Poll of the Day > Billionare says government should make everyone millionaires

(+) Yeah! (+)

Seems legit

https://mazech.com/2020/12/billionaire-investor-bill-ackman-says-government-should-give-every-american-cash-at-birth-so-they-can-retire-a-millionaire/


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I dont want to shit on his idea so ima just say hope it goes well broski

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Isn't that the idea behind social security?

shadowsword87 posted...

Isn't that the idea behind social security?

Well, pensions actually. There was a time when everyone got a pension, and that it lasted

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If everybody is rich, then nobody is

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You would expect a billionare CEO to have a better understanding of economics.
If everyone has a million dollars then the value of a million dollars isn't that much.
The government only has money because it got it from the people in the first place.
I've never heard a great explaination for this but apparently the governmet spends more money than it takes as it is.

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shadowsword87 posted...

Isn't that the idea behind social security?

Not really. Social security in theory is a universal pension (although in practice it pays out to people who didn't put as much in). This would be a government investment on behalf of people as opposed to a scheme which kinda pays it forward. Basically the way the funding is handled would change, and the payment structure would change.

Given that the theory behind social security is partly that people are too irresponsible to manage their finances, this kinda goes against the spirit of the program (if it's a lump sum at the end)

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If the 3 wealthiest people in America sold every asset they own at market value and combined their money that's $377 billion. There are 328.3 million people in the US. If that money were divided evenly among them that's only $1,148 for each person. How are people suppose to become millionaires this way?

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And then, just like everytime there's an increase in minwage, the economy inflates/expands shortly thereafter to suck up the extra money. Why can't we just transfer the wealth upwards faster to our betters?

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Billionaires shouldn't be allowed to exist. To get that far ahead, you've robbed the state and the general population. Everyone cries "penalty for success" but I say that the system allowed it. Become a billionaire in Somalia, if you're so fucking smart.

That's impossible, it will never happen and if it did it would only wind up creating more poverty.

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Raddest_Chad posted...

Billionaires shouldn't be allowed to exist. To get that far ahead, you've robbed the state and the general population.

lolwut?


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There's nothing wrong with being a Billionaire... it's just a number. They pay their taxes like everyone else, except for Bezos who is a scumbag

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Zeus posted...

lolwut?

I think some people are just realizing businesses make money off of having employees, and that it multiplies with number of employees.

Zeus posted...

lolwut?

billions are such an insanely high amount over just millions

at that point a select few individuals are holding onto so much capital that its doing real harm on the populace as a whole, which the structure of the economy is meant to serve

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Mead posted...

billions are such an insanely high amount over just millions

at that point a select few individuals are holding onto so much capital that its doing real harm on the populace as a whole, which the structure of the economy is meant to serve

I think of money like elecritiy - voltage is an energy gradient just like the economy is a wealth gradient.

If a billionaire truly earned their way then they are a superior... battery? Metal? IDK, work with me I'm not the best at the English.

But if wealth gets sequestered by the rich there is no voltage and things stagnate

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SKARDAVNELNATE posted...

You would expect a billionare CEO to have a better understanding of economics.
If everyone has a million dollars then the value of a million dollars isn't that much.

That's not how it works. A dollar is a fraction of the work done by the US. Government systems are funded by moving said dollars from tax payers, not creating it from nothing. The dollars are worth the same fraction as no more or less exists.

When it's only given at retirement, it only effects people who aren't working anyway so doesn't make them less productive, and it means people who were previously living in poverty trying to save a pension now have free funds to spend on increasing productivity or keeping the economy moving.

Poor people spend the biggest percentage of their income, so they are the most valuable in society per dollar, and the more secure they are, the less you need to pay them to get by.
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Zimbabwe turned EVERYONE into billionaires

Kyuubi4269 posted...

Poor people spend the biggest percentage of their income, so they are the most valuable in society per dollar, and the more secure they are, the less you need to pay them to get by.

This is why higher taxes on the rich (doesn't need to be crippling) helps... lets say you have 2~5 (arbitary) companies producing consumer products... What is the poor people going to do with their new money? Well, buy stuff!

If you have the BEST product, the poor will buy from you... this means if you are a billionaire and comfortable in being the best, then functionally you are making your opponent billionaires foot the bill for your own profit.

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TheWorstPoster posted...

Zimbabwe turned EVERYONE into billionaires

On the bright side, no toilet paper shortages.

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LuciferSage posted...

On the bright side, no toilet paper shortages.

the cool thing about using money as toilet paper is you don't have to flush it.... just buy something from 7/11 with it!

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Kyuubi4269 posted...

That's not how it works. A dollar is a fraction of the work done by the US. Government systems are funded by moving said dollars from tax payers, not creating it from nothing. The dollars are worth the same fraction as no more or less exists.

Earlier I posted there are 328.3 million people in the US. 1 million times that is 328.3 trillion. The size of the US economy is only $22.32 trillion. So if the economy suddenly has 14 times the amount of money in it what happens to the cost of goods and services?

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I agree. Let's bring out the guillotines and redistribute the billionaires wealth!

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The US could do more for people but that's not what certain people want to see happen. If they all go to college, who's going to pick the fruits and veggies, scrub those floors and toilets, cater to the wealthy, do all the manual intensive labor that manufacturing/production requires, if they all go to college.

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SKARDAVNELNATE posted...

Earlier I posted there are 328.3 million people in the US. 1 million times that is 328.3 trillion. The size of the US economy is only $22.32 trillion. So if the economy suddenly has 14 times the amount of money in it what happens to the cost of goods and services?

It's not $328 trillion today, the economy isn't $22 trillion for all production in to perpetuity.
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BUMPED2002 posted...

The US could do more for people but that's not what certain people want to see happen. If they all go to college, who's going to pick the fruits and veggies, scrub those floors and toilets, cater to the wealthy, do all the manual intensive labor that manufacturing/production requires, if they all go to college.

To be fair, we've also seen job ads go out requiring 5 years of experience in a 2 year old programming language so the company can say they couldn't fill the position domestically and bring in H1B visas to pay them slave wages.

Ever ask the guy that made your latte or the cashier at Target what their degree is in?

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Unbridled9 posted...

I agree. Let's bring out the guillotines and redistribute the billionaires wealth!

or maybe just reasonably tax personal earnings idk

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Kyuubi4269 posted...

It's not $328 trillion today, the economy isn't $22 trillion for all production in to perpetuity.

So what period of time would it need to cover so that it won't result in inflation?

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LuciferSage posted...

To be fair, we've also seen job ads go out requiring 5 years of experience in a 2 year old programming language so the company can say they couldn't fill the position domestically and bring in H1B visas to pay them slave wages.

Ever ask the guy that made your latte or the cashier at Target what their degree is in?

Jobs in general are basically like

"Wanted: Cashier.
Requirements: Must be able to work 24 hours a day, 8 days a week, non-stop and on-demand.
BA in business, engineering, computer programming, and able to speak at least English, Spanish, French, Ojibway, and Inuit.
10 years prior experience.
Pay: $5/hr.
Benefits: When you call in sick we'll use your PTO instead of UTO and you can snack off the damaged goods in the back until we catch you and fire you for doing so."

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Unbridled9 posted...

I agree. Let's bring out the guillotines and redistribute the billionaires wealth!

this but unironically

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