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AMA: Bill Gates

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Re: AMA: Bill Gates

#71

Post by johnmcd3 »

reaperducer wrote: post #51
creato wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I skimmed the AMA for a few minutes, and saw him say that: - He thought nuclear weapons, bioterrorism, and climate change were the biggest threats to humanity. - He thought paying $10B in capital gains taxes was not enough and he should have paid more. Maybe those are platitudes but it's real enough for me.

He thought paying $10B in capital gains taxes was not enough and he should have paid more. I'm always annoyed when rich people say things like this. I had one say almost this exact thing to me in an elevator once. There's nothing stopping him from paying more. He just writes a check to "Department of the Treasury" and sends it off to D.C. Problem solved. But then he doesn't get to passive-aggressively whine about all…

There's a big difference between personally trying to fund the US government (which doesn't scale) and his saying that people in or near his position should have to pay higher taxes.

If you doubled the amount of taxes Bill has personally paid over his lifetime, it would amount to a few tenths of a percent of a SINGLE YEAR of US government tax revenue.

I suspect Bill is saying that he-- and other very top earners-- should have paid more.

Re: AMA: Bill Gates

#72

Post by qpery »

munchbunny wrote: post #49
qpery wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know if they are platitudes but they just sound like some generic PR drivel. Take from that what you will.

I'm curious what kind of answer you would consider "not PR drivel." Specifically, if sounds like there is nothing Bill Gates could write that you would consider genuine.

Some kind of personal anecdote or something that is even remotely specific instead of that generic comment that looks like something that was written by the same people who write apologies for Facebook.

Re: AMA: Bill Gates

#73

Post by MrMember »

reaperducer wrote: post #51
creato wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I skimmed the AMA for a few minutes, and saw him say that: - He thought nuclear weapons, bioterrorism, and climate change were the biggest threats to humanity. - He thought paying $10B in capital gains taxes was not enough and he should have paid more. Maybe those are platitudes but it's real enough for me.

He thought paying $10B in capital gains taxes was not enough and he should have paid more. I'm always annoyed when rich people say things like this. I had one say almost this exact thing to me in an elevator once. There's nothing stopping him from paying more. He just writes a check to "Department of the Treasury" and sends it off to D.C. Problem solved. But then he doesn't get to passive-aggressively whine about all…

I always find it a bit disingenuous when someone who has already made tens of billions of dollars on capital gains and wouldn't be affected as much by an increase in the tax calls for it. Would the Bill Gates that had a net worth of $1 million call for increased capital gains taxes?

Re: AMA: Bill Gates

#75

Post by mhb »

gonehome wrote: post #57
reaperducer wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He thought paying $10B in capital gains taxes was not enough and he should have paid more. I'm always annoyed when rich people say things like this. I had one say almost this exact thing to me in an elevator once. There's nothing stopping him from paying more. He just writes a check to "Department of the Treasury" and sends it off to D.C. Problem solved. But then he doesn't get to passive-aggressively whine about all…

That seems like a straw man to me - they’re saying the tax should be higher for people in their class generally, not that they individually wish to pay more.

If he thinks that the government can better allocate the collective amount of additional tax it could obtain from people in similar tax situations, why wouldn't he think the same about just his portion?

Either he has a much higher opinion of his personal judgement in allocating his money (which is likely) than other people who he also thinks should be paying more tax or he should turn over the BMGF to the government.

Re: AMA: Bill Gates

#76

Post by pwthornton »

briandear wrote: post #50
pwthornton wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because micro solutions to macro problems never work. Gates could pay his entire net worth into the treasury and it does not fix a fundamentally broken system. Gates is commenting on how the ultra rich like him make most of their money from capital gains, which are not taxed at normal income tax rates. If capital gains were simply taxed like income taxes, it would be a huge blow against income inequality this country…

Bill Gates writing billion dollar checks is not exactly micro.” He could lead by example and encourage other billionaires to write checks as well. He could start the change he wants to see. When these kinds of billionaires start actually writing checks, then maybe I’ll take their platitudes seriously. It’s like Al Gore flying in a private jet while telling everyone else that flying commercial is killing the planet. I…

Plenty of upper middle class and wealthy people that are nowhere near billionaires derive their income heavily from capital gains. It's a system issue, not a personal issue.

Same thing with your Al Gore example. Leading by example does not make systemic changes to huge, complex systems. That's never going to work.

Al Gore could be living homeless in a tent in a forest and take a vow of poverty. It wouldn't make a dent. Your Gore example is particularly egregious because the No. 1 source of CO2 emissions in the U.S. is from transportation, and the main culprit of that is the sprawl that everyday Americans insist on living in (that the government has subsidized for them).

It doesn't matter if you'll listen or not. Big problems like income inequality and catastrophic climate change need large, systemic changes. There is literally nothing you the individual could do that matters -- except supporting government and system changes that push us forward.

Re: AMA: Bill Gates

#77

Post by tills13 »

elektor wrote: post #2

Do people derive pleasure from these AMAs? Gates seems to reply with the same platitudes and non-answers to the point where its hard to tell if it’s him or the BMGF publicist.

What an odd complaint to an otherwise enjoyable experience that Bill absolutely did not have to participate in.

Re: AMA: Bill Gates

#78

Post by rchaud »

nicoburns wrote: post #56
reaperducer wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He thought paying $10B in capital gains taxes was not enough and he should have paid more. I'm always annoyed when rich people say things like this. I had one say almost this exact thing to me in an elevator once. There's nothing stopping him from paying more. He just writes a check to "Department of the Treasury" and sends it off to D.C. Problem solved. But then he doesn't get to passive-aggressively whine about all…

> I'm always annoyed when rich people say things like this. I had one say almost this exact thing to me in an elevator once. Why? Surely it's better than the alternative of them not supporting progressive taxation?

The alternative in this case would be for Gates to use a part of his resources and influence to maybe advocate for such laws, instead of just talking.

Re: AMA: Bill Gates

#79

Post by mhb »

kelnos wrote: post #64
doppel wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am sure if someone really, REALLY wanted to give money to the government it would be possible with some effort. But it is actually fairly difficult to just give money (at least, in quite a few western countries) to the state that it does not ask for - everything has to fit within a system and match a budget, tax reason, invoice, etc., and you can't just have "EXTRA - From Bill Gates" somewhere in there for 10 billi…

It's actually very easy. See, for example, https://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/gift/gift.htm The money is required to go toward paying down public debt, but I'd say that's worthwhile.

Since money is fungible, you can imagine it paying for whatever aspect of government you fancy.

Re: AMA: Bill Gates

#80

Post by 52-6F-62 »

gonehome wrote: post #57
reaperducer wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He thought paying $10B in capital gains taxes was not enough and he should have paid more. I'm always annoyed when rich people say things like this. I had one say almost this exact thing to me in an elevator once. There's nothing stopping him from paying more. He just writes a check to "Department of the Treasury" and sends it off to D.C. Problem solved. But then he doesn't get to passive-aggressively whine about all…

That seems like a straw man to me - they’re saying the tax should be higher for people in their class generally, not that they individually wish to pay more.

I think you're right.

It's not as if they personally manage every penny— and they tend to optimize for the highest return as a default.

Seems like he's saying the default should change. Makes sense to me.

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