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In reply to the discussion: Agree or disagree? [View all]

ProfessorGAC

(64,850 posts)
13. Disagree
Sun May 23, 2021, 05:28 PM
May 2021

First, there are many billionaires doing important monetary thing to help the less fortunate. If they weren't billionaires, they would have to help less.
Second, the slogan is hyperbolic nonsense. Musk is worth $150-180 billion, depending upon whose estimate we go with.
If 20% of people are in food distress, or homeless (both) that's 65-70 million people.
If Musk gave 100%, at assumed face value, it would be $2,500 (at most) for every single person.
That doesn't solve hunger or homelessness.
If all used toward hunger, it would last 18-24 months and we'd be back to baseline. (Bad). And, solves homelessness, not at all.
Flip it, and it provides (depending on location) 3-8 months of housing. But, no food.
Combine the two and we address homelessness for 4 months & hunger for less than a year. That's not a solution. It's a band aid.
The solution should be taxes on gains, realized or not. This has the benefit of increased governmental revenues, a stimulus to the markets, and an increase in the velocity of money.
I disagree that the only solution is to ban wealth. That strikes me as needlessly screechy anticapitalist rhetoric, and facilitates no long term solutions.

Agree or disagree? [View all] True Dough May 2021 OP
Agree 100%... JoeOtterbein May 2021 #1
Agree. n/t Glorfindel May 2021 #2
Agree 100% BlueJac May 2021 #3
"Louder for those in the back...!" nt EarthFirst May 2021 #4
Agree with sentiment, but doubt any billionaire or group of them could end hunger, homelessness, Hoyt May 2021 #5
It's sloganeering DFW May 2021 #10
Sure you had to go and do the math..lol EX500rider May 2021 #27
There are 614 billionaires in America x 3 I think that will put a dent in the issue uponit7771 May 2021 #47
Ok, so confiscate every last penny from those 614 billionaires robbob May 2021 #56
nah, lets say half of assets or just stop investing in them and implement a progressive tax ... uponit7771 May 2021 #57
I heard this on Chris Hayes bdamomma May 2021 #65
Agree. Boomerproud May 2021 #6
Agree 100% StrictlyRockers May 2021 #7
Agree. smirkymonkey May 2021 #8
No amount of money could feed and house everyone. There'd still have to be enough food and housing. Towlie May 2021 #9
So, why try, right? Wednesdays May 2021 #43
Wealth is waste. n/t spike jones May 2021 #11
FDR invested almost his entire fortune in Warm Springs GA for care of polio victims bucolic_frolic May 2021 #12
Disagree ProfessorGAC May 2021 #13
It's a danger to let memes express one's outrage, ain't it? marble falls May 2021 #17
Well the real irony is that all of these folks expressing their outrage are doing so grantcart May 2021 #19
"facilitates no long term solutions" Martin Eden May 2021 #20
The wealth should be better shared with the laborers that created it. Yavin4 May 2021 #21
ceo pay is way out of whack. pansypoo53219 May 2021 #31
I'm In! ProfessorGAC May 2021 #34
In all my working years I only worked once for a company that had a profit sharing plan. CrispyQ May 2021 #46
For some, it has nothing to do with loss of money. Ka-Dinh Oy May 2021 #54
New managers make their bones by cutting costs. Yavin4 May 2021 #55
Agreed. paleotn May 2021 #22
Professor GAC is 100% correct. AZ8theist May 2021 #32
I actually agree mvd May 2021 #52
+1000 USALiberal May 2021 #53
I agree with Warren, get 2% of assets over 50 million and that helps pay for a lot of stuff. We ... uponit7771 May 2021 #58
Agree! /nt Bird Lady May 2021 #14
Agree 100%! n/t Upthevibe May 2021 #15
I LIKE SPACESHIPS HOWEVER.... YoshidaYui May 2021 #16
Wealth does weird things to people's minds. paleotn May 2021 #18
Imagine spaceships plus housing & food security. Devil Child May 2021 #23
AGREE 1,000 times secondwind May 2021 #24
individual billionaires are small fry compared to the biggest asset management firms and banks Celerity May 2021 #25
Good perspective True Dough May 2021 #26
it's nightmarishly complex, especially when you start to deal w/ OTC, nonexchange-traded derivatives Celerity May 2021 #29
Thank you Celerity! Devil Child May 2021 #33
Ahh, Bezos. I bet he'd trade it all for a nice full head of hair... calimary May 2021 #51
Agree!!! pazzyanne May 2021 #28
The OP doesn't show feeding the hungry as an option.. Permanut May 2021 #30
Good point. Hoyt May 2021 #35
Disagree... brooklynite May 2021 #36
The scale of who can pay for what is out of whack here Silent3 May 2021 #37
Agree 💯 I_UndergroundPanther May 2021 #38
Ck this graphic ... Duppers May 2021 #39
Right. I use Amazon a lot and I like Amazon. BUT... PatrickforB May 2021 #45
Disagree. I think the upper tax rate should be at least 70%. Maybe higher. GulfCoast66 May 2021 #40
Agree Mr. Steve May 2021 #41
Agree. Magoo48 May 2021 #42
AGREE ABSOLUTELY. PatrickforB May 2021 #44
They should be made to fund entrepreneurial endeavors Mr. Evil May 2021 #48
I'm a Democrat. So yeah. Goes without saying. ancianita May 2021 #49
Agree! arkielib May 2021 #50
Agree. H2O Man May 2021 #59
Disagree. Nice sentiment, but totally unrealistic TraceNC May 2021 #60
Very simplistic. Passenger May 2021 #61
Remember when yachts and over the top houses were big-time status symbols? BobTheSubgenius May 2021 #62
We need to send all the billionaires into space True Dough May 2021 #63
As long as their wealth gets redistributed, they are fine to stay on Earth. BobTheSubgenius May 2021 #66
I would really bdamomma May 2021 #64
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