rich and poor people would like to spend similar amounts on the essentials. but people with less money have less they can buy. people go without food, new clothes, etc.
if rich people were taxed to provide public healthcare, then the money that’s currently trickling upwards to help build cruise ships would instead be freed up to be spent on the essentials that people currently have a hard time affording.
the increased demand would provide more jobs than the cruise ship did.
Yes, rich people are rich. Having more money to spend is kind of the definition of rich.
Yes, things would be better if we taxed the wealthy more heavily. But don’t listen to the whines of the rich people. Even if we can get them to pay more taxes, they will still have more money than the rest of us. And with that, money, they will have the choice of spending it of rich people stuff, or giving it to Wall Street to “invest.” And here’s where the magic of “and” comes in. We should tax them more heavily, AND they should spend more of their wealth. They can afford it.
Independently of that, the healthcare system is seriously broken and infested with rentiers sucking huge profits out of people.
Somewhat off-topic, IMHO, one of the main problems with the economy is that the financial sector has more money than it can provide effective use for. Instead of investing in productivity improvements that would make labor more efficient, much of that money goes to financial shenanigans, like stock buybacks, leveraged buyouts, the real estate bubble, and a stock market that is seriously overpriced. Rather than Elizabeth Warren’s wealth tax, my preferred way to try to achieve a little balance is to raise the capital gains rate up the same as the highest marginal tax rate, make capital gains due any time an asset is used as security for a loan, and get rid of or at least cap the capital gains step up upon inheritance. I’m not against a wealth tax in principle, but as a practical matter, the wealthy would be able to manipulate the value of thinly traded assets to avoid paying more easily than the games that they play with income. And fund the IRS better so that more people are paying the taxes that they owe.
Some say the Icon will go down from fire
And some say ice.
Since icebergs have been done before
I hold with those who like fire more.
But if hubris must perish twice
I think I know enough of fate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
“I clicked on the Icon, but nothing happened”
Exceedingly silly, I know. I hoped someone else would do this, but here I am.
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