May 2, 2023

'They can survive just fine'

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/02/bernie-sanders-interview-chris-wallace-tax-rich

“Are you basically saying that once you get to $999m that the government should confiscate all the rest?” Matthews asked the US senator from Vermont, who is an independent but caucuses with Democrats and has helped them attain their current slim majority in the upper congressional chamber.
“Yeah,” Sanders replied. “You may disagree with me but, fine, I think people can make it on $999m. I think that they can survive just fine.”
Wallace had earlier mentioned how the late Sam Walton could make the giant retail chain Walmart the largest single private employer in the US thanks to his family’s net worth of about $225bn. Sanders countered that Walmart in many cases pays starvation wages to its 1.2 million employees despite how rich the Waltons are.
“Many of their workers are on Medicaid or food stamps,” Sanders said, referring to forms of government assistance for which low-income Americans can qualify. “In other words, taxpayers are subsidizing the wealthiest family in the country. Do I think that’s right? No, I don’t.”

Walmart is a good example of the damage megacorps do to the US. Jobs there were not "created"; Walmart replaced tons of local stores and small businesses with starvation-wage big box stores. Same with Amazon. Amazon does not create jobs, it replaces jobs, with working conditions that require people to pee in bottles because they don't have time for bathroom breaks. Meanwhile, the people at the head of these corps get to play with space-dildo tourism, and buying judges and politicians.

Demand for goods and services creates jobs. Capitalists just steal labor.

A belated May Day post. Happy International Labor Day!