Billionaires should not exist.
@godpod , should the state have billions of dollars?
@JonKramer @godpod what do you mean? Should the state build and operate a road network?
@aldente @godpod should the state have access to billions of dollars to fund wars? Or to subsidize oil industries? To create a prison industrial complex compliant with the 13th amendment?? To fund police that keep us in our place?
Is the state any better than billionaires who depend on public opinion to keep their billions? I say it is FAR worse. And I LOVE roads.
@JonKramer @aldente @godpod "billionaires depend on public opinion to keep their billions"?
First I've heard of it.
You mean because I don't bother to try to rob Elon?
@cadenza @JonKramer @gzuckier @aldente @godpod as one of the "middle class entrepreneurs" I have yet to be able to expand my business. It seems every time I think I am secure enough to hire additional people (since late 2019), something else happens to destabilize the situation. And I don't want to expand by taking on debt I can't forecast paying back.
@JonKramer @gzuckier @aldente @godpod investments used to support job activities but no longer now that we are in the era of casino capitalism. Hedge funds make their money off derivatives and other financial instruments that do nothing to actually support the market, but take a lot of money out of the economy when it tanks. (Just like crypto!) Most of the money billionaires make is put in offshore accounts never to be seen by the economy again.
@JonKramer @gzuckier @aldente @godpod most investments now bear little resemblance to reality and certainly do not provide a way for cash-strapped corporations to raise funds. It was, at one time, but no longer.
@JonKramer @gzuckier @aldente @godpod most billionaires don’t make their money selling goods we use. Most of them make their money off investments, much of which do nothing to support the economy. In fact, most of them make *more* money when the economy tanks. And refusing to tax them allows them to maintain this while we suffer. Most jobs are created by middle-class entrepreneurs, but our economy has gotten to the point where people can’t afford entrepreneurship.