You've got to be joking saying that investment is not useful for the economy. Do you believe that risk should be taken by the most venturous but the reward shared among all? You like Warren have socialist frame of mind looking up to the govt monopoly as the sole investor and employee. Plus 50% of American people invest in stocks one way or another.
serf: a person in a condition of servitude, required to render services to a lord, commonly attached to the lord's land and transferred with it from one owner to another The serf is the one who says, "No, that will never be me!" A serf is the one who is dependent upon the government. Get money back? No one takes your money except the government. If they have "your" money it is because they offered you a product or service that you deemed to be of value and you gave them your money voluntarily. It's not an autocracy we live in yet, but it WILL be if these fascist, totalitarian, democratic socialists who want to control every aspect of our lives manage to convince enough citizens to reject the very principles on which this great republic was founded.
You don't understand how the rich make money, nor do you understand what it means to be useful to society. The vast, vast, vast majority of the 1% - defined as high hundreds of millions (500+ million net worth) are not businessmen, investors, traders, economists, or for the most part even educated. They obtain their wealth through the fact they were born into the correct family. This money is passed down generation after generation. It makes no sense. Tax cuts universally injure the middle class to benefit the rich who can afford tax attorneys to avoid them - but keep drinking the koolaid, King Bezos made it! But hey, if you think the ultra rich should be able to buy politicians, islands, etc because these people "take their money voluntarily and thats MUH CAPITALISM" you both don't understand capitalism and are probably too stupid to vote (or a boomer, but that implies both!) No, the serf is the one who has deluded themselves into thinking stacking shit on the farm makes them free. The serf is the one who shows up to work every day at 9am (because they were written up for being 10 minutes late last week) in order to afford their RENTED house, their RENTED software, their RENTED movies, their RENTED furniture, their RENTED phone, and their RENTED life. The serf owns nothing, they are given what they have by the autocracy and told these things are freedom. You don't know what a fascist is. Bernie is the only actual democratic socialist running for president and he stands no chance. Actual the technocracy does - the google account you use is watching you, every purchase you make on amazon is tracked, and ad companies are building a portfolio of you as we speak. You are broken because you do not understand the technocracy is the evil here. You are too busy caught up in the rat race of us vs. them - just like a good shit stacking serf. Keep drinking the koolaid, bezos made it himself! Comcast and Time Warner control 99% of all pipes going through this country. Do you think giving them money for an absolute necessity in a modern society "voluntary"? If so, I've got you pegged as a boomer and I'm done talking to you. The boomers are the worst form of malignant cancer to ever infect this world.
Right—fools like the hosts and guests I see on Shark Tank and so many others like them. It is so true that nobody makes it in America these days. That’s why we have so many citizens fleeing our country and trying to enter other nations illegally.
I enjoy this one in particular because the asylum seekers in the south almost universally come from countries the US has raped and pillaged, replaced leaders, and let die. You do realize we are the reason "illegal immigration" from Central America is a problem right? Or do you not remember the contras?
Dude! You are describing the very people who buy into socialism and then have their lives and country totally wreck by it. They own nothing. The government takes everything and then distributes it as they see fit. I will write nothing more since I do not think it will help you to see the world as it truly is.
You know what im going to expand on this because it's clear you really don't understand. I'm a millennial. I have had the privilege of making high 100k's since my mid 20s, I own a home, and I can afford just about every luxury the modern man could ask for. If I interviewed my average friend they'd be slammed with student debt (I JUST paid mine off!), broke, and probably working a deadend job. The story is the same - "my parents told me to get an education but not what to get, the government gave me free money and didn't educate me on loans..." I am surrounded by actual, suffering people of my generation. I voted for Trump, and to be honest I am more disappointed in Trump than I ever was with Obama. It's a shame, because I was so excited I bought champagne for his inauguration. 1. Housing is so bad that renting is the only option. Where there is housing there are no jobs, where there are jobs there is no housing. This creates a nation of serfs renting from landlords who were fortunate enough to buy in the last major downturn and are now jacking up rents 15% per year (in my area as of last week when I checked). I got my house when the market briefly tumbled back down to the median. I got lucky especially since interest rates have been rock bottom for Trump's term. Majority of my neighborhood is current being rented through Chinese REITs because the west coast has been completely purchased by billionaire Chinese. 2. Utilities are rented and so are most phone lines, internet lines, etc. In my state you can't even use solar anymore because the local energy monopoly lobbied to allow them to charge a "solar fee". It's completely unapproachable unless you have a 40 acre plot of land to place millions in solar panels at. 3. Software is generally subscription based so you own nothing there. 4. The gig economy has created a legion of people who are just barely surviving for horrible wages and work conditions further adding to the serfdom. 5. Simple things like affording to repair a car has become impossible for the majority of my generation because we (including me) were told that college is the only way, given FREE MONEY with no education, and told to "get an education because thats where the jobs are". Turn around 10 years later and the god damn boomers, the rapers of our economy, are blaming us for being "lazy" when we were given no guidance at all! 6. Nordic countries have done well with socializing public goods like healthcare. There is no "death board". We are behind in America in a number of ways and we should figure out our own way (with taxes, or without) to improve our situation. 7. The gap between the middle class and the upper class continues to extend by the year - not because of "laziness" but because of wealth concentration due to inheritance and incredible (tax avoiding) capital gains. Trump himself has passed a "tax break" that crushed the working class and helped the upper class. This is uncalled for, and to be honest, un-American. Consider this: OUR PRESIDENT is a primary beneficiary of the inheritance and wealth concentration problem of America. A "small loan of a million dollars" and billions in debt on his real estate portfolio. He does not represent the average American. You are so ignorant of the actual problems of society. I wish you understood more. Perhaps volunteering at your local homeless shelter will help open your eyes to problems actual people face, and perhaps you could pull yourself more centrist where the true enlightenment happens. You'd label me as a socialist. I'd label me as a centrist. I believe in capitalism, and I can tell you the system we have today IS NOT capitalism.
@gaussian What is the "correct family"? If the heirs don't deserve to own family wealth, what makes you deserve its wealth? How are we going to judge you and who is the judge?
There is no correct family. When billions in wealth transfer from one person to the next you have the makings of an oligarchy. Do you think they paid their fair share to become billionaires? I have my doubts. Do you think you should be able to pay for an audience with a politician of your choice? Do you think we should cherish the ultra rich who can pay the smartest people on the planet to game the system we use to fund social security, medicare, and other social goods? The judge is the government who represents the people. The problem doesn't stem from "being wealthy" so please save you arguments that I hate people who save enough to be "financially independent". The problem stems from the majority ill-gotten gains (rothschilds, trumps, clintons, bushs, bilderbergs, vanderbilts, morgans, etc) who have so effectively gamed both the government and the people that they have become, more or less, a governing body. They by-and-large do not pay taxes because they can avoid it. The bread and butter of America is the small business. The small business cannot afford to "avoid taxes" like the ultra rich 1% can. So, if we are going to help grow the small business, we must punish those who have gotten their gains through tax avoidance. The government should specifically dedicate a law enforcement body to investigate any substantial (lets say greater than 1 million dollar) wealth transfer. This would include tax return investigations, foreign businesses, etc. If there is any smell of funny business a flat 40% tax is levied on all gains above that baseline (in my example - 1 million) to make up for lost tax revenue + inflation. Seems fair to me and most importantly DOES NOT HURT SMALL BUSINESS. I do not understand how you can defend the oligarchy as someone who is most likely making average wages and is of average means. How can you possible vote against your own interests?