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Raise taxes on rich people, rich people leave the country or invest offshore; or put it into advertising to make sure not one involved politician wins an electi

Raise taxes on rich people, rich people leave the country or invest offshore; or put it into advertising to make sure not one involved politician wins an election ever again. What is $1 billion to destroy a political career over $10 billion in taxes?

sjsdaiuasgdia 2y ago
This is a great argument for why we should find ways, as a society, to prevent people from reaching such a level of ultra-wealth in the first place.
- gjsman-1000 2y ago
  Or accept, and recognize, that things kind of go both ways: The rich can be exploitative of the poor relative to themselves and heavily motivated by greed; But it can be equally true that the poor hate the rich with motivations based on greed and envy themselves. Poor people, ironically, can be extremely greedy, more greedy than many wealthy people - they aren’t incompatible. I’m not taking sides on this one.
  - sjsdaiuasgdia 2y ago
    I agree that it goes both ways, in the sense that I support UBI. As I think there is a level of wealth that society has an interest in preventing anyone being above, I also think there is a level of poverty that society has an interest in preventing anyone being below.
Loughla 2y ago
So because they can fuck us so hard, we should let them keep fucking us. What an odd argument.
9dev 2y ago
That’s just FUD. Do you see Bezos leaving the country for Argentina? Yeah, me neither. What’s the alternative you’re proposing? Just accept our new billionaire overlords?
- gjsman-1000 2y ago
  Ask why the billionaire overlords are a problem first. Is it because they subvert the will of the people, and subvert what is good? If so, I agree, they must be stopped. Is it just the principle of the thing, how dare they be so rich, when so many people aren’t? If so, that’s envy, and cannot be accepted.
  - 9dev 2y ago
    The former; by amassing that much money, they gain the ability to both exploit the system to their personal gain, and shape it to their personal preferences, which grow ever less aligned with those of the general population. We're on our way to a techno-feudalism right now.
acdha 2y ago
They aren’t leaving the country easily: not paying taxes would mean selling their properties, relocating their businesses, and renouncing their citizenship. Most of the alternatives have higher tax rates, fewer economic options, or both – and they lose significant benefits like preferential access to the U.S. government. Anyone who wanted to pay 0% could already become a citizen of Anguilla, Barbados, etc. but the fact that most haven’t suggests that there is more to the decision than sorting by tax rate and picking the lowest. > put it into advertising to make sure not one involved politician wins an election ever again. That’s what happened in 2024 and we are facing rising inflation and a severe recession in the middle of a constitutional crisis. It’s unclear to me why anyone would think that the people who orchestrated that should be catered to.

sjsdaiuasgdia 2y ago

This is a great argument for why we should find ways, as a society, to prevent people from reaching such a level of ultra-wealth in the first place.

gjsman-1000 2y ago
Or accept, and recognize, that things kind of go both ways: The rich can be exploitative of the poor relative to themselves and heavily motivated by greed; But it can be equally true that the poor hate the rich with motivations based on greed and envy themselves. Poor people, ironically, can be extremely greedy, more greedy than many wealthy people - they aren’t incompatible. I’m not taking sides on this one.
- sjsdaiuasgdia 2y ago
  I agree that it goes both ways, in the sense that I support UBI. As I think there is a level of wealth that society has an interest in preventing anyone being above, I also think there is a level of poverty that society has an interest in preventing anyone being below.

Loughla 2y ago

So because they can fuck us so hard, we should let them keep fucking us. What an odd argument.

9dev 2y ago

That’s just FUD. Do you see Bezos leaving the country for Argentina? Yeah, me neither. What’s the alternative you’re proposing? Just accept our new billionaire overlords?

gjsman-1000 2y ago
Ask why the billionaire overlords are a problem first. Is it because they subvert the will of the people, and subvert what is good? If so, I agree, they must be stopped. Is it just the principle of the thing, how dare they be so rich, when so many people aren’t? If so, that’s envy, and cannot be accepted.
- 9dev 2y ago
  The former; by amassing that much money, they gain the ability to both exploit the system to their personal gain, and shape it to their personal preferences, which grow ever less aligned with those of the general population. We're on our way to a techno-feudalism right now.

acdha 2y ago

They aren’t leaving the country easily: not paying taxes would mean selling their properties, relocating their businesses, and renouncing their citizenship. Most of the alternatives have higher tax rates, fewer economic options, or both – and they lose significant benefits like preferential access to the U.S. government. Anyone who wanted to pay 0% could already become a citizen of Anguilla, Barbados, etc. but the fact that most haven’t suggests that there is more to the decision than sorting by tax rate and picking the lowest. > put it into advertising to make sure not one involved politician wins an election ever again. That’s what happened in 2024 and we are facing rising inflation and a severe recession in the middle of a constitutional crisis. It’s unclear to me why anyone would think that the people who orchestrated that should be catered to.