I got this earlier today, from a reader:

Jonah, a few years ago, I lived in Manhattan (we met briefly one year at a cocktail hour at some bar on 2nd Av when I was at [job description withheld]). My bride and I together were pulling down about 400k per year. (btw, we didn’t feel rich, we didn’t act rich, and Bernie Madoff never took us into his confidence, either.)
At the same time, every dollar we earned was being taxed about 50% (I mean, taxed where I could see it being taxed) . So who were we working for? Everything we bought, we were buying one just like it for somebody else. I decided then (probably 2002 or 2003) that I wouldn’t do that any more. So I deliberately changed my career strategy to move into jobs that paid progressively less. After 2 such job changes, we left New York for CT. Our income now is about 130k and soon I will leave my 80k job for real retirement. Yeah, I have a pension and some other assets (dwindling) that can produce income. But I think I’ve succeeded in minimizing my income – and therefore my tax burden. And yeah, I’m at a stage in my life where my strategy is practical and I know most people aren’t. But so far it’s working for me.

And this came in just a minute ago:

Jonah:
I don’t believe Stephen Benen would be happy if I and other anesthesiologists simply worked less – because we maxed out on low taxes.
I work a lot of overtime, for MONEY.
Without this incentive, people like Benen would be waiting in line for surgery
Sincerely,
Frank