It's not about the aggregate tax burden. You're a long-term value investor because you live in a country where stock trading is an easy and low-friction thing the average person can do. A 5% transaction tax isn't really compatible with that; we would end up regressing to the global norm, where stocks are an esoteric hobby for rich people and the normal way to save for retirement is a savings account or cash piles under your mattress.

>where stocks are an esoteric hobby for rich people

Isn't it something when here in the USA:

•Top 10% own 90% of stock marketcap

•Top 1% own 50% " "

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You were saying?

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I am healthily "median," which is somehow not middle class, anymore! My neighborhood is second-worse quintile =|

70%+ Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck (stat from 2022!) – it's higher on my suburban street (I'm one of only two, "not", out of dozens [i.e. with savings]).

USA! USA! USA! USA! U$A! USA! USA! U$A! U$A! U$A! U$A!