The framing of "progressive tax" is backwards. The wealthy use the least amount of government services and entitlements (by a lot), yet per capita they pay the most for those (by a lot). A mere flat tax is progressive in nature for this reason. Additionally, since everybody moralizes that since the wealthy can spare more money they should pay the most, maybe people should moralize fairly and also say that since the non-wealthy use most of the proceeds of taxes, they should pay the most.

The public's misunderstanding of this is partly rooted in the media's ignorance on income data. Notice that they never reference a multitude of relevant factors, like benefits or age. Or that the vast majority of the wealthy's capital is in investment form, which is another way of saying making-cheaper-products form.

I'm amazed by two things: (1) at how extreme socialist so much of the West is, and (2) how I used to be an extreme socialist. I think the reason I talk economics a lot is that reading what economists think is the only real reason why I'm no longer a Marxist Leninist Fascist Communist. Yes those are all the same thing. All are collectivism and centralization. The only differences are window dressing.