system
A chat on subreddit /r/NoStupidQuestions
human
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by ignorance.
gpt
In this case, however, both are at play.  


People are genuinely ignorant of how graduated taxes work.  Zero doubt.  


But some politicians and political entities find that perception useful to manipulate people to get what they want, and thus encourage that ignorance.  


Assuming things are mutually exclusive when they are not is an all too common logical fallacy.  False dichotomy, I think it is called?