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The time I didn't meet Jeffrey Epstein

scottaaronson.blog

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Re: The time I didn't meet Jeffrey Epstein

#301

Post by addicted »

tirant wrote: post #153
whatever1 wrote: post #150

Power corrupts, end of story. Democracy (limited terms), taxation and anti-monopoly regulation are examples that show a path to cure the disease. Nobody should be trusted with too much power for too long.

Fully agree on the root cause, but not on the solution. We should strive for extremely limited power by our public representatives, so their corruption impact is reduced to a minimum. But not only limited power, but also limited budget access, as an extension to limit that power. And that actually means reduced taxation. But at the same time, the budget for justice system needs to increase. It should be most probably…

> Corruption within private companies is irrelevant, as the main ones to suffer from it are usually shareholders.

And a few millions of people suffering because they're being misled into buying "wellness" solutions.

And a few hundreds of millions of people around the world suffering the effects of local pollution and clean water laws being skirted.

And a few billion folks who are gonna suffer the effects of climate change.

etc...

Other than the 6-7 billion humans who suffer due to private company corruption, it's basically only the shareholders.

Re: The time I didn't meet Jeffrey Epstein

#302

Post by zozbot234 »

palata wrote: post #272
alphazard wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Taxation is the mechanism that moves power from the people to the government, and increasingly politicians and their specific interests. Do you actually believe that if your taxes went up, power would be less concentrated, or that you or your countrymen would have more power? Every government goon doing authoritarian dirty work collects a paycheck and wouldn't do their job without it.

I think they mean "taxation of the too rich" in that case. > moves power from the people to the government In a functioning democracy, the government is the people. If the government is against the people, it's not a functioning democracy. And needless to say, a non-functioning democracy is not a proof that the concept of democracy doesn't work.

>In a functioning democracy, the government is the people. If the government is against the people, it's not a functioning democracy.

The U.S. are a republic not a democracy. The people vote for the government but are not expected to be directly involved with it after the fact.

Re: The time I didn't meet Jeffrey Epstein

#303

Post by thrance »

carlosjobim wrote: post #283
whatever1 wrote: post #150

Power corrupts, end of story. Democracy (limited terms), taxation and anti-monopoly regulation are examples that show a path to cure the disease. Nobody should be trusted with too much power for too long.

> taxation Taxation is the system where innocent people are forced to pay enormous amounts of money to the rich, powerful, corrupt. The whole basis for the Babylon system is taxation. Epstein and associates are able to thrive thanks to taxation. It has always been from the poor to the rich, never the other way around. Why do you think kings invented taxation in the first place?

Then why are billionaires so anti-taxation? This is completely incoherent.

Re: The time I didn't meet Jeffrey Epstein

#304

Post by havblue »

whatever1 wrote: post #150

Power corrupts, end of story. Democracy (limited terms), taxation and anti-monopoly regulation are examples that show a path to cure the disease. Nobody should be trusted with too much power for too long.

I was under the impression that Epstein was powerful because he was corrupt, not the other way around.

Re: The time I didn't meet Jeffrey Epstein

#305

Post by wslh »

whatever1 wrote: post #150

Power corrupts, end of story. Democracy (limited terms), taxation and anti-monopoly regulation are examples that show a path to cure the disease. Nobody should be trusted with too much power for too long.

I would add strong and fast consumer protection biased to big companies. Also, the elephant in the room: a modern, and not impossble expensive, legal system.

Re: The time I didn't meet Jeffrey Epstein

#307

Post by thrance »

whatever1 wrote: post #150

Power corrupts, end of story. Democracy (limited terms), taxation and anti-monopoly regulation are examples that show a path to cure the disease. Nobody should be trusted with too much power for too long.

Billionaires should be taxed away from existence. This much wealth and power is hugely detrimental to society. It's not even good for themselves, with how miserable and wretched they look and behave.

Re: The time I didn't meet Jeffrey Epstein

#308

Post by palata »

alphazard wrote: post #292
palata wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they mean "taxation of the too rich" in that case. > moves power from the people to the government In a functioning democracy, the government is the people. If the government is against the people, it's not a functioning democracy. And needless to say, a non-functioning democracy is not a proof that the concept of democracy doesn't work.

> I think they mean "taxation of the too rich" in that case. Everyone wants taxes to go up on everyone making more than them, and for their own taxes to go down. The problem is this is a collective negotiation, not a discussion about what to ask the genie for when we rub the lamp. If the middle class wants to decrease their own taxes (which is the political issue that objectively affects them the most, and how they l…

> Everyone wants taxes to go up on everyone making more than them

That is a different debate. I think what the parent means is that taxing the rich is a way to prevent them from becoming too powerful.

I do agree that it should be illegal to be too powerful. One should not be more powerful than an entire country, it makes no sense.

Re: The time I didn't meet Jeffrey Epstein

#310

Post by dauertewigkeit »

tirant wrote: post #153
whatever1 wrote: post #150

Power corrupts, end of story. Democracy (limited terms), taxation and anti-monopoly regulation are examples that show a path to cure the disease. Nobody should be trusted with too much power for too long.

Fully agree on the root cause, but not on the solution. We should strive for extremely limited power by our public representatives, so their corruption impact is reduced to a minimum. But not only limited power, but also limited budget access, as an extension to limit that power. And that actually means reduced taxation. But at the same time, the budget for justice system needs to increase. It should be most probably…

It's fundamentally still a problem of asymmetry of power and connections.

Try to put yourself in the shoes of an FBI agent tasked with investigating this same case. The accused are very wealthy very powerful people with deep pockets. They can and will take action against you, if you're revealed to be chasing after them. Plus, their network of allies is so vast, that you cannot even trust your superiors or other government agencies to back you up. And indeed that is exactly what happened here.

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