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You didn’t explicitly make this argument, but it sounds like you believe estate taxes are a feasible and effective way to redistribute accumulated wealth that w

You didn’t explicitly make this argument, but it sounds like you believe estate taxes are a feasible and effective way to redistribute accumulated wealth that would forestall a “torches and pitchforks” historical moment. I… don’t see any evidence to believe this would be the case. Also, you’re comparing a historical pandemic that killed possibly half of the world’s (edit: Europe’s) population to the present pandemic which has killed 0.06% of the world population, at least 2/3 of whom were beyond normal working age. Sorry, I don’t see the connection.

cletus 5y ago
Estate taxes are ineffective as written at least right now in the US because they're too easy to avoid. But the idea of avoiding massive generational wealth is really what's key. It's just bad for society. As for the Covid-19 vs the Black Plague, the similarity isn't in raw deaths (obviously). It's more that the plague (and possibly Covid) was a massive triggering event for social change and structural changes to the labour market. The last year and a half has taught us that going into the office is, for the most part, a fucking pointless waste of time at best and simply a means of exercising control at worst, for a huge chunk of the jobs out there. So you're seeing now a lot of pressure on wages as a result of increased labour mobility (effectively). Whether or not this is temporary remains to be seen. The optimist in me hopes it isn't temporary and it's part of a larger shift towards worker rights and living conditions.