What's Your Opinion On Wealth Distribution (and Redistribution)?
- Thread starter What Would Jesus Do?
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I think it’s an essential component of capitalism, democracy and freedom. It’s both morally right and correct in terms of practical efficiencies and outcomes. Redistribution is what made this nation great and lack of redistribution is quickly eroding our position.
My feeling? It's complicated.
I believe in capitalism. I believe that smart, hard working people have every right to get rich - even absurdly stinking rich. The 3 people mentioned in the picture have created enormous wealth by building a better mousetrap and the country has benefited from their contributions.
Gates and Buffett are incredibly generous. The Gates Foundation and Foundation Trust are worth somewhere around $100 billion. Both men have pledged to leave the bulk of their estates to the Foundation as well. They campaign other uber-rich folk to get others to pledge to donate at least half of their net worth.
If there were more people like Gates and the Buffett, the world would be a better place.
But, it feels like to me that there should be some sort of estate tax. Maybe I'm just jealous. The problem is, it isn't really a re-distribution - it's just a tax. It doesn't go to the poor, it goes to the government. The government then spends it on the military or paying interest on $20 trillion of debt.
So, the short answer is - I can't decide.
I believe in capitalism. I believe that smart, hard working people have every right to get rich - even absurdly stinking rich. The 3 people mentioned in the picture have created enormous wealth by building a better mousetrap and the country has benefited from their contributions.
Gates and Buffett are incredibly generous. The Gates Foundation and Foundation Trust are worth somewhere around $100 billion. Both men have pledged to leave the bulk of their estates to the Foundation as well. They campaign other uber-rich folk to get others to pledge to donate at least half of their net worth.
If there were more people like Gates and the Buffett, the world would be a better place.
But, it feels like to me that there should be some sort of estate tax. Maybe I'm just jealous. The problem is, it isn't really a re-distribution - it's just a tax. It doesn't go to the poor, it goes to the government. The government then spends it on the military or paying interest on $20 trillion of debt.
So, the short answer is - I can't decide.
Were any of the three born wealthy? I give gates the most credit because he created a product that people desire and improve their lives. Buffet is a paper shuffler who didn't create anything.....
Gates and Buffett where both born wealthy or upper class.
Buffett's dad was a congressman and Gates dad was a prominent attorney.
Don't get me wrong, they didn't inherit their billions. But they where not poor nor even middle class.
Buffett's dad
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Buffett
Gates dad
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gates_Sr.
Taking risks and starting a business is a bit easier when you have mommy and daddy to fall back on if you go broke.
It depends. What happens to the money that the government has confiscated. Just taking money from someone and giving to another isn't productive.
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
I don’t believe the government should seize assets of citizens and give it out to less fortunate citizens. That is the question right?
Actually it is very productive if the person you are taking it from had no intention of spending it.
Actually check that, Bezos was wealthy too. Wikipedia says mommy and daddy gave him $300,000 to start Amazon.
Middle class parents don't have that kind of cash to risk in their kids businesses.
All 3 of those guys are at best upper class to obscene wealth stories.
Middle class parents don't have that kind of cash to risk in their kids businesses.
All 3 of those guys are at best upper class to obscene wealth stories.
As much as the cons want people to believe that the American dream is attainable to anyone who puts in the work, it’s complete bullshit. I’m not saying people who come from nothing have no chance, but lets not pretend that a lot of these success stories don’t start out with mommy and daddy funding these ventures for their children. You wanna make it big time in this world while coming from nothing, you have to work your ass off and have a lot of luck along the way.
And... what exactly is your point? That either everyone should be just granted into being a multi millionaire or no one should? Name me 5 countries with better opportunities to achieve your goals than the USA. We have it about as good as it gets.
Bingo.
Bezos was probably the least wealthy of all of them and he went to Princeton. Which likely led to a lot of his early opportunities in the private sector prior to Amazon.
Even when a child has parents who didn't go to college has a disadvantage compared to a child whose parents did go to college. Just navigating FAFSA, applications, how to choose a school that is a good fit, etc, is challenging. More exposure to opportunities (job shadowing, more connections, more life experiences--traveling, volunteering, whatever). Certainly child A can seek out that information, and it's of course easier now with the interwebs and such, but it hasn't always been that easy (and I'd argue it's still not terribly easy).
Because we used to invest more in our people than we do now. We used to have excellent infrastructure, not now. We used to subsidize higher education such that you could pay for your year at Iowa with a summer job, not now. That seems pretty obvious.
You could add about six Republicans to the list and they would control another 25%. As far as wealth distribution absolutely need it or we will end up with an authoritarian government
Pretty much every Western Democracy has better income mobility than the US at this point. That is because of their wealth redistribution.
In Germany if you are smart and got good grades you can go to university for free.
So you don’t believe in taxes or a safety net. That’s your answer right?
This
I am a first generation college graduate. We had a heck of a time with FASFA.
Further more I came out of college with zero professional contacts. Think my truck driver father knew people working for companies hiring people with finance degrees? Nope
I can count on one hand the number of people my parents knew who had a college degree.
I know what you believe, I’m asking if joker is your latest disciple. You added Mattski to your ranks already today.
And this all completely disregards the biases people have to deal with (I mean, an HR person on here said he at least doesn't like to hire Haitians or won't anymore...and someone else said he'd never hire a black person again).
I will say that I am not a fan of it generally. But, if Bezos, Gates, and Buffett were evil, the could pool their wealth and literally buy all of the property some the least populated states, evict everyone who does not endorse them, and essentially secure a nice little voting block in the Senate.Here's a meme to get you started:
Yep. I'm not against wealth but its not healthy economically. how many jobs does it create to build one rolls royce?? how many jobs does it create to build 4000 chevy's??? and,why is more money in the working man's pocket through tax cuts good for the economy but more money in the working man's pocket through a $15.00 minimum wage will destroy the economy???
We will see but I think some type of wealth distribution will be essential in the future to keep the masses at bay. With everything becoming automated, there won’t be enough jobs to go around.
So that is how you justify taking their money? Who decides that? Who decides what I do with my money?
Totally agree. But college was pushed as the only path to success for a long time, and women still aren't terribly encouraged to go into trades.
My feeling? It's complicated.
I believe in capitalism. I believe that smart, hard working people have every right to get rich - even absurdly stinking rich. The 3 people mentioned in the picture have created enormous wealth by building a better mousetrap and the country has benefited from their contributions.
Gates and Buffett are incredibly generous. The Gates Foundation and Foundation Trust are worth somewhere around $100 billion. Both men have pledged to leave the bulk of their estates to the Foundation as well. They campaign other uber-rich folk to get others to pledge to donate at least half of their net worth.
If there were more people like Gates and the Buffett, the world would be a better place.
But, it feels like to me that there should be some sort of estate tax. Maybe I'm just jealous. The problem is, it isn't really a re-distribution - it's just a tax. It doesn't go to the poor, it goes to the government. The government then spends it on the military or paying interest on $20 trillion of debt.
So, the short answer is - I can't decide.
Key Points highlighted above.
Fact: There is always redistribution the question is who is better about distributing such wealth/capital the US govt or those operating within the free market system?
Yes there are some scumbag wealthy people who hoard their coin, there are also scum bag poor people. We also spend over $700mm per year on the military which seems like poor distribution if you ask me. Also, Amazon, Berk, Microsoft has not only created hundreds of thousands of jobs that help support families and their communities but it has also created wealth for many many others in the areas of pension plans, 401ks, individuals stocks, etc helping to lift those people into financial stability.
So while those three individuals hold a lot of wealth we also have to ask what have they created along the way and who else has benefited from it. If the govt were to take large amounts of said wealth would that result in a net positive or a negative for society, I think there is a very high chance that it would result in a net negative (the percentages can be debated).
Typically the invisible hand of the free market will lead to better long term results than govt decided allocations of funds.
To your $15 minimum wage question what will happen is automation efforts/outsourcing will accelerate for those position in which that is possible. Also, take a look at what happened in Seattle as a result of their minimum wage increases, the results certainly are not straight forward and have an impact on various workers in different ways.
There are winners and losers with these types of proposed policy changes and $15/hr in no-where Kansas is different than $15/hr in NYC.
The large middle class is almost entirely a government creation via redistribution into education, infrastructure and worker protections. The invisible hand is actually not there at all. Stop worshipping ghosts.
They give a lot to charity. That charity isn’t helping the shrinking middle class.
There is no doubt in my mind before I am gone we will see wealth confiscated from the super rich. The money will be needed to ay off the national debt or debt related issues.
Some of these new lefties you can tell would be ok with it.
Charity imporoves the quality of life for the poor. It isn’t helping the shrinking middle class.
Be interested if some of the super rich got together and did something positive for the middle class.
There is no doubt in my mind before I am gone we will see wealth confiscated from the super rich. The money will be needed to ay off the national debt or debt related issues.
Some of these new lefties you can tell would be ok with it.
Charity imporoves the quality of life for the poor. It isn’t helping the shrinking middle class.
Be interested if some of the super rich got together and did something positive for the middle class.
Those things you described as benefits are not mostly not the results of a large central govt but rather a result of federalism that trends more towards more involved local and state govts. I am more than willing to entertain expanded govt programs at the state and local levels if you would like. Point being, I don't want the bomb dropping part of our govt to hold a majority of the cards as it pertains to the betterment of our society and the communities that make them up.
I think there's tremendous room for improvement, in part because there isn't much opportunity for more individualized curriculum or non-academic experiences. My junior high had a round robin of classes...X weeks of art, X weeks of agriculture, X weeks of shop, X weeks of home ec. That way everybody was exposed to classes and experiences they may not have otherwise experienced. I loved shop class, and I ended up taking high school ag classes because I really enjoyed the class and the teacher (I probably wouldn't have had I not taken the jr high class). But I think that was cut some years ago due to budget cuts.
I think things have gotten better in some ways, as high schools have partnered with local community colleges. Some HS students graduate HS with an AA, some can get their EMT or welding certificate while still in high school...there are more of those opportunities, it seems, but if your school is an hour away from a CC, you still won't have that. Why not offer apprenticeships in high school? Spend a semester with a plumber or carpenter or something. My HS had a semester long class where they built a house, and I really wanted to take it but couldn't since I had a packed academic schedule already. Plus, knowing who was taking it, I would have been absolutely miserable due to my classmates (in part because of who they were vs who I was/am and the fact that I would have been the only girl in the class).
