I wonder what would happen to the suicide rate with medicare for all, and creating a max-wage that is (avg of contractors + employees * 150), or something similar, w/ additional 'bonus' multipliers for increasing # of U.S. hired. UBI would also probably help. As a freelancer I've had some really slim months and depression hits hard when money is tight. There's a very direct correlation between income security, insecu…
The best form of a maximum wage would be a simple wealth tax in place of the income tax. It doesn't discourage entrepreneurs continuing to work, but it doesn't allow wealth to accumulate in idle hands.
I wonder what would happen to the suicide rate with medicare for all, and creating a max-wage that is (avg of contractors + employees * 150), or something similar, w/ additional 'bonus' multipliers for increasing # of U.S. hired. UBI would also probably help. As a freelancer I've had some really slim months and depression hits hard when money is tight. There's a very direct correlation between income security, insecu…
(a) Maximum Wage and/or wealth tax is the best way to fight inequality. Raising the floor without modifying how much or how quickly those at the top earn only makes those barely above the bottom relatively poorer.
The wealth tax is the best way to fight inequality. A maximum wage would just discourage our best entrepreneurs. I agree that raising the floor without changing anything else doesn't do much.
I see income inequality as a key issue here. I recently read the "Triumph of injustice" and came away with a changed view in our tax system. After reading the book, I now believe that any household with a net worth over $100 million should be subject to both an income and capital gains tax of 99%. In short folks with income come and or net worth at levels that surpass their ability to buy a life of finical security f…
That's interesting because... right now we have a system that examines income and taxes income. The "wealth tax" is a system that examines wealth and taxes wealth (not income). It's theorized that it's unconstitutional, and even if it isn't, the conservative US court might cause it problems anyway. But if instead you examine wealth and tax income , maybe that gets around the issue. Higher income tax brackets for thos…
A simple wealth tax of 4-5% would completely eliminate idle wealth in a couple of decades and would not destroy the American way of bootstrapping yourself to wealth like a 99% tax would.
A max wage will just lead to workarounds, hiring each family member at the maximum rate for instance, or schemes where a family member sues the company and the company "loses", etc. Is it worth it to play that game?
I've heard tax circumvention is a problem too, which is why I'm in favor of abolishing taxation.
A max wage will just lead to workarounds, hiring each family member at the maximum rate for instance, or schemes where a family member sues the company and the company "loses", etc. Is it worth it to play that game?
"Somebody might work around it" is never a good argument against a policy. Whatever the policy's goals are, even a version full of loopholes will accomplish more of those goals than not implementing the policy at all.
The point is that it won't be effective. We'll get a situation like [1] that takes decades to fix:
> Concept and origin (1991)
> Partial closure (2018)
To essentially cap wages, you could use higher tax rates in higher tax brackets, and that might actually be enforceable as it would leverage the existing enforcement apparatus that has decades of experience patching workarounds.
Because if you're told you're supposed to "make it" since birth, and you don't, you feel like a piece of shit. Marginalized communities have been told the other story, every little thing is a win. Difference in expectations is huge, and source of all sort of bad things (like racial resentment etc...). Solution: make this country slightly less "dog eat dog" and you'll solve a LOT of social issues almost overnight.
It’s not just about expectations of yourself. It might even be more about others’ expectations of you. When society says your white privilege means you have no excuse for failure, that is a hard dead end.
Does society say that? I've never come across a description of white privilege that didn't compare it to playing your life on easy mode. Sure, your life might be tough but it's less tough than it would be if you in the exact same situation and not white.
Re/ medicare for all ... Canada has universal health care yet a very similar suicide rate to the USA.[1] Canada doesn't have a livable minimum wage either. Each province sets its own. There is talk of UBI experiments. [1] https://politicalcalculations.blogspot.com/2011/02/us-vs-can...
I really hope we do not get a UBI in any current forms. I know the second the stores realize that every person now has 'x' amount of dollars to spend, they will raise the prices to match the most they can extract. What I wish Canada would do instead is establish some sort of Universal Basic Rights like every man woman and child is entitled to 5lbs of potatoes a week, 1 gallon of milk, 1 pound of carrots, ect. I as a…
Apart from failing to account for competition, I think the problem with this kind of analysis is that it misses how transformative UBI would be for how we reward work. All those dirty, unpleasant jobs paying minimum wage will suddenly become a lot harder to fill. When people have a viable safety net the compensation those jobs offer will have to be commensurate with the unpleasantness of the work. Who would spend 40 hours a week cleaning for $200 a month when you already get $1000?
Have been reading Rutger Bregman’s book and UBI seems to be an incredible money saver and immense benefit. It would take however a big jump in consciousness to do something like this because who would take the shorty jobs paying 1/3 living wage if no one is afraid Of homelessness?
If nobody is taking that job for a salary that is economically viable, then it shouldn't exist. We shouldn't make people waste their finite time on this Earth doing pointless jobs under the threat of homelessness or starvation.
In an employers’ market with no unions and no regulation ensuring a livable wage, many corporations write business plans relying on precisely this kinds of jobs.
It’s not just about expectations of yourself. It might even be more about others’ expectations of you. When society says your white privilege means you have no excuse for failure, that is a hard dead end.
Does society say that? I've never come across a description of white privilege that didn't compare it to playing your life on easy mode. Sure, your life might be tough but it's less tough than it would be if you in the exact same situation and not white.
However you try to spin it, your point is that it is their own fault.
Does society say that? I've never come across a description of white privilege that didn't compare it to playing your life on easy mode. Sure, your life might be tough but it's less tough than it would be if you in the exact same situation and not white.
However you try to spin it, your point is that it is their own fault.