6 ms·

This is a horrible idea, because it removes any reason for a billionaire to keep working, or to work harder. Spend nights and weekends at work for an extra mill

This is a horrible idea, because it removes any reason for a billionaire to keep working, or to work harder. Spend nights and weekends at work for an extra million, or spend it with your family because you won't spend the money anyways? People, in general, do not work for free.

foolrush 7y ago
They aren’t working. You will never be a billionaire, so stop defending them. “Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.”
- RhysU 7y ago
  No, I will never be a billionaire. But I am an incredibly rich man in other ways on account of my labors. Family, career, etc. And I shudder to think that someone might take away all the non-monetary wealth that I have accumulated by convincing others that they can never be as happy as I am.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - foolrush 7y ago
    Again, this is not about you. This is about you in as much as increasing the standard of living of you and your family’s medical, education, living, etc. The alien billionaire empathy narrative myth is being used against you.
- mhh__ 7y ago
  Socialism left millions dead, with those remaining knowing freedom only as an abstract concept.
  - y4mi 7y ago
    The same applies to religion if you consider our history. Every concept can be applied in a harmful way which profits the few and oppresses society.
    - mhh__ 7y ago
      Socialism cannot not do that due to the abolition of the pricing mechanism in favour of political power
      - DuskStar 7y ago
        > > Every concept can be applied in a harmful way which profits the few and oppresses society. > Socialism cannot not do that due to the abolition of the pricing mechanism in favour of political power I hope you're not serious, but in case you are... How can socialism not be used to oppress the many while enriching the few? You even included the mechanism - political power! You could argue that it doesn't have to, and I'd say that history does not give great odds on oppression not happening... But to say it can't do such a thing? That's insulting.
  - throwaway1906 7y ago
    Capitalism is working really hard to leave all of us -- and everything else on the planet -- dead, all in the pursuit of making the richest 10% richer.
    - mhh__ 7y ago
      Market liberalisation has caused poverty to collapse around the world over the last 30 years
  - foolrush 7y ago
    Grow up and look around the world. Socialized health care works //better// than what is in the USA. Socialized news production works //better// than what is in the USA. Socialized education works //better// than what is in the USA. Carry on parroting the Cold War ideology sold and peddled so that a percentage of a percentage point can continue to accelerate wealth hoarding at the expense of the majority’s health and well-being. This isn’t about emulating the USSR as you have been educated, but sane and vastly more just societies such as the multitude of other countries around the world.
- dang 7y ago
  Please don't take HN threads further into ideological flamewar. Those discussions are repetitive and therefore tedious and therefore off topic here. They also tend to get nasty. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
newen 7y ago
Why is it so bad for billionaires to stop working? Presumably, with the wealth cap or very progressive tax, the resources they would currently use to make the next million dollars would be spread out over a million people and those million people might make that next million dollars. If not, then you are saying that the billionaire would make the next million dollars more efficiently, right? Given that concentration of wealth is bad, isn't it better for the million people to make the next million dollars than the billionaire?
- DuskStar 7y ago
  Why do you assume that all work done by a billionaire can be substituted with work done by someone else? This isn't always true further down the spectrum - for instance, if you take away enough surgeons, some surgeries just won't be performed.
  - newen 7y ago
    You are saying that society needs certain people to have enormous sums of money to be better (however you define it, apparently you are saying that only these people can do certain things because they have individual control of large amounts of money; but I don't see how it's better than organizations, governmental or otherwise, having control of large sums of money) than a society where certain people are not enormously wealthy?
  - foolrush 7y ago
    Surgeons are not billionaires. Surgeons are trained. Billionaires are not magical unicorns, and in fact are byproducts of nothing more than birthright, chance, and a culture that cultivates them.
Iv 7y ago
I'd rather have a thousand competent people working toward their first million than a competent billionaire working toward his second billion. Also I have a huge doubt that billionaires keep working for the money incentive. Once you get that rich, it is not about money anymore.

foolrush 7y ago

They aren’t working. You will never be a billionaire, so stop defending them. “Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.”

RhysU 7y ago
No, I will never be a billionaire. But I am an incredibly rich man in other ways on account of my labors. Family, career, etc. And I shudder to think that someone might take away all the non-monetary wealth that I have accumulated by convincing others that they can never be as happy as I am.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- foolrush 7y ago
  Again, this is not about you. This is about you in as much as increasing the standard of living of you and your family’s medical, education, living, etc. The alien billionaire empathy narrative myth is being used against you.
mhh__ 7y ago
Socialism left millions dead, with those remaining knowing freedom only as an abstract concept.
- y4mi 7y ago
  The same applies to religion if you consider our history. Every concept can be applied in a harmful way which profits the few and oppresses society.
  - mhh__ 7y ago
    Socialism cannot not do that due to the abolition of the pricing mechanism in favour of political power
    - DuskStar 7y ago
      > > Every concept can be applied in a harmful way which profits the few and oppresses society. > Socialism cannot not do that due to the abolition of the pricing mechanism in favour of political power I hope you're not serious, but in case you are... How can socialism not be used to oppress the many while enriching the few? You even included the mechanism - political power! You could argue that it doesn't have to, and I'd say that history does not give great odds on oppression not happening... But to say it can't do such a thing? That's insulting.
- throwaway1906 7y ago
  Capitalism is working really hard to leave all of us -- and everything else on the planet -- dead, all in the pursuit of making the richest 10% richer.
  - mhh__ 7y ago
    Market liberalisation has caused poverty to collapse around the world over the last 30 years
- foolrush 7y ago
  Grow up and look around the world. Socialized health care works //better// than what is in the USA. Socialized news production works //better// than what is in the USA. Socialized education works //better// than what is in the USA. Carry on parroting the Cold War ideology sold and peddled so that a percentage of a percentage point can continue to accelerate wealth hoarding at the expense of the majority’s health and well-being. This isn’t about emulating the USSR as you have been educated, but sane and vastly more just societies such as the multitude of other countries around the world.
dang 7y ago
Please don't take HN threads further into ideological flamewar. Those discussions are repetitive and therefore tedious and therefore off topic here. They also tend to get nasty. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

newen 7y ago

Why is it so bad for billionaires to stop working? Presumably, with the wealth cap or very progressive tax, the resources they would currently use to make the next million dollars would be spread out over a million people and those million people might make that next million dollars. If not, then you are saying that the billionaire would make the next million dollars more efficiently, right? Given that concentration of wealth is bad, isn't it better for the million people to make the next million dollars than the billionaire?

DuskStar 7y ago
Why do you assume that all work done by a billionaire can be substituted with work done by someone else? This isn't always true further down the spectrum - for instance, if you take away enough surgeons, some surgeries just won't be performed.
- newen 7y ago
  You are saying that society needs certain people to have enormous sums of money to be better (however you define it, apparently you are saying that only these people can do certain things because they have individual control of large amounts of money; but I don't see how it's better than organizations, governmental or otherwise, having control of large sums of money) than a society where certain people are not enormously wealthy?
- foolrush 7y ago
  Surgeons are not billionaires. Surgeons are trained. Billionaires are not magical unicorns, and in fact are byproducts of nothing more than birthright, chance, and a culture that cultivates them.

Iv 7y ago

I'd rather have a thousand competent people working toward their first million than a competent billionaire working toward his second billion. Also I have a huge doubt that billionaires keep working for the money incentive. Once you get that rich, it is not about money anymore.