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AMA: Bill Gates

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Re: AMA: Bill Gates

#81

Post by creato »

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…

It's really, really simple, to the point where I suspect that most people that make the argument you are making are being disingenuous.

Bill Gates is willing to pay more taxes if other billionaires pay more taxes. If they don't, he isn't.

Just like I think my taxes should be higher, but I'm not going to voluntarily pay higher taxes, unless others in my tax bracket also pay them.

Even chimpanzees would probably understand and disagree with you [1].

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4451566/

Re: AMA: Bill Gates

#82

Post by tempestn »

mhb wrote: post #75
gonehome wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I expect that it's not so much a higher opinion of his personal judgement as a higher opinion of his values and priorities. Obviously he feels their foundation is spending money on the most important things it can be; however I expect he also feels that the government will, on average, spend it on more important things than it would be used for by most people with similar levels of wealth.

Re: AMA: Bill Gates

#83

Post by rchaud »

jonas21 wrote: post #22
kome wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

in other words, war is dangerous and he pays too little tax. i think too they are platitudes.

And yet... how many other billionaires do you see going out and saying that the capital gains tax rate is too low and climate change is the biggest threat to humanity.

Buffett has been beating the "higher taxes for rich people" drum at least since the 2008 recession, maybe longer. He won't actually open his wallet to push for these policies mind you. That would be a bridge too far.

Re: AMA: Bill Gates

#84

Post by Barrin92 »

mhb wrote: post #75
gonehome wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

>why wouldn't he think the same about just his portion?

well Bill Gates personally does which is why he is giving almost all of his wealth away. (The giving pledge exists for this reason, and I would assume that most billionaires who agree to higher taxation also are significant personal givers).

This criticism fails on two fronts. People who are in favour of increased tax redistribution generally also support voluntary giving. (Most of the effective altruist people I think would fall into this group), and even if they didn't it would be nothing more than a cheap personal attack, because one can hold positions in favour of tax redistribution and against charity at the same time.

Re: AMA: Bill Gates

#85

Post by reaperducer »

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 isn't supporting progressive taxation. The alternative is picking up a pen and writing a check.

Re: AMA: Bill Gates

#86

Post by skywhopper »

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.

Really? Sure he has some practicd answers to questions he gets hundreds of times a week, and he is careful about what he says. But I wouldn't call them "non-answers", and I don't think he pulls any punches. I feel like his personality comes through, and yes he has opinions that I don't really agree with. Maybe it's not really a worthwhile way to spend time, but it all feels real enough. Do you have some examples of what's so egregious that it doesn't seem like it's really him?

Re: AMA: Bill Gates

#87

Post by onetimemanytime »

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 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.

And then some pr*ck in the Senate decides that 3 times as much as Bill Gates paid goes to a pork barrel project to create 25 jobs in his district? The best use of his money?

Bill Gates and all with the Bill Gates' mindset should pay the minimum required and invest the rest to better the world privately.

Re: AMA: Bill Gates

#88

Post by skywhopper »

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…

This is silly. Bill Gates thinks his taxes should be higher, because he thinks all people earning money in the way he does should pay higher taxes. If he wrote a check to double his own personal tax payment it wouldn't make a dent in the US budget. But if you doubled the taxes every billionaire pays, it would make a huge dent.

So he's saying, his class of wealth should pay more. If it's just him who does it, it doesn't solve the government's problems, and he's better off spending the money himself directly on the things he cares about. But if everyone at his scale paid more, that _would_ help.

Re: AMA: Bill Gates

#89

Post by skh »

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…

But then he doesn't get to passive-aggressively whine about all of his piles of money that the government won't take from him.

Suppose you are right that he is being passive agressive. I strongly disagree with this assessment but let’s for the sake of argument agree that he is being passive aggressive. Why is his right to be passive-aggressive diminished? Is he not allowed to be passive-aggressive or hypocritical or any other negative view you have about him?

The correctness of his view that people like him ought to be taxed at a higher rate is not dependent upon his character flaws or lack thereof. The belief ought to be judged on its own merits and not analyzed based on whether or not his character passes muster.

Re: AMA: Bill Gates

#90

Post by skywhopper »

mhb wrote: post #75
gonehome wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Because his portion, however huge it is, is a rounding error compared to the US government's budget. But everyone in his class put together, if you make them all pay more, then it becomes a significant amount of money.
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