1. Should we ban billionaires?
But it’s also impractical because there’s no reasonable way to value many of those assets. For instance, I might be worth millions of dollars. I have no idea what Orcam Financial Group, my company, is actually worth. But let’s be crazy and assume that the IRS says my firm is worth $50 million . A socialist utopia where no one invests and the government just hands out thousands of dollars is not a real thing. Investment is the element of the economy that makes the entire financial system work. Without people investing and spending for future production, we’d all just be borrowing more and more money to consume finite resources and inevitably inflating the value of the money away.
For instance, at just 2% per year, your investment of just one $5,000 investment grows to $170 million over 527 years. Of course, you need investment to generate the real return and, without it, your $5,000 just withers away.
cullenroche Earned or not, billionaires hoard cash while millions starve. Simple as that. Taxing likely won’t change much unless billionaires decide that they can do good deeds with their money that doesn’t effect the profitability of their capital investments.
cullenroche Perhaps the misunderstanding is in the definition of the word “work.” Watching the increase in the market value of one’s capital investments doesn’t necessarily fit the definition of the word as many people understand it.
cullenroche That other *billionaires then placed a market value on, creating a cycle where money stays with the wealthy. Nothing trickles down.
cullenroche Bezos didn't invest billions. He came upon a concept that he could use logistics to sell stuff unlIke bricks & mortar stores. He built Amazon using labor borrowed money & technology. His wealth a result of analysts valuing his stock. Didn't do it alone to claim everything.
cullenroche I think the real issue is that many of the billionaires are cronies of the banking elite....cronies of the Deep State and 'sponsored' on their way to riches for their obedience to the grand plan
cullenroche What would you say you do for America, billionaires? Billionaires:
cullenroche Isn't most of Bezo's wealth based the value of Amazon stocks. It's not like he's hoarding piles of cash like Scrooge or something
cullenroche Oh so sad for billionaires. Should we start a go fund me page? Oh my heart breaks. Sorry dipshits , there is a point where your wealth is disgusting. And while you rake in billions, you reduce health care for the actual workers. You just collect $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
cullenroche Both the notion of 'banning billionaires' and the practice of heaping innumerable treasures into our vaults are deleterious to the propagation of a sustainable civilization. The people grow idle and the largesse of the patricians grows cold in a moribund empire.
cullenroche Good point, no one is saying billionaires don't work. However, billionaires don't pay their fair share in taxes on the income they generate while many Americans who are poor are over taxed. And, there in lies the problem.
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cullenroche This is true yes, but economics and human motivation can be irrational. I think the point is that even while the billions were earned legitimately, for the sake of social stability, some of that wealth might be sacrificed
cullenroche At least 25% of billionaires just inherited their wealth. What did the Walton kids do?
cullenroche I agree 100% But they are not entirely wrong in reasoning. The lower class is growing steadily and the middle class is paying a lot of taxes. The solution must come from a partnership between public corporations and the government with strings attached for a win win WIN
cullenroche It’s not the earnings that piss us off. It’s the tax evasion.
cullenroche I thought Jim Jones had some kool aid...
cullenroche Well, billionaires have 'earned' it. But, the workers who make minimum or close-to-it wages are integral to having gotten those billionaires where they are. Plus, with $AMZN being a now-stagnant stock, Bezos needs to issue a dividend. $SBUX has for a while, and their stock is up
cullenroche Nope.
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