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Why is this argument never in the other direction? There’s just not enough money to make people into millionaires and billionaires. It’s always trouncing on the

Why is this argument never in the other direction? There’s just not enough money to make people into millionaires and billionaires. It’s always trouncing on the lower classes. Am I going crazy or are we collectively witnessing the birth of a neo feudal class? I wasn’t around during the aftermath of WW2 but people believed in democracy and liberal values without stuffing the coffers of the rich right?

edflsafoiewq 4y ago
Well, it doesn't work in the other direction. If you have a million dollars you have enough to make one millionaire. But you don't have nearly enough to raise a million people's wages.
- addicted 4y ago
  You’ve got it completely backwards. At least for the US. The top 1% in the US has 32% of the wealth. The next 9% has 37% of the wealth. So basically the top 10% have 70% of the wealth and the bottom 90% have 30% of the wealth. You can literally double the bottom 90%’s wealth by simply redistributing half the top 10%’a wealth. And the top 10% would continue to remain among the wealthiest human beings in the history of human civilization. But if you were to redistribute all of the bottom 90%’s wealth, you wouldn’t make even a dent in anyone’s situation. And that’s even before we consider the massively declining marginal value of the dollar for a billionaire vs someone in the bottom 90% of the US economic system.
  - ars 4y ago
    You misunderstood my point. Imagine you did that, you doubled their money, and you made it permanent - all the bottom 90% get a huge wage increase. What does this do to the cost of goods? It makes everything more expensive! So they are no better off that before. That's basically what is happening today - wages are going up, and everything costs more. "Wage Growth in the United States averaged 6.20 percent from 1960 until 2022, reaching an all time high of 15.31 percent in April of 2021" "Wage growth for workers in lower-wage industries has slowed from 11.4% in August 2021 to 7.6% in January 2022." The worst part is that inflation is growing faster than wages, presumably because there is more going on than just wage growth.
ars 4y ago
You completely missed my point. If you pay the lower income people more, then things cost more, and they have to pay more to get things. Which makes their income increase worthless. You've increased the number in their bank account, but have made zero change in their situation. And, to answer your question, the reason it doesn't work the other way is that the wealthy don't make anything, so their income doesn't change the cost of goods. (At least not directly - they make money on capital, so their income essentially acts as interest.)

edflsafoiewq 4y ago

Well, it doesn't work in the other direction. If you have a million dollars you have enough to make one millionaire. But you don't have nearly enough to raise a million people's wages.

addicted 4y ago
You’ve got it completely backwards. At least for the US. The top 1% in the US has 32% of the wealth. The next 9% has 37% of the wealth. So basically the top 10% have 70% of the wealth and the bottom 90% have 30% of the wealth. You can literally double the bottom 90%’s wealth by simply redistributing half the top 10%’a wealth. And the top 10% would continue to remain among the wealthiest human beings in the history of human civilization. But if you were to redistribute all of the bottom 90%’s wealth, you wouldn’t make even a dent in anyone’s situation. And that’s even before we consider the massively declining marginal value of the dollar for a billionaire vs someone in the bottom 90% of the US economic system.
- ars 4y ago
  You misunderstood my point. Imagine you did that, you doubled their money, and you made it permanent - all the bottom 90% get a huge wage increase. What does this do to the cost of goods? It makes everything more expensive! So they are no better off that before. That's basically what is happening today - wages are going up, and everything costs more. "Wage Growth in the United States averaged 6.20 percent from 1960 until 2022, reaching an all time high of 15.31 percent in April of 2021" "Wage growth for workers in lower-wage industries has slowed from 11.4% in August 2021 to 7.6% in January 2022." The worst part is that inflation is growing faster than wages, presumably because there is more going on than just wage growth.

ars 4y ago

You completely missed my point. If you pay the lower income people more, then things cost more, and they have to pay more to get things. Which makes their income increase worthless. You've increased the number in their bank account, but have made zero change in their situation. And, to answer your question, the reason it doesn't work the other way is that the wealthy don't make anything, so their income doesn't change the cost of goods. (At least not directly - they make money on capital, so their income essentially acts as interest.)