There are ways to justify this (decreasing marginal tax rates are consistent with optimal tax theory, as you get the incentive effect without the reduction in revenue on the hours that people would work anyway), but in general I'm kinda worried about tax policy being driven by memetics. Becomes a complexity nightmare.

It's a fine balance indeed. Optimal tax theory supports incentivizing productivity, but policy oversimplified into catchy narratives risks missing nuance and fosters a superficial understanding. Tax reform needs depth and careful consideration, beyond the sway of popular slogans.