taxing anyone much, has been tried: it gets us here, with public services collapsing and the country becoming less and less desirable to exist in. We are so far on the left of the Laffer curve it is laughable, even if we ignore the insanity of assuming that the value of having a society that functions isn't relevant.

This is basically an inverted 'trickle down economics' argument which has been shown time and again to be bunk.

Taxing rich folk more doesn't hurt poor people who don't pay those taxes.

Yes, I am relatively well off and actively support paying more tax myself. I would argue that we should target wealth as much as income, either way. Taxation is paying for a service: the service of living in a nice society. I want to pay to make the country nicer for me to exist in. I don't want people I meet to be struggling, I don't want people I care about to be suffering.

We don't have a lot of time, that's a reason to start now rather than delaying the solution even further: people will suffer the longer we pretend we can have the country function as a funnel to the wealthy instead of a place for people to live.