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I believe our society would be healthier if there were only three or four orders of magnitude between the wealth of the richest and poorest households in our na

I believe our society would be healthier if there were only three or four orders of magnitude between the wealth of the richest and poorest households in our nation. Thus taxing billionaires is a Good Thing (TM) regardless of what the money is spent on. What gets done with the proceeds is just icing on the cake. Money is power, and an over-concentration of power is antithetical to a democratic society. Bill Gates makes a show of his charitable spending, rehabilitating his reputation as a ruthless, unscrupulous empire-builder, meanwhile every year he gets richer.

manigandham 7y ago
True, money is a form of power. But now you're giving more monetary power to politicians who already have political power. Isn't that concentrating it further into fewer hands?
- istjohn 7y ago
  To state the obvious, in a democracy, politicians are elected, so the power they wield ultimately redounds to the citizenry.
  - manigandham 7y ago
    That issue is that even fewer individuals will have more power, which is the single biggest challenge to democracy in the first place. I'd much prefer taking money out of politics so that large wealth cant influence govt, at least before any changes to taxes.
foogazi 7y ago
> I believe our society would be healthier if there were only three or four orders of magnitude between the wealth of the richest and poorest households in our nation. Thus taxing billionaires is a Good Thing (TM) regardless of what the money is spent on. It’s always about dragging down instead of pulling up
- CharlesColeman 7y ago
  >> I believe our society would be healthier if there were only three or four orders of magnitude between the wealth of the richest and poorest households in our nation. Thus taxing billionaires is a Good Thing (TM) regardless of what the money is spent on. > It’s always about dragging down instead of pulling up Ok, tell me how you could reduce wealth disparity to only "three or four orders of magnitude" by "pulling up," without doing something daft like printing money and distributing it until the billionaires' wealth is inflated away? Some real problems are not solvable by win-win solutions.
  - manigandham 7y ago
    Because disparity is not the problem. Raising the standard of living at the bottom is what matters, and putting in proper safeguards so that those at the top cannot greatly interfere in things like government. Spend better (education, healthcare, etc) while removing money from politics. It would actually cost less and we could lower taxes for once for the rest of us.
    - CharlesColeman 7y ago
      > Because disparity is not the problem. That's debatable. Many people think it is a problem, or at least an undesirable situation. > Raising the standard of living at the bottom is what matters, and putting in proper safeguards so that those at the top cannot greatly interfere in things like government. Easier said than done. It may be impossible or impractical to neuter the political power that comes with economic power.
      - manigandham 7y ago
        Why would they unless they are suffering at the bottom? How does it actually affect you? Or is it just envy of those who have more? If political power is created from economic power, then you're just transfering even more power to politicians by creating wealth taxes. It is concentrating it further.

manigandham 7y ago

True, money is a form of power. But now you're giving more monetary power to politicians who already have political power. Isn't that concentrating it further into fewer hands?

istjohn 7y ago
To state the obvious, in a democracy, politicians are elected, so the power they wield ultimately redounds to the citizenry.
- manigandham 7y ago
  That issue is that even fewer individuals will have more power, which is the single biggest challenge to democracy in the first place. I'd much prefer taking money out of politics so that large wealth cant influence govt, at least before any changes to taxes.

foogazi 7y ago

> I believe our society would be healthier if there were only three or four orders of magnitude between the wealth of the richest and poorest households in our nation. Thus taxing billionaires is a Good Thing (TM) regardless of what the money is spent on. It’s always about dragging down instead of pulling up

CharlesColeman 7y ago
>> I believe our society would be healthier if there were only three or four orders of magnitude between the wealth of the richest and poorest households in our nation. Thus taxing billionaires is a Good Thing (TM) regardless of what the money is spent on. > It’s always about dragging down instead of pulling up Ok, tell me how you could reduce wealth disparity to only "three or four orders of magnitude" by "pulling up," without doing something daft like printing money and distributing it until the billionaires' wealth is inflated away? Some real problems are not solvable by win-win solutions.
- manigandham 7y ago
  Because disparity is not the problem. Raising the standard of living at the bottom is what matters, and putting in proper safeguards so that those at the top cannot greatly interfere in things like government. Spend better (education, healthcare, etc) while removing money from politics. It would actually cost less and we could lower taxes for once for the rest of us.
  - CharlesColeman 7y ago
    > Because disparity is not the problem. That's debatable. Many people think it is a problem, or at least an undesirable situation. > Raising the standard of living at the bottom is what matters, and putting in proper safeguards so that those at the top cannot greatly interfere in things like government. Easier said than done. It may be impossible or impractical to neuter the political power that comes with economic power.
    - manigandham 7y ago
      Why would they unless they are suffering at the bottom? How does it actually affect you? Or is it just envy of those who have more? If political power is created from economic power, then you're just transfering even more power to politicians by creating wealth taxes. It is concentrating it further.