What should we do? Where do we go from here?

> you're saying nominal tax rates have no correlation to effective tax rates?

For the rich, yes. Across societies. Despotic regimes have ridiculously high nominal tax rates because they just steal stuff, but that only applies to the poor.

No, I'm saying that the marginal rates you're salivating over produced effective rates on the highest earners that weren't much different from today.