Is the reason we have billionaires....

The actual mechanisms of redistribution are academic unless the collective will to address the wealth gap exists.
You'd like to think that the pandemic, which has ripped the veneer of success away from many and exposed just how fragile some peoples lives are, would be the catalyst towards more robust social support structures. How many times on here have we heard that someone has to pay for all the furlough schemes, the increased benefits payments etc. This government has allowed billions to be siphoned off from the public coffers and into the hands of those who are already rich beyond their needs. In the real world that should see the Tories held fully accountable at the ballot box, but we all know that won't happen because those in the voting population who don't 'do' politics will be influenced by social media and every other mechanism by which this government shapes their public perception.
If we come out of this and we are told that we'll have to pay for this and any brexit related shortfalls by higher taxation, prices and wage freezes then it'll be clear that the will to change the system won't come from government and we'll be one more step towards civil unrest becoming an option. Unless we wake up and say 'no' to the status quo of the capitalist lie then nothing will change.
 
Hardly - the fact that the EU was working on rules for this, was one of the reasons the tories went for Brexit.

They've been working on trying to close the transfer price loophole since 1985, and still there's no solution in sight. And to say the Tories wanted Brexit so they could still keep loopholes is pretty stupid.
 
People become really wealthy because they invent some good or service that everyone wants, and they make gobs of money from that. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos and Sergey Brin weren't wealthy people who invested in businesses. They were regular people who started businesses and became wealthy. The wealth is a happy by-product but that wasn't the reason they started these businesses.
As you say these guys didn't set out to become billionaires so the fact that they might not have wouldn't stop them creating in the first place.

Do you think any government had the will to do what Gates and co did?
As said above these guys didn't do what they did to become billionaires, they did it because they wanted to do it. So your point is moot.

How does that sit with people who solely wish to hoard inherited wealth, the land owning gentry add nothing to anything they are simply the offspring of someone who either made a lot of money or was the biggest bully in the area. We only have to look at the way that inherited privilege is holding back this country by the succession of Eton old boys as increasingly ineffective PMs.

Tax the gentry out of existence as they die. No loopholes for passing property on before you die.
 
I need to think about this more and it’s an interesting discussion. I’m not sure poor people exist because the super rich exist and vice verca. There have always been divisions in society, since Ug got a drier cave than Og and as a result lived longer and fathered more children.

Im neither a billionaire or poor I’m not poor because I worked incredibly hard, took a few chances and made a couple of modest investments that involved risk. I came from a terraced house in a pit village. I’m not a billionaire because I wasn’t clever to create something and then go all in to make it happen and I wasn’t prepared to make life changing gambles in business, most of which fail but we only hear about the successful ones, especially if they don’t pay tax.

I do believe in a welfare state where no one falls through the net, healthcare and education are free at the point of delivery. But that notion requires an acceptance that some people will be more fortunate than others. Everyone can’t earn the same, there has to be people who are headmasters and people who clean classrooms.

Hmm 🤔
 
Highering of Inheritance tax thresholds,?
As you say these guys didn't set out to become billionaires so the fact that they might not have wouldn't stop them creating in the first place.


As said above these guys didn't do what they did to become billionaires, they did it because they wanted to do it. So your point is moot.

How does that sit with people who solely wish to hoard inherited wealth, the land owning gentry add nothing to anything they are simply the offspring of someone who either made a lot of money or was the biggest bully in the area. We only have to look at the way that inherited privilege is holding back this country by the succession of Eton old boys as increasingly ineffective PMs.

Tax the gentry out of existence as they die. No loopholes for passing property on before you die.

I agree they did it because they wanted to.

I will ask again would any group if western countries have spent the same amount in the '3rd World'
It's not a bad thing to say on the Pearly Gates' I helped clear malaria'
 
Good thread.

Excellent Opinion Piece on CNN "The stimulus and MacKenzie Scott show two sides of the same problem". Scott co-founded Amazon with her husband Jeff Bezos. As part of their divorce settlement she received 35 billion in Amazon stock. Along with other billionaires she has pledged to give away her wealth. She has given away 6b in the last few months.
The article compares this with the response of Congress which has been slow to agree on an aid package in the present emergency. Scott says "We are in an era of staggering wealth inequality and the institutions best suited to helping are broken, possibly beyond repair". The article also takes a look at how corporates like Amazon were able to make their wealth - "opportunities for some whilst obstacles to countless others" Good to have intelligent discussion. Compare with the conservative press mocking Jill Biden for claiming to be a doctor when she doesn"t know anything about medicine. They don't even know the difference between a medical Dr and a PhD!!! Who is the purveyor of Fake News? Happy day everyone. Don't get too stressed about what we eat tomorrow - it will soon go down the drain!

Let's really celebrate the real meaning of Christmas - the world is as much in need of a Giving era as it ever was.
 
Personally I want to see the wealthier people in this country pay more tax to properly finance our NHS, police, education system, public health, enterprise, armed forces, and other public services as well as overseas aid and development.

If we ever do get wealthier people to pay more tax we minnows will probably all be crushed in the stampede as rich business people, pop stars and premier league footballers run for the first flights out of the country.
 
In basic terms the top 1% pay 27% of all tax receipts.

But their rate is only 20% after tax dodging. If we can get that to say 40%, bye bye employees NIC.
 
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