A million seconds is about 11 days. A billion seconds is more than 32 years. It’s easy to forget just how different a million dollars and a billion dollars are. When people talk about getting rid of billionaires, they are not flippantly hating on the rich. They are talking about a handful of people who have more money (and therefore power) than any one person should have. More money than they can spend in their lifetime. What could they ever buy that worth more than their humanity? Because they are activly choosing to not help people when they have the resources to. There’s no such thing as a “self-made billionaire.” Whether or not they start with a fortune, none of them make it there without stepping on and hurting countless other people. Bezos (Amazon; net worth of $109.7 billion) is one of the grossest examples, in my opinion. Workers are being traumatized and over-worked in Amazon warehouses Bezos didn’t acquire his money alone (sources at bottom of post).
Try this article about it: Here’s how much America’s billionaires give to charity, in one chart - Dylan Matthews (Vox). Our capitalistic economy and the laws that shape it allow billionaires to exist. I think they should pay taxes. Everyone hates paying taxes, but they are the reason we have schools and roads and safe drinking water. They serve a critical purpose. Wouldn’t billionaire’s be paying their proportion? They can pay so much more because they have so much more. If they can’t afford to pay taxes, maybe they should be more careful with their money. You know, learn to budget. Elon Musk (Telsa and Paypal and more; net worth of $22.8 billion) could do so much good, instead, he spent billions sending this car into space for fun. Amazon, a company worth more than a trillion dollars (Money.com qtd. Forbes), paid $0 in federal taxes in 2018 and 2019. Other taxes such as state taxes and income tax were paid (Why doesn’t Amazon pay corporate tax? Read more: Forbes). You might have heard that Bezos recently paid $98.5 to help the homeless. Let’s break this down before we get too happy about it...
There's always strings, but when it comes to donations, they can be less than helpful. Homeless Services Network will need to manage the stock over the next five years to maximize its value. It was not immediately clear if there is a limit on how much of the gift can be cashed in each year. (Orlando Sentienal) I’m all for taxes. I mean, I’m not excited to have to pay them and I know they are often mismanaged. But, there are people who depend on government assistance. We all do. I believe everyone deserves food, shelter, water, and safety. There is not a lacking in the amount of resources in this country or in the world. The corrupt distribution of our resources is the problem. This isn’t a complete summary of the problem or and end to my commentary on it, but it’s a start. Thanks for reading. When we say ‘tax the rich,’ we mean nesting-doll yacht rich. For-profit prison rich. Betsy DeVos, student-loan shark rich. Trick-the-country-into-war rich. Subsidizing-workforce-food-stamps rich. Because THAT kind of rich is simply not good for society, and it’s like ten people. - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez |
Who Am I?Hi there! I'm Whit, my pronouns are they/them, and I write a lot.
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Painting by Whit Acrylics on masonite April 20th, 2019 Words are a Quaker saying. George Fox? |