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I believe wealth tax is the best fix for the root cause of inequality. I see the root cause as being this observation: If you have power, you can use the threa

I believe wealth tax is the best fix for the root cause of inequality. I see the root cause as being this observation: If you have power, you can use the threat of it to make people do things for you. Wealth is liquid power, and the threat of using it doesn't spend it. The effect of that is that inequality has a natural tendency to grow: those with a little more can use that as leverage to get even more and repeat that process over and over. Widespread progressive taxation is the most effective tool I can think of to act as a damping force on that positive feedback loop.

_nalply 3y ago
I agree. How would you execute a wealth tax? People having power can avoid it by preventing legislation and after legislation by using loopholes.
- munificent 3y ago
  > People having power can avoid it by preventing legislation I think a fundamental precondition is a functioning democracy. The magic of democracy is that it subverts the usual dynamic of "wealth = power". The currency of democracy is votes and in an election, everyone has equal spending power to purchase the candidate they want. Of course, lobbying, campaign financing, and all sorts of other shenanigans undermine that. I don't have a good solution beyond pushing for more civic engagement.
  - Ographer 3y ago
    All of the forces working against democracy are driven by capitalism. We need to at least remove capitalist influence from government and social programs because our goal should be to maximize living conditions for all, not to maximize profit for a few. Otherwise, the US is run by and/or funded by institutions that are legally obligated to shareholders to maximize profit over human well-being, and the ultra-rich get to hide behind these frameworks to shield them from guilt. Like you said, I don't think there is a great way to fix this without an overhaul of the entire government and voting systems to return power to the people.
    - _nalply 3y ago
      Respectfully, I disagree. Forces working against democracy are driven by people wanting more power at the cost of the majority. These people can head companies. So it might look like capitalism is trying to infiltrate a democracy.

_nalply 3y ago

I agree. How would you execute a wealth tax? People having power can avoid it by preventing legislation and after legislation by using loopholes.

munificent 3y ago
> People having power can avoid it by preventing legislation I think a fundamental precondition is a functioning democracy. The magic of democracy is that it subverts the usual dynamic of "wealth = power". The currency of democracy is votes and in an election, everyone has equal spending power to purchase the candidate they want. Of course, lobbying, campaign financing, and all sorts of other shenanigans undermine that. I don't have a good solution beyond pushing for more civic engagement.
- Ographer 3y ago
  All of the forces working against democracy are driven by capitalism. We need to at least remove capitalist influence from government and social programs because our goal should be to maximize living conditions for all, not to maximize profit for a few. Otherwise, the US is run by and/or funded by institutions that are legally obligated to shareholders to maximize profit over human well-being, and the ultra-rich get to hide behind these frameworks to shield them from guilt. Like you said, I don't think there is a great way to fix this without an overhaul of the entire government and voting systems to return power to the people.
  - _nalply 3y ago
    Respectfully, I disagree. Forces working against democracy are driven by people wanting more power at the cost of the majority. These people can head companies. So it might look like capitalism is trying to infiltrate a democracy.