Warning: file_get_contents(/home/www/settings/mirror_forum_db_enable_sql): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /var/www/html/content/Forum/functions.php on line 8
It strikes me how supporters of MAGA were outraged at how George Soros was buying elections, and that the "elites" on the left were sticking it to the hard working middle class of America. But the richest are spending their money to keep Trump in power? The money.... the elites... are spending vast fortunes now to try and keep the Senate.
I heard this stat on the radio, and then found this article.
Nearly 100 billionaires and their spouses have donated to reelect Susan Collins
The funding is an attempt to maintain "The Golden Age" of America for the wealthy. No taxes. No regulation. Pay some "tribute" to the king POTUS, and you can have just about anything you'd like.
It's amazing to listen to MAGA supporters still insist Trump is looking out for them. PT Barnum is proven more insightful every year.
It strikes me how supporters of MAGA were outraged at how George Soros was buying elections, and that the "elites" on the left were sticking it to the hard working middle class of America. But the richest are spending their money to keep Trump in power? The money.... the elites... are spending vast fortunes now to try and keep the Senate.
I heard this stat on the radio, and then found this article.
Nearly 100 billionaires and their spouses have donated to reelect Susan Collins
The funding is an attempt to maintain "The Golden Age" of America for the wealthy. No taxes. No regulation. Pay some "tribute" to the king POTUS, and you can have just about anything you'd like.
It's amazing to listen to MAGA supporters still insist Trump is looking out for them. PT Barnum is proven more insightful every year.
Everyone is going to want to throw around taxes and money, but it's not really valid.
He infamously has $5B in a Roth IRA that he can start spending (tax free in the US and CA) in a year or two. The CA wealth tax might get it (but I doubt it), but he could just go to TX or FL. Argentina's rates are similar to the US, and maybe he pays tax on his US retirement money...maybe he doesn't. Who cares.
He loves the attention and the feeling of being seen as brilliant. A lot of folks in the US feel he's more lucky than smart. In Argentina... he's the genius US business billionaire.
Hasta nunca, gilipollas.
I just learned that one the other night. A guy was bitching because he didn't get a discount that was only offered in high season (small restaurants scramble in low season and need to make what they can to stay open, in high season they have more business, so can offer deals). The guy bitched and moaned and said "guess I'll tip again in the high season". I apologized for my countryman, tipped the waiter for him, and had a good chat where he taught me a new word.
Everyone is going to want to throw around taxes and money, but it's not really valid.
He infamously has $5B in a Roth IRA that he can start spending (tax free in the US and CA) in a year or two. The CA wealth tax might get it (but I doubt it), but he could just go to TX or FL. Argentina's rates are similar to the US, and maybe he pays tax on his US retirement money...maybe he doesn't. Who cares.
He loves the attention and the feeling of being seen as brilliant. A lot of folks in the US feel he's more lucky than smart. In Argentina... he's the genius US business billionaire.
Hear me out, billionaires are the best thing to happen for the environment.
I think I posted before my contention that billionaires only concern for other people is to have enough around to feed them, look after them, and keep them amused. Most of the world, especially less developed parts of the world and blue states are superfluous to them. The termination of aid programs is in perfect keeping with their values. This of course includes trump since he has made billions from the government and grift. Using AI to put millions in the US and elsewhere is also in keeping with their values. Get as many employees as possible out of the system, wreck their healthcare and retirement plans, let them kick off early. Keep the ones that are left in relative poverty and they will not waste resources vacationing, on frivolous pursuits like recreation (except for subsistence fishing), or any other things people do beyond subsistence. Think of how much lower greenhouse gas emissions will be if few people can afford to fly.
The only flaw is that ultimately there will be less wealth for them to acquire, and acquiring wealth is their driving force. But that is a problem for future generations of billionaires. And what have their grandchildren done for them lately?
Hear me out, billionaires are the best thing to happen for the environment.
I think I posted before my contention that billionaires only concern for other people is to have enough around to feed them, look after them, and keep them amused. Most of the world, especially less developed parts of the world and blue states are superfluous to them. The termination of aid programs is in perfect keeping with their values. This of course includes trump since he has made billions from the government and grift. Using AI to put millions in the US and elsewhere is also in keeping with their values. Get as many employees as possible out of the system, wreck their healthcare and retirement plans, let them kick off early. Keep the ones that are left in relative poverty and they will not waste resources vacationing, on frivolous pursuits like recreation (except for subsistence fishing), or any other things people do beyond subsistence. Think of how much lower greenhouse gas emissions will be if few people can afford to fly.
The only flaw is that ultimately there will be less wealth for them to acquire, and acquiring wealth is their driving force. But that is a problem for future generations of billionaires. And what have their grandchildren done for them lately?
What does any of the rest have to do with the environment?
The trick for billionaires is to keep enough people around that support "free enterprise" and the "American Dream" so that they vote against their own interests. Farmers, manufacturers, and anyone buying anything in the US right now is being shown what "trusting others" to fix your problems can lead to. If the ultra-rich go too far, everything they've accumulated could come crashing down around them.
Controlled greed....that's the ticket. Protect your grandchildren as a means to protecting yourself.
Hear me out, billionaires are the best thing to happen for the environment.
I think I posted before my contention that billionaires only concern for other people is to have enough around to feed them, look after them, and keep them amused. Most of the world, especially less developed parts of the world and blue states are superfluous to them. The termination of aid programs is in perfect keeping with their values. This of course includes trump since he has made billions from the government and grift. Using AI to put millions in the US and elsewhere is also in keeping with their values. Get as many employees as possible out of the system, wreck their healthcare and retirement plans, let them kick off early. Keep the ones that are left in relative poverty and they will not waste resources vacationing, on frivolous pursuits like recreation (except for subsistence fishing), or any other things people do beyond subsistence. Think of how much lower greenhouse gas emissions will be if few people can afford to fly.
The only flaw is that ultimately there will be less wealth for them to acquire, and acquiring wealth is their driving force. But that is a problem for future generations of billionaires. And what have their grandchildren done for them lately?
How about a real world case ... Zohran Mamdani vs Ken Griffin
been there...done that....
miamizsun wrote: 10 days ago
looks like mamdami may get his wish to raise taxes on new yorkers
according to this, citadel and its workers paid $2,300,000,000 in new york city and state taxes last year
and griffin personally gave/directed $650,000,000 in charitable gifts to city institutions
confidence in stupidity is no way to go through life...
While reading the quote and your comments, I kept wondering whether he could have spared some of that money to keep the Washington Post plugging along. He used to care about some good things. Now he's just behaving like some obnoxiously insecure jerk desperately showing off.
Now, sure, you can use arguments from Economics 101 like this guy does to say investment is a major part of the economic equation and that billionaires, almost by definition, are best at investing their money, which benefits everyone. That is actually true to some extent.
However, you can also compare the performance of economies that have much greater wealth distribution to laissez-fair economies and guess what?
It's complicated.
But societies that more actively pursue a redistribution of wealth don't actually perform that badly on standard metrics, like GDP per capita etc.
Or you could take my anecdotal evidence from my sample of 15 neighbours (including US citizens working for the US army stationed here) and there is really no comparison.
Life in Europe for the average citizen is simply way better than for the average citizen in US. We have fantastic public transport, great public media, 100% health coverage, great roads, public swimming pools in just about every village and several in towns (I have six in a short biking distance), low homicide rates, low crime rates (we barely lock our door), etc. etc. Freedom of expression, a functioning legal system with working checks and balances and protection of individual rights, etc. (yeah, I know, you used to have one too).
I also think that more egalitarian societies are more stable. History might prove me wrong on this.
Whatever, by way of comparison I lived in SF for six months back in the eighties. On my last stopover I was shocked at how litte investment had gone into public infrastructure in the meantime.
That is the difference.
(btw... billionaires are VERY good at wasting resources too.. not just governments.. in fact I would say accountability is the most important factor here, not private ownership)
Lots of good points I hope to come back around too. But a couple of quickies - the idea that "only billionaires" or the "uber successful" are good at it is bunk. They are often anticompetitive and protective of their position. If they were removed from the equation, the next guy would step up and take the opportunity. There is nothing that special about them beyond "they have all the money".
And one of their main problematic behaviors is their anti-competitiveness. They will often buy up promising competitors to keep them out of the market or to raid their IP. Once we let money become a coupon for power, the corruptness became self propagating. There is room for others to succeed, and if it means that musk/bezos/gates/ellison can only have tens of billions while many others get hundreds of millions, then that's a good thing. The hording and protecting that is going on at the top is insane. A long time ago, I interviewed fora job at Watermark (the Gates family foundation that takes care of their personal stuff), I didn't get the job, but I got far enough in the process to get to salary. It was good, but not great. There were perks, but a lot of hassle too. You would think taking care of the family of one of the richest guys in the world would get an above average paycheck, but it was pretty average. That guy could easily have tripled (or 5x, or 9X) the salary and made his employees very comfortable, but he thinks that everyone else is just a prole and they should be happy with what he doles out, market rate and all.
Your logic is flawless.
