"Billionaires Should Not Exist"

[ADigitalArtist]

There are two kinds of people. Those who work hard and become successful, and those who are sponges and soak up a living from others. Wht should it be wrong for someone to obtain a worth of a billion dollars? The people who do not like this isea are the sponges who want to take money from the rich so they can soak it up for themselves.

Nobody earns a billion dollars. They are the sponges.

 

[Audie]

Nobody earns a billion dollars. They are the sponges.

Prease exprain

 

[Stevicus]

Weren't "far left, socialist policies" -- by today's standards, -- the middle-of-the-road from the '30s into the '70s? Wasn't this America's golden age?
The middle class has been stagnating for 40 years as wealth has been 'trickling up' to be hoarded by a small elite who apparently feel little responsibility for the welfare of the 99% they depend on.

I think FDR brought about a major shift in political philosophy and how we had been doing things in America, and the results were astounding. During WW2, we became an industrial powerhouse supplying the arsenal of democracy, and the post-war decades saw a period of economic boom which was unprecedented in the annals of America.

There is some irony in how many conservatives and capitalists view capitalism and America in the present day. When they talk about the glories and benefits of capitalism, they're not really talking about earlier eras in history, back when there were Hoovervilles, or earlier still when there was child labor, sweatshops, slavery, racism - not to mention the rapid expansionism across the West which rolled over anyone who got in their way. No, what they're usually talking about is America's economic peak in the late 40s, 50s, and 60s, which was actually a good time for capitalists and America as a whole. There was certainly a benefit to business and the overall economy by elevating the middle class and increasing their standard of living and level of affluence.

For whatever reason, the liberal, progressive ideals of that era didn't really suit the conservatives, who apparently felt it was better to screw the poor and middle class, just so they could get richer. Their only real justification is that it's a part of natural law (survival of the richest) and human nature to be greedy (the religious wing might also attribute it to "God's will"). They broke the unions and managed to get Ronald Reagan elected and deified. That's when America started to go downhill.

 

[Stevicus]

No need to get snotty, Amigo.

I didn't (and still don't) recognize those paragraphs as describing "scare tactics."

“has the potential to be a dangerous moment”

“contemptible”

“This is the antichrist!”

But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Tell me you've never heard of the dire warnings against what would happen if the US ever became "socialist," not to mention the various red scares we've had in our history. You really need examples? Seriously?

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

And it's about time.

Billionaires are the target in this year's Democratic campaign



Even a few billionaires are jumping on the "bash billionaires" bandwagon.



Apparently, this is reminiscent of FDR in the 1936 campaign, when bashing the rich was also in vogue.



Should billionaires be allowed to exist? Not according to Bernie Sanders.



Sanders and Warren are leading the charge against billionaires.



Why has antagonism against the super-wealthy increased in this campaign? The article explains that it's not simply due to large disparities in wealth, but also due to various scandals, such as Big Pharma execs gouging customers, tech execs failing to protect users' privacy or respond to foreign disinformation, the bailing out of financial execs following the mortgage crisis which they caused.



This apparently has been a long time coming within the Democratic Party, as previous leaders were highly reticent and timid when it came to attacking the super-wealthy (which is likely the reason a lot of blue-collar voters have turned against them).



It appears that Democrats are finally beginning to realize that trying to placate the rich was a failed strategy.



As noted in the bolded quote above, this is not about class envy, but more about people getting rich at the expense of average Americans, using dishonest, devious means to do so.

What's also interesting is that both Warren and Sanders take pride in the scare tactics used by billionaires who oppose them:



This is the common refrain from the wealthy, with empty, baseless Chicken Little warnings that the sky will fall if the dreaded "socialists" take over. But they're only worried about themselves and the super-wealthy. The other 99% of America would be just fine if socialists took over.

No, they shouldn't exist. Not while there's hard working people who are a paycheck away from total destitution. No reason for anyone to have such huge amounts of money they'll never spend in their lifetime or need.

 

[joe1776]

But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Tell me you've never heard of the dire warnings against what would happen if the US ever became "socialist," not to mention the various red scares we've had in our history. You really need examples? Seriously?

You wrote: What's also interesting is that both Warren and Sanders take pride in the scare tactics used by billionaires who oppose them.

Of course I'm familiar with the "scare tactics" used in the past against socialism and communism.

I didn't read examples of what ought to be labeled "scare tactics" by Sanders or Warren. Just wondering what they said that you would refer to as a "scare tactic."

 

[ADigitalArtist]

Prease exprain

Earnings are based on merits of labor. There is no equivalent labor exchange you could possibly do to earn a billion dollars. And while it's not possible to earn a billion dollars, it is quite possible to leverage a billion dollars through a corrupt system which commodifies people and exploits them outside any ethical equivalent exchange.

Aka, it's not possible to earn a billion dollars, it is possible to steal it.

 

[Stevicus]

Poor Bernie is only worth 2.5 million, whereas
Warren is worth 12.

Obama, 40 million, Bill n Hill, 100 or so.

Democratic candidate Tom Steyer is a billionaire, and even he is bashing other billionaires. Does a billionaire have a place in the 2020 Democratic field?

A lot of billionaires out there who dislike Trump, and somehow this seems to be turning into a battle of rival cabals of billionaires. They hate Trump, so they won't back him, yet they may end up having to support a Democratic candidate who runs a campaign based on billionaire-bashing. Strange how these things tend to work out.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

There are two kinds of people. Those who work hard and become successful, and those who are sponges and soak up a living from others. Wht should it be wrong for someone to obtain a worth of a billion dollars? The people who do not like this isea are the sponges who want to take money from the rich so they can soak it up for themselves.

I guess Jesus was a sponge, too, since he told the rich to sell all they have and give the money to the poor. He also said that it's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter Heaven. There's also the story of the rich man and Lazarus where the rich man ends up burning in hell and poor Lazarus is comforted in Heaven. You Christians who make idols of the rich astound me in how blatantly you transgress the very words of your god and savior.

 

[Stevicus]

You wrote: What's also interesting is that both Warren and Sanders take pride in the scare tactics used by billionaires who oppose them.

Of course I'm familiar with the "scare tactics" used in the past against socialism and communism.

I didn't read examples of what ought to be labeled "scare tactics" by Sanders or Warren. Just wondering what they said that you would refer to as a "scare tactic."

You don't think they would constitute "scare tactics"? I guess we read their statements differently. It seemed similar to the usual refrain of dire warnings of danger and disaster which have become part and parcel of the US political culture.

I wasn't really trying to get snotty, but I was honestly taken aback that you apparently saw it so differently. I thought you were trying to be contentious, but I'm sorry for any misunderstanding.

 

[Audie]

Earnings are based on merits of labor. There is no equivalent labor exchange you could possibly do to earn a billion dollars. And while it's not possible to earn a billion dollars, it is quite possible to leverage a billion dollars through a corrupt system which commodifies people and exploits them outside any ethical equivalent exchange.

Aka, it's not possible to earn a billion dollars, it is possible to steal it.

So, you would say that only money earned on a salary
or hourly earnings for work like farming, manufacturing,
doctoring etc are legit?

Anything else is corrupt and theft?

Side note-would you take the time and make the
effort to, say, invent the telephone if all you would
ever get for it was a set hourly rate for the time
you spent inventing it?

 

[Audie]

You don't think they would constitute "scare tactics"? I guess we read their statements differently. It seemed similar to the usual refrain of dire warnings of danger and disaster which have become part and parcel of the US political culture.

I wasn't really trying to get snotty, but I was honestly taken aback that you apparently saw it so differently. I thought you were trying to be contentious, but I'm sorry for any misunderstanding.

as far as I know, dire warnings of disaster if
the other side takes power have been the refrain
since there were elections, and not just in t he USA.

 

[Stevicus]

as far as I know, dire warnings of disaster if
the other side takes power have been the refrain
since there were elections, and not just in t he USA.

Yes, that's true enough. That was true the last election, too. Different sides painted different scenarios of disaster if the other side won. But this is also true between candidates within parties who are seeking nomination.

I think it's largely true that people don't vote for what they love, they vote based on what they fear.

 

[ADigitalArtist]

So, you would say that only money earned on a salary
or hourly earnings for work like farming, manufacturing,
doctoring etc are legit?

Anything else is corrupt and theft?

Side note-would you take the time and make the
effort to, say, invent the telephone if all you would
ever get for it was a set hourly rate for the time
you spent inventing it?

Ironically the invention of the telephone is one such example of a history of exploitation, taking credit for something not earned, then burying the rival in acquisitions and legal fees. Corruption like we hadn't seen since.... well actually since a bit before in the electric current war.

Being an inventor in the US means even less today. You aren't the one getting the money, the charismatic face of the company does. Where they then install a facade of rags to riches inventor to make it seem like they earned it, which couldn't be further from the truth (coughcoughSteveJobs).

But I degress.
No billionaires got there without unethical exploitation. It's a part of the process.

 

[joe1776]

You don't think they would constitute "scare tactics"? I guess we read their statements differently. It seemed similar to the usual refrain of dire warnings of danger and disaster which have become part and parcel of the US political culture.

I wasn't really trying to get snotty, but I was honestly taken aback that you apparently saw it so differently. I thought you were trying to be contentious, but I'm sorry for any misunderstanding.

Apology easily accepted. Just a misunderstanding.

I see the Sanders and Warren rhetoric as attempts to have the public see the same problems they do. But I won't deny that my attitude toward the points they make might be biased by the fact that I agree with them.

 

[Audie]

Ironically the invention of the telephone is one such example of a history of exploitation, taking credit for something not earned, then burying the rival in acquisitions and legal fees. Corruption like we hadn't seen since.... well actually since a bit before in the electric current war.

Being an inventor in the US means even less today. You aren't the one getting the money, the charismatic face of the company does. Where they then install a facade of rags to riches inventor to make it seem like they earned it, which couldn't be further from the truth (coughcoughSteveJobs).

But I degress.
No billionaires got there without unethical exploitation. It's a part of the process.

You did not address this-
So, you would say that only money earned on a salary
or hourly earnings for work like farming, manufacturing,
doctoring etc are legit?

Anything else is corrupt and theft?

The telephone was just an example for a basic
question, and you did not address that either.

WOULD YOU bother to do anything, be it invent,
or do anything else that risks work for no reward,
if upon competing the task, the best you could
hope for would be your usual hourly wage?

You do get my idea dont you?

 

[Audie]

US Liberalism is so far to the right that people think a multi-millionaire wanting to get rid of Billionaires is a far-left demand.

And you really think that?

 

[Twilight Hue]

Poor Bernie is only worth 2.5 million, whereas
Warren is worth 12.

Obama, 40 million, Bill n Hill, 100 or so.

Oh man. They are all dirt poor!

 

[ADigitalArtist]

You did not address this-
So, you would say that only money earned on a salary
or hourly earnings for work like farming, manufacturing,
doctoring etc are legit?

Anything else is corrupt and theft?

The telephone was just an example for a basic
question, and you did not address that either.

WOULD YOU bother to do anything, be it invent,
or do anything else that risks work for no reward,
if upon competing the task, the best you could
hope for would be your usual hourly wage?

You do get my idea dont you?

I'm not in the mood for red herrings. Your hypothetical doesnt reflect the reality we're talking about.

 

[lostwanderingsoul]

I guess Jesus was a sponge, too, since he told the rich to sell all they have and give the money to the poor. He also said that it's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter Heaven. There's also the story of the rich man and Lazarus where the rich man ends up burning in hell and poor Lazarus is comforted in Heaven. You Christians who make idols of the rich astound me in how blatantly you transgress the very words of your god and savior.

So, have you sold everything you own? Oh, that's right, you don't believe so it does not apply to you.