Thomas Piketty’s plan to fix the economy
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Thomas Piketty’s plan to fix the economy
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Re: Thomas Piketty’s plan to fix the economy
#2I am still unable to fathom why he thinks inequality is a problem in and of itself. Hunger, famine, war, disease, we all understand are bad because they have negative consequences on real human lives. Jeff Bezos owning 12% of Amazon does not make me any worse off and if he owned 11% instead it would not make my life any better.
Now there are certain things that can that can contribute to people accumulating excessive amounts at another person's expense. Regulatory capture and economic cartels for instance. But those are never brought up by Picketty's breed. Their issues is that someone owns more than someone else. I suppose my advice to Picketty would be that if he is going to commit one of the seven deadly sins, he might choose a funner one than envy.
Re: Thomas Piketty’s plan to fix the economy
#3In a voluntary society, why don’t people who advocate for things like the abolition of private property (the thesis of the linked article) just create this themselves?
Absolutely nothing stops a group from creating a non-profit, electing a board of trustees that appoints managers, and signing lifetime contracts to pledge their income to it. Then the board and it’s managers can divvy up the income among everyone fairly, build communal housing, negotiate to provide health benefits for all at group discounts, provide retirement income, etc. And if people sign on when they are young, then some will become more successful and provide more income for the whole.
This is the same as taxes, except even better because all group members are ideologically aligned and would be happy to give all their income away to an elected group of people who will spend it on everyone fairly. And this way, people who don’t want to participate aren’t forced to do so.
Re: Thomas Piketty’s plan to fix the economy
#4In a voluntary society, why don’t people who advocate for things like the abolition of private property (the thesis of the linked article) just create this themselves? Absolutely nothing stops a group from creating a non-profit, electing a board of trustees that appoints managers, and signing lifetime contracts to pledge their income to it. Then the board and it’s managers can divvy up the income among everyone fairl…
"Absolutely nothing stops a group from creating a non-profit, electing a board of trustees that appoints managers"
We have done. They're called nations.
Other nations are available. You're not forced to stay in the one you are born in. That's enshrined in the United nations charter on human rights.
Re: Thomas Piketty’s plan to fix the economy
#5I am still unable to fathom why he thinks inequality is a problem in and of itself. Hunger, famine, war, disease, we all understand are bad because they have negative consequences on real human lives. Jeff Bezos owning 12% of Amazon does not make me any worse off and if he owned 11% instead it would not make my life any better. Now there are certain things that can that can contribute to people accumulating excessive…
Pretty sure this just makes you a fucking moron.
Re: Thomas Piketty’s plan to fix the economy
#6I am still unable to fathom why he thinks inequality is a problem in and of itself. Hunger, famine, war, disease, we all understand are bad because they have negative consequences on real human lives. Jeff Bezos owning 12% of Amazon does not make me any worse off and if he owned 11% instead it would not make my life any better. Now there are certain things that can that can contribute to people accumulating excessive…
The worst thing is that it is not the inequality of wealth that matters. It's the inequality of power.
What Piketty and others of this philosophical movement believe is that taking money away from people is the same as removing power.
They are going to be disappointed. Power is a capital item, not a revenue item. Money gets you the contacts with the right people. Lack of money doesn't remove them.
Plus, of course, there isn't a fixed amount of wealth - particularly not financial wealth. So why confiscate when you can accommodate?
Re: Thomas Piketty’s plan to fix the economy
#7In a voluntary society, why don’t people who advocate for things like the abolition of private property (the thesis of the linked article) just create this themselves? Absolutely nothing stops a group from creating a non-profit, electing a board of trustees that appoints managers, and signing lifetime contracts to pledge their income to it. Then the board and it’s managers can divvy up the income among everyone fairl…
"Absolutely nothing stops a group from creating a non-profit, electing a board of trustees that appoints managers" We have done. They're called nations. Other nations are available. You're not forced to stay in the one you are born in. That's enshrined in the United nations charter on human rights.
The nation is quite unlikely to radically increase taxes and outlaw private property. Why not create this system yourself among like-minded people?
Re: Thomas Piketty’s plan to fix the economy
#8I am still unable to fathom why he thinks inequality is a problem in and of itself. Hunger, famine, war, disease, we all understand are bad because they have negative consequences on real human lives. Jeff Bezos owning 12% of Amazon does not make me any worse off and if he owned 11% instead it would not make my life any better. Now there are certain things that can that can contribute to people accumulating excessive…
Pretty sure this just makes you a fucking moron.
Please follow the rules of this site.
Re: Thomas Piketty’s plan to fix the economy
#9In a voluntary society, why don’t people who advocate for things like the abolition of private property (the thesis of the linked article) just create this themselves? Absolutely nothing stops a group from creating a non-profit, electing a board of trustees that appoints managers, and signing lifetime contracts to pledge their income to it. Then the board and it’s managers can divvy up the income among everyone fairl…
"Absolutely nothing stops a group from creating a non-profit, electing a board of trustees that appoints managers" We have done. They're called nations. Other nations are available. You're not forced to stay in the one you are born in. That's enshrined in the United nations charter on human rights.
> That's enshrined in the United nations charter on human rights.
Good luck turning up at $country’s port of entry with that as your only immigration document.
Re: Thomas Piketty’s plan to fix the economy
#10I am still unable to fathom why he thinks inequality is a problem in and of itself. Hunger, famine, war, disease, we all understand are bad because they have negative consequences on real human lives. Jeff Bezos owning 12% of Amazon does not make me any worse off and if he owned 11% instead it would not make my life any better. Now there are certain things that can that can contribute to people accumulating excessive…
The worst thing is that it is not the inequality of wealth that matters. It's the inequality of power. What Piketty and others of this philosophical movement believe is that taking money away from people is the same as removing power. They are going to be disappointed. Power is a capital item, not a revenue item. Money gets you the contacts with the right people. Lack of money doesn't remove them. Plus, of course, th…
Though he might handwave at this notion of "power imbalance", you and I both fully understand that this is not the core issue driving his philosophy. Someone making $120k a year can afford to hire a lobbyist in their state legislature. Should no one make $120k?
If there were no billionaires would the so called "power imbalance" be restored? Does someone with $900 million not have the power of someone with $1 billion? Of course not.
And money doesn't linearly equate with power. There are a number of powerful people in Washington, even unelected ones, who have no substantial fortune to their name yet wield far more power than say Jack Dorsey, Bill Ackman, or Marc Andreeson. If Piketty was truly against all concentrations of power, he would call himself a libertarian.
But Piketty is not against concentrations of power. The core idea behind Piketty's philosophy is a moral one. He believes that some people having a significant amount more than others is a moral failure in society, and must be corrected, even at an economic cost.