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Your claim is that John Paulson is contributing 5 orders of magnitude more to society than teachers, social workers, police officers, firefighters, construction
by jfager 17y ago
Your claim is that John Paulson is contributing 5 orders of magnitude more to society than teachers, social workers, police officers, firefighters, construction workers, engineers, nurses, and soldiers?
- ryanwaggoner 17y agoIt seems a bit intellectually unfair to pit one specific person against a bunch of vague groups of people that we generally hold favorable views towards. In the aggregate, I think one can make the case that the wealthy contribute more to society than the poor, in the form of jobs, capital, etc. How do you determine value to a society other than through what the society is willing to pay? And if those other jobs were worth more to society, presumably we'd pay people more to do them.
- jfager 17y agoA man was paid $6b for winning a bet against homeowners and the entire financial industry. It is relevant to point that out, because it directly contradicts the idea that a person's wealth is proportional to what they've contributed. And it's not like similar situations are hard to find (though his is a much more dramatic example than most). What's intellectually dishonest is pretending that money is the only way to measure value.
- ryanwaggoner 17y agoAre you seriously arguing that millions of people should be taxed more on the basis of what one person may have done?
- jfager 17y agoAre you seriously suggesting only one person has gotten wealthy without contributing to society?
- ryanwaggoner 17y agoNo, but you seem to be arguing for a broader trend or application of the principle on an anecdote related to one person (and a pretty flimsy anecdote at that). Show me some data.