• pyre@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    the idea is that the guillotine is for the current ones.

    you can get rid of billionaires altogether by taxing 100% of every dollar above ten million, for example.

    • mustlovehuskies@lemmy.today
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      2 months ago

      Problem with that is it just transfers the money to the government, which is an own-goal for the people - look how it’s being used now, that’s how it’ll be used with any added tax. Trusting the government is just as foolish as trusting corporations or billionaires - and that goes for any government, honest people don’t become politicians. Going about it by way of tax just transfers power to the political system even more.

      For the people to have any power the government needs to have reduced power. The best way to address billionaires is to address the system that creates them - by constraining capitalism enough to prevent monopolies and concentration of executive power in any one person or small group.

      All corporations over 1,000 employees should be required to be employee owned co-ops with executive compensation approved by 70% employee vote.

      • pyre@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        no, trusting the government is not as foolish as trusting billionaires. I won’t take this Reagan crap. the government is about a million times more useful than all billionaires have ever been combined. and it has to answer to the people. billionaires don’t. unless you start making them answer.

        • mustlovehuskies@lemmy.today
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          2 months ago

          I take it you’re ok with $200bn to another pointless war in the Middle East? Countless billions wasted? Politicians answer to the people in theory, but not practice.

          • pyre@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            yes because that’s what i said. sorry to burst your bubble but they do answer to the people. this is literally what the people voted for. the fact that they didn’t think about it much doesn’t change this.

            • cobalt32@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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              2 months ago

              Have you considered that the people were only given two options, bad and worse? The bad option wasn’t working out for people, so they decided to try the worse one, and now we’re here.

              There are countless examples of the government ignoring popular demand. Extensive polling shows that most Americans support a wealth tax. It’s not going to happen because almost every politician is paid for by billionaires. Have you heard of super PACs?

              • pyre@lemmy.world
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                2 months ago

                this is just more argument for billionaires being worse than the government. remove moneyed interests and you’ll have a functioning government beholden to the people.

                • cobalt32@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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                  2 months ago

                  Government never has and never will be beholden to the people. When we put someone in a position of power, we become beholden to them. The whole idea that the people consent to being governed is ridiculous because we’re never given the option to vote against having a government.