Thanks for the link to my post. Iāve studied wealth taxes ever since I saw my previously honest French friends turn into determined evaders, moving money from country to country, ending up living in Costa Rica. I wish I could still visit them in Paris!
The "problem" with these "discussions" is: 1. taxes donĀ“t land at the needy but at "The State".
2. If anyone would talk about "The" immigrants, "The" Gays, "The" Heterosexuals, "The" Black People", "The" Chinese, "The" politicians, "The" Jews etc. like AOC & Co. "talk" about "The" Rich, many of them would land in jail and/or be sentenced for discriminative talk, favourite "crime" of "Leftists" for pointing fingers at "others" forgetting to point at themselves.
They blatantly and intolerably violate all the "values" they otherwise profess, revealing just how hollow, deceitful and unelectable nothingness they are.
If you want "Leftists" rightfully in jail, youĀ“re NOT against "equality" or helping the crippled and the needy, but for finally gaining a clear sight on who needs help and how.
Because "the" Needy donĀ“t exist, just as less as "The" Rich donĀ“t exist.
I know a lot of "rich" peopleāsome are unbearable and I could constantly punch them in the face, others are among the best people I know.
The same goes for "poor" people. For "women". For "Jews". For "gay people". For "Black people". "For 'whites', "yellow", "brown" and so on.
And so on.
As long as anyone is allowed and wants to talk about anyone labeled as "Them" the way AOC & Co. talk about "The Rich," they prove that what they preachā "equality" and the RIGHT NOT to be "equal," to not give a damn SHIT about "equality" ā, is neither represented nor meant seriously by them, but is merely deceitful rhetoric to lure "voters."
Exactly the same crap as all of AOC & Co.'s "competitors."
We donāt have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem. Every blue state and city has high taxes and record budgets. Yet the quality of public services keeps declining. The amount of fraud and waste is staggering. Until that is fixed, raising taxes will not improve anything except making crony commissars rich.
One way to make $5 million go a long way is to live small. But people who live small are pitied rather than celebrated because they continually short change themselves to last longer by living slower. John Robbins, son of Baskin-Robbins co-founder Irv Robbins, famously walked away from a,multi-billion dollar ice cream inheritance in the 1960s to live a simple, conscious life. He embraced a plant-based lifestyle, living in a small cabin and advocating for health and sustainability. Despite later losing his savings to Bernie Madoff, he continued to promote conscious, frugal living.
This is thoughtful and smart. A word of caution about unions. I agree that the absence of strong unions is an important factor in income disparity, but there is a long list of reasons why the influence of unions in the U.S. has declined from where it was to what it is. The most prominent of those reasons is globalization, which hasnāt gone away. At the same time, despite globalization, there are countries where unions are far more successful (e.g., Germany). Maybe we could import an idea or two that would be doable and practical in the American system. Maybe. (Is there a tariff on importing ideas? Weād have to consider that in our calculations.)
Itās wonderful just to get people talking this much about taxes! I think these are the kinds of conversation that help us all understand one another as well as our collective needs and concerns. These are the conversation that should be informing tax reforms. Substack public hearing events!
Once again I learned a lot about the US David, so thank you. I had not known that different states in the US could set the labour rates so low, or as they please, to create tax situations to attract the wealthy to go there. And there is no national rates.
Its just wrong that people cannot afford even low end, affordable housing, despite working what would be seen as a 'decent' job once upon a time. And this is also the case in the UK and Spain, where I now live. Especially for those who have studied for so long and with student loans etc. Even for a couple. Mind you, in the UK there are not the homes to buy or rent anyway now.
I was shocked to hear what the minimum wage is there! I thought id would be much higher. Currently it has been raised to 9.26-9.55ā¬ per hour here, which buys nothing really after 40 hours a week. And they wonder why there is still so much black money here! My daughter is a corporate manager for Marks and Spencer in the UK, where national minimum wage is Ā£12.71 this year and they exceed this for their shop workers but are planning to raise it to Ā£13+ soon rather than gives bonuses and wage increase to the management levels which is sound practise for all the reasons you mentioned.
I can't comment on wealth taxes for the wealthy but I honestly think if governments really spoke to, and involved people like yourself and Allison etc, around policy making for all taxes and real humans had a proper say, it could all be so much fairer for everyone. And I just have to say, I think you are such a nice man David.
I just read an article in the WSJ about female billionaires, and Alice Walton is at number one, with something like $138 BILLION DOLLARS. I don't care how many art museums she opens, many of her employees don't have health care because Wal Mart deliberately schedules them under the hours they need to qualify. A few years ago there was an article about a Wal Mart store running a food drive... for its own employees. Her siblings also have the same amount of billions.
At what point does enough become enough? How can they excuse treating their employees poorly (in some areas, Wal Mart is the largest employer, so please don't say "work somewhere else")? Terrible people.
Great, informative post.
Additionally, let Allison know - I love her pizza š shirt!
Thank you!! Iām a great pizza lover, so I thought it was an appropriate sweater to have :)
Well done, David. However, HiZzoner has a budget to balance and a Daddy to please! Both are imperatives.
Thanks for the link to my post. Iāve studied wealth taxes ever since I saw my previously honest French friends turn into determined evaders, moving money from country to country, ending up living in Costa Rica. I wish I could still visit them in Paris!
Moving to a retirement friendly place is ideal if one can do that. š
The "problem" with these "discussions" is: 1. taxes donĀ“t land at the needy but at "The State".
2. If anyone would talk about "The" immigrants, "The" Gays, "The" Heterosexuals, "The" Black People", "The" Chinese, "The" politicians, "The" Jews etc. like AOC & Co. "talk" about "The" Rich, many of them would land in jail and/or be sentenced for discriminative talk, favourite "crime" of "Leftists" for pointing fingers at "others" forgetting to point at themselves.
They blatantly and intolerably violate all the "values" they otherwise profess, revealing just how hollow, deceitful and unelectable nothingness they are.
If you want "Leftists" rightfully in jail, youĀ“re NOT against "equality" or helping the crippled and the needy, but for finally gaining a clear sight on who needs help and how.
Because "the" Needy donĀ“t exist, just as less as "The" Rich donĀ“t exist.
I know a lot of "rich" peopleāsome are unbearable and I could constantly punch them in the face, others are among the best people I know.
The same goes for "poor" people. For "women". For "Jews". For "gay people". For "Black people". "For 'whites', "yellow", "brown" and so on.
And so on.
As long as anyone is allowed and wants to talk about anyone labeled as "Them" the way AOC & Co. talk about "The Rich," they prove that what they preachā "equality" and the RIGHT NOT to be "equal," to not give a damn SHIT about "equality" ā, is neither represented nor meant seriously by them, but is merely deceitful rhetoric to lure "voters."
Exactly the same crap as all of AOC & Co.'s "competitors."
Unelectable, to be BANNED.
I am so not an expert. I would love to know what you think of the flat tax for everyone? That always seemed like a good idea on paper.
We moved from WA to Taxachusetts. What a difference a state makes.
We donāt have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem. Every blue state and city has high taxes and record budgets. Yet the quality of public services keeps declining. The amount of fraud and waste is staggering. Until that is fixed, raising taxes will not improve anything except making crony commissars rich.
One way to make $5 million go a long way is to live small. But people who live small are pitied rather than celebrated because they continually short change themselves to last longer by living slower. John Robbins, son of Baskin-Robbins co-founder Irv Robbins, famously walked away from a,multi-billion dollar ice cream inheritance in the 1960s to live a simple, conscious life. He embraced a plant-based lifestyle, living in a small cabin and advocating for health and sustainability. Despite later losing his savings to Bernie Madoff, he continued to promote conscious, frugal living.
This is thoughtful and smart. A word of caution about unions. I agree that the absence of strong unions is an important factor in income disparity, but there is a long list of reasons why the influence of unions in the U.S. has declined from where it was to what it is. The most prominent of those reasons is globalization, which hasnāt gone away. At the same time, despite globalization, there are countries where unions are far more successful (e.g., Germany). Maybe we could import an idea or two that would be doable and practical in the American system. Maybe. (Is there a tariff on importing ideas? Weād have to consider that in our calculations.)
Itās wonderful just to get people talking this much about taxes! I think these are the kinds of conversation that help us all understand one another as well as our collective needs and concerns. These are the conversation that should be informing tax reforms. Substack public hearing events!
Once again I learned a lot about the US David, so thank you. I had not known that different states in the US could set the labour rates so low, or as they please, to create tax situations to attract the wealthy to go there. And there is no national rates.
Its just wrong that people cannot afford even low end, affordable housing, despite working what would be seen as a 'decent' job once upon a time. And this is also the case in the UK and Spain, where I now live. Especially for those who have studied for so long and with student loans etc. Even for a couple. Mind you, in the UK there are not the homes to buy or rent anyway now.
I was shocked to hear what the minimum wage is there! I thought id would be much higher. Currently it has been raised to 9.26-9.55ā¬ per hour here, which buys nothing really after 40 hours a week. And they wonder why there is still so much black money here! My daughter is a corporate manager for Marks and Spencer in the UK, where national minimum wage is Ā£12.71 this year and they exceed this for their shop workers but are planning to raise it to Ā£13+ soon rather than gives bonuses and wage increase to the management levels which is sound practise for all the reasons you mentioned.
I can't comment on wealth taxes for the wealthy but I honestly think if governments really spoke to, and involved people like yourself and Allison etc, around policy making for all taxes and real humans had a proper say, it could all be so much fairer for everyone. And I just have to say, I think you are such a nice man David.
I just read an article in the WSJ about female billionaires, and Alice Walton is at number one, with something like $138 BILLION DOLLARS. I don't care how many art museums she opens, many of her employees don't have health care because Wal Mart deliberately schedules them under the hours they need to qualify. A few years ago there was an article about a Wal Mart store running a food drive... for its own employees. Her siblings also have the same amount of billions.
At what point does enough become enough? How can they excuse treating their employees poorly (in some areas, Wal Mart is the largest employer, so please don't say "work somewhere else")? Terrible people.