4 ms·

It's oversimplification which can only lead you to the foggy world of conspiracy theories. Modern society is complex, and full of conflicting interests, and tha

It's oversimplification which can only lead you to the foggy world of conspiracy theories. Modern society is complex, and full of conflicting interests, and that's why two evil dictators may have different kind of favors from US, or whatever country. There's for example a significant voting block which supports sanctioning Cuba, and absolute majority of them are not billionaires. Taking Venezuela case: as potential Russian win would send an encouraging signal to other expansionist regimes, including some who are absolutely willing to be US enemies, and big enough to make troubles, it's becoming more important to deal with bigger problem (compared to Venezuelan regime). There's an obvious solution to these ugly choice of whom of all bad guys to pay more for oil: let domestic extraction industry to increase development. But it happened so that a significant voting block supports diminishing of domestic extraction, and the ruling party doesn't want to annoy them as they have enough troubles without it. So suddenly its not only a game of capitals, but also of ideologies, family roots, voting strategies, and a lot of other elements. Some people say that is how democracy works in every big society. Also, on a side note: Netanyahu may be good, or not, but he is most definitely not a dictator.

jmyeet 4y ago
> ... absolute majority of them are not billionaires. I see two big factors in play here: 1. The widespread belief in American exceptionalism, once characterized as every American thinks of themselves as a temporarily embarrassed millionaire [1]; and 2. The power of propaganda. The number of low-income people who will fight to the hilt that Jeff Bezos shouldn't pay slightly more taxes to pay for the society that made his wealth possible and continues to make it possible is astounding. [1]: http://www.temporarilyembarrassedmillionaires.org/ http://www.temporarilyembarrassedmillionaires.org/
- jrsj 4y ago
  I think 2 can be complicated as well. Increasing his tax liability along with many other very wealthy people basically requires taxing unrealized gains, which if applied to less wealthy people in the future could be very bad for them. I’d like to see something that specifically targets the loophole of borrowing against stocks & repaying by taking additional loans and selling only assets which have declined in price.
- propernoun 4y ago
  [2] is only "astounding" if you don't take the time to understand peoples' political philosophies, and I can probably guess your political leanings if you believe [1] causes [2] or that "poor people" can only be intrinsically motivated. I don't know any millionaires but I know plenty of people who think it's wrong for the government to confiscate wealth, who you seem to classify as "temporarily embarrassed millionaires." I'm sure some people think they'll get rich (looking at you crypto bros) but a lot of people simply think it's none of your or the governments business how much money other people have and what they do with it.
hueyluey 4y ago
>Netanyahu may be good, or not, but he is most definitely not a dictator He's not a dictator for the israelis, but let's not forget that he rules over an apartheid state and for the palestinians (who don't get to vote, don't get to have their own country and yet get opressed by his rule) he is a dictator.
- swearwolf 4y ago
  The fact that this is being downvoted is telling.

jmyeet 4y ago

> ... absolute majority of them are not billionaires. I see two big factors in play here: 1. The widespread belief in American exceptionalism, once characterized as every American thinks of themselves as a temporarily embarrassed millionaire [1]; and 2. The power of propaganda. The number of low-income people who will fight to the hilt that Jeff Bezos shouldn't pay slightly more taxes to pay for the society that made his wealth possible and continues to make it possible is astounding. [1]: http://www.temporarilyembarrassedmillionaires.org/ http://www.temporarilyembarrassedmillionaires.org/

jrsj 4y ago
I think 2 can be complicated as well. Increasing his tax liability along with many other very wealthy people basically requires taxing unrealized gains, which if applied to less wealthy people in the future could be very bad for them. I’d like to see something that specifically targets the loophole of borrowing against stocks & repaying by taking additional loans and selling only assets which have declined in price.
propernoun 4y ago
[2] is only "astounding" if you don't take the time to understand peoples' political philosophies, and I can probably guess your political leanings if you believe [1] causes [2] or that "poor people" can only be intrinsically motivated. I don't know any millionaires but I know plenty of people who think it's wrong for the government to confiscate wealth, who you seem to classify as "temporarily embarrassed millionaires." I'm sure some people think they'll get rich (looking at you crypto bros) but a lot of people simply think it's none of your or the governments business how much money other people have and what they do with it.

hueyluey 4y ago

>Netanyahu may be good, or not, but he is most definitely not a dictator He's not a dictator for the israelis, but let's not forget that he rules over an apartheid state and for the palestinians (who don't get to vote, don't get to have their own country and yet get opressed by his rule) he is a dictator.

swearwolf 4y ago
The fact that this is being downvoted is telling.