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Just Be Rich (2021)

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Re: Just Be Rich (2021)

#81

Post by rahimnathwani »

FrustratedMonky wrote: post #68
TrackerFF wrote: post #56

I live in a country with wealth tax (Norway), and I'm a bit conflicted on it. On one side, it is effectively the only real tax a many in the "ownership class" are paying - relative to their wealth. On the other side, it is a really problematic tax for entrepreneurs. It is downright horrible for startups and scaleups - critical funds that should be used to grow your company, has to be given out in dividends to founder…

The US had same problem with family farms. The farm itself was very valuable, so when being left to the children as inheritance, it was heavily taxed. But, this is a problem, because what is left is not enough for the kids to make a living. So in the act of trying to tax the rich with inheritance, there are some lower/middle layers getting hit very hard. Taxes don't have to be a flat number, there should be exemption…

What is special about family farms, that doesn't apply to other family-owned businesses?

Re: Just Be Rich (2021)

#82

Post by ineptech »

> You would think, after having been on the side of labor in its fight with capital for almost two centuries, that the far left would be happy that labor has finally prevailed. But none of them seem to be. You can almost hear them saying "No, no, not that way."

This one really threw me for a loop. Do startup founders making or seeking a big exit really think of themselves as "labor"?

Re: Just Be Rich (2021)

#83

Post by the_real_cher »

The part everyone always glosses over is:

If the rich are taxed more, will the government equitably distribute that money to the middle class?

Defense contractors make hundreds of millions of dollars from government funds.

We just assumed that tax money will go to the middle class but it's also likely to go to another rich person.

Re: Just Be Rich (2021)

#84

Post by dgb23 »

TrackerFF wrote: post #56

I live in a country with wealth tax (Norway), and I'm a bit conflicted on it. On one side, it is effectively the only real tax a many in the "ownership class" are paying - relative to their wealth. On the other side, it is a really problematic tax for entrepreneurs. It is downright horrible for startups and scaleups - critical funds that should be used to grow your company, has to be given out in dividends to founder…

> One natural consequence of this has been that the wealthy people are simply...leaving the country. (our total / combined max wealth tax is 1.1%)

I assume that was to be expected. The more interesting question would be: Is this a net gain for Norwegians?

Re: Just Be Rich (2021)

#85

Post by JackFr »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #5
xrd wrote: post #4

Noahopinion has a very recent interesting article on wealth and taxation. It makes me mad because it contradicts a lot of cherished ideas I have about the rich and taxation, but probably makes sense in this conversation: https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/theres-not-that-much-wealth-in...

Wealth is unelected power, a bug. It’s reasonable to say there should be limits on wealth, considering most wealthy people were lucky (either by birth or “right place right time”) but attempt to post rationalize it as anything else. Would you want someone who won a lottery ticket to have power over your life at scale? Because that’s what excess wealth is, a power dynamic powered by a suboptimal system masquerading as…

> Because that’s what excess wealth is, a power dynamic powered by a suboptimal system masquerading as shades of a meritocracy that does not exist.

What does that mean? It's millenial Marxism unmoored from any specificity or facts.

Re: Just Be Rich (2021)

#86

Post by WalterBright »

SpaceManNabs wrote: post #14
rvrs wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oddly? His essays are regularly thinly-veiled excuses to peddle libertarian horse shit I thought Hackers and Painters was decent and even in those essays Paul couldn’t help him self

Totally agree. One of my biggest critiques of entrepreneur and hacker circles is how much they ride PG. dude is rich, not some sort of genius policy maker. The difference between a lot of hackers now and PG isnt talent, it is that someone was making a good website when the internet pretty much was empty lol. Google was still a baby compared to yahoo. edit: since i was pretty negative here, i will sing some praise. Gr…

Right now, there is a guy in a garage founding the next billion dollar company, doing something we all will wish we thought of.

Re: Just Be Rich (2021)

#87

Post by toomuchtodo »

JackFr wrote: post #85
toomuchtodo wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wealth is unelected power, a bug. It’s reasonable to say there should be limits on wealth, considering most wealthy people were lucky (either by birth or “right place right time”) but attempt to post rationalize it as anything else. Would you want someone who won a lottery ticket to have power over your life at scale? Because that’s what excess wealth is, a power dynamic powered by a suboptimal system masquerading as…

> Because that’s what excess wealth is, a power dynamic powered by a suboptimal system masquerading as shades of a meritocracy that does not exist. What does that mean? It's millenial Marxism unmoored from any specificity or facts.

We pretend wealthy people are special when they’re simply lucky. They then use wealth to wield power and control (politics specifically, Citizens United, but I can provide other examples), with a narrative that they are special (not lucky! special!) and that maybe you too can be special and wealthy if you work really hard and are exceptional.

Are the wealthy lucky? Yes. Do they use their wealth to shape the world as they see fit? Yes. Is the narrative that anyone can be wealthy if they work very hard and are exceptional despite the math showing this is not true? Yes.

Re: Just Be Rich (2021)

#88

Post by WalterBright »

infinitezest wrote: post #75
WalterBright wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sweden, France, California, Washington state and NYC have discovered once again that taxing the heck out of rich people causes them to leave. And when they leave, they take their spend/invest/hire money with them.

There is also the upside of them taking their lobbying dollars with them.

The USSR did not have lobbyists nor wealthy people.

Didn't work out too well for the commoners.

Re: Just Be Rich (2021)

#89

Post by Devasta »

xrd wrote: post #4

Noahopinion has a very recent interesting article on wealth and taxation. It makes me mad because it contradicts a lot of cherished ideas I have about the rich and taxation, but probably makes sense in this conversation: https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/theres-not-that-much-wealth-in...

Bezos cries, as I wave a tenner in his face. "You don't have any real wealth, you only have stocks!"

Re: Just Be Rich (2021)

#90

Post by WalterBright »

glitchc wrote: post #66
WalterBright wrote: post #58

> false claim that wealth inequality is solely due to more startups and not a real problem says a lot. The article assumes that wealth inequality is bad, but never explains it. The thing is, people all have different abilities and make different choices in life. These lead inevitably to different results. In order to make everyone equal, peoples' freedoms must be taken away.

There's copious amounts of ink spent on why wealth inequality is bad for a country. The author doesn't need to rehash all of those arguments to make his point.

Tell us one of them.

I'll give an example where everyone was equal. The USSR. That worked out great, right?

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