this post was submitted on 05 Dec 2024
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How make no billionaires if capitalists allowed to keep owning means of production? Allow to get rich, and then kill?
Here's a small set of proposals, definitely well thought of and not made up specifically for this comment to make a point:
Start taxing them heavily on wealth INCLUDING unrealized gains once it hits a threshold, but no wealth tax for normal people. Force companies to become either co-ops or publicly traded when certain thresholds are met - and if the founder has too much stock, the taxes on unrealized gains will force them to sell. But if it's a co-op, don't count anyone's share in it as wealth for taxation, only any profit actually paid out by the co-op. My prediction is that companies with high profit per employee (think Steam) will become worker-owned co-ops and companies with lower profit per employee will be publicly traded (think Walmart, except of course Walmart is already publicly traded)
Essentially, I want people to be able to own property, but not own so much that it negatively affects everyone else - everyone should be able to have a primary residence tax-free and I don't think it's bad for someone to own a second home either, except that shouldn't be tax-free. Hoarding property isn't OK though - that affects everyone else's housing situation. I don't like the idea of the state owning all homes - I want there to be strong rules protecting me from being evicted because the state needs a factory built right where my neighbourhood is - but there SHOULD also be state sponsored housing for those who can't afford their own homes, and they should be easily attainable, and built to a good standard.
I'm okay with people making a plentiful living from passive income off ownership in some company they built, I'm just not okay with it being so much that they make more in a year than the rest of us do in a hundred thousand.
How's public trading supposed to reduce wealth accumulation? Tesla is publicly traded but Elon still had enough money to buy and ruin Twitter.
Ultra high taxes on unrealized gains. There are no taxes on unrealized gains presently, nor a wealth tax. Which is why if his wealth increases 2x, his taxation... just does not, unless Tesla pays him dividends or a salary.
If Elon had to live with a, say, 99% tax rate on anything above a billion dollars and it included his Tesla stock not just money he has for real, he'd be forced to sell, or go to jail for unpaid taxes.
Why 99% and not 100%? Just to mock them.
I mean... If they're forced to game the system so they stay just below the "rich" threshold all that extra money has to go somewhere besides their pocket.
Yeah, it'll go to their friends and family.
You don't fuck with the tax man. They got Al Capone, they'll get you, and they'll get the billionaires, if the laws are right and there's enough funding to investigate ownership structures of large companies, and the relationships between different major shareholders.
Plus I don't think anyone has hundreds of family members to hide away hundreds of billions.
Besides, you'd have to divide it before the company gets large enough for it to matter. If your company is worth 800 mill and you're the only shareholder, selling off half to anyone for anything significantly less than the perceived value of the company, would be investigated as potential tax evasion.
I think a lot of people forget that tax authorities are supposed to look for these cases of hiding wealth. In many civilized countries, they do it for real.
You don't see the difference between Al Capone, an open criminal who was known for peddling alcohol during prohibition (and probably a murder or three), and billionaires who have enough capital so that they're basically under the jurisdiction of no individual nation? I'm not even talking about criminality, let's take that element out completely... You still don't see the difference between these people?
Also, you understand that the "taxman" is the IRS, right? And that Trump is going to pretty much defund them (probably leave just enough for him to target his perceived enemies).
We're talking about an imaginary society where shit works and laws are moderately sensible, not 2025 USA.
If said billionaires have assets in other countries, it can be tracked via global anti tax evasion agreements. Even opaque countries are getting more transparent under pressure.
So how come Jeff Bezos pays less tax than drag does?
Because the current tax code is designed for him, not drag. That's what I would like to change if I was elected benevolent dictator for life with no risk of being deposed by the oligarchs. For the super wealthy, tax all assets, for the super poor, tax nothing and give UBI, and for the working and middle class, a fair progressive income tax, and property tax on homes you don't live in year-round, but none on your primary residence. In terms of income tax, the tax brackets would go up slowly at first and then ramp up really high. Someone making 100k a year should pay roughly what they pay now, those making less should pay less, and those making 500k+ a year should pay a lot more than they pay now.
So you're describing a theoretical version of the IRS that's a hundred times more competent than the real one? Interesting.
We're talking about a hypothetical future anyway, whether it be guillotining oligarchs, full on communism with no private property, or my proposed middle ground between the current shitshow and a total "no private property" totalitarian state. IRS could be pretty competent, but they lack funding, and the tax code itself is riddled with loopholes.
Out of any place the US government could invest, IRS has one of the better returns. You invest a dollar and get several back. Mostly from rich tax evaders
Taxes. Tax anything over one billion at 100%
We used t have “progressive” income taxes where higher income paid more, but tax breaks have largely gone to the wealthy over the last half century. While we still have tax brackets, they top off much lower than they used to. More importantly we have a really complex tax code, where some people are able to use loopholes and exceptions, such that many wealthy people pay at a lower rate. Were effectively a “regressive” tax code now
How stop 999 millionaire from buying government and changing tax law?
Limit personally donations by law. Block corporate donations completely. Force donations into a central pool for equal distribution to the parties.
Over one billion? Way too fucking high.