Jason Y: Another thought is that having a 1 percent isn’t so bad – if only they’d throw out bigger scraps. Isn’t that the Trump message?
You are always going to have a 1% in most societies, surely in all capitalist societies. Even Sweden has some very rich people there. It’s just that the rich in places like Sweden are a lot less rich compared to the rich here. Things are much more equal over there. Most people are more or less some version of middle class. Very rich and very poor people are not common.
The rich will never throw out larger scraps to everyone else. Why should they? Give me one reason why the rich would ever throw out larger scraps for everyone else. What for?
To be nice? I got some news for you. Rich people aren’t very nice. If they were nice, they wouldn’t be rich. They didn’t get rich by being nice. In fact, most of them got rich by being quite the opposite. In any capitalist society the rich are among the worst people in the country. Capitalism is like a pond – the scum rises to the top.
Of course that is Trump’s message though in a sense – trickle down economics. Trickle down economics says that the more money you give to the rich, the more they will share it with the rest of us. It is truly amazing how many White Americans I have met who actually believe this tripe. One thing I have noted is that this year I have seen more Americans catching on to the scam of supply side economics and the general insanity of Republican economics than ever before.
You can’t fool all the people all the time.
And I would add another – you can’t fool people forever.
My attitude is that I don’t care if some people are rich. We had rich people in the 1950’s when we had a 90% marginal tax rate on millionaires. That’s fine with me. But those who have must share with those who have not. If they don’t want to, fine, then we the People (the State) will simply use force to take money away from the rich and give it to everyone else. That means guns, cops, agents, the threat of incarceration, and especially taxation.
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Isn’t it funny how the conservatives worship the American 1950s?
Pareto distribution is the nature’s distribution. 1% is natural. Humans amongst animals are the 1%. We have progressed so much in technology and capabilities that higher tax rate to the 1% makes sense. It is not like just a bunch of landowners and low skilled serfs with a few artisans and intellectuals of the past.
The person above is a leftist ???
Many rich people become philanthropist. They give away a lot or most of their money. Why is that capitalists like Bill Gates ruthlessly accumulate wealth, use every trick in the book to minimize their taxes, try to keep labor costs down by hiring immigrants, and then give away most of their money to charity? Answer: when they pay taxes, they don’t get credit for it because taxes are obligatory, but when they practice philanthropy, they will be perceived as generous because it is voluntary.
In terms of reputation, philanthropy is more advantageous than paying taxes. Suppose that Peter has an income of 2 million, pays 1 million in taxes, and donates nothing to charity. Now suppose that Paul also makes 2 million, keeps his tax down to 200,000,Just as providing security should be and donates 500,000 to charity. Who will enjoy a better reputation? Most likely it will be Paul.
I agree with the left that private charity should be unnecessary. It can be unnecessary if the state runs a generous (but not incentive-killing) welfare state financed by progressive (but not confiscatory) taxation. Just as providing security and administering justice should be government jobs, so poverty alleviation and income security should be the responsibility of the state.
The Republican party plays to homophobia, sissy-phobia so better to side with the rich whom you think will give you a job – then accept a bunch of crap which makes a NASCAR fan puke.
Where is Trash? Hope he wasn’t insulted. I didn’t mean to insult him. I wasn’t really, just being honest. I like him. He’s a nice guy (in some ways).