The fundamental question: Why is inequality bad?

Discussion in 'Political Opinions & Beliefs' started by FixingLosers, Mar 7, 2015.

  1. Longshot

    Longshot Well-Known Member

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    They are assets, just like land, stocks, bonds, etc. However they are not money. Someone said that the rich hoard their money, and I have explained that they don't. They spend or lend their money.

    If a rich person buys an asset, he is circulating his money back into the economy. He no longer has the money. It is out of his hands and back into the economy.
     
  2. hudson1955

    hudson1955 Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    [QUOTEOur taxcode is a clusterfrick of inefficiency and special treatment. A simple consumption tax would better serve everyone. For all Americans to prosper, they need to participate in the economy from all fronts and not just the consumption side. The government robbing them of 15.3% of their incomes does nothing but stifle most Americans and promotes them to retire in poverty tied to failing Ponzi schemes.
    ][/QUOTE]

    Fine then blame the Federal Government not the people that took advantage of a free high school education, did well enough to attend college or technical school and who likely owed a fortune when they graduated. Stop blame those that succeed. 99% of those earning more than $500,000.00 a year grew up in middle class families they didn't inherit there money. People who have achieved some form of "wealth" shouldn't have to apologize for it. Over 50% of them pay all income tax collected by the Federal Government. We all should pay our fair share whether it be $1.00 or $1 million dollars, based on our gross ordinary income. Tax away all tax credits and deductions on ordinary income and provide for only one tax rate. I think 8% would be enough and equal more than the Federal government currently collects in taxes on this income.
     
  3. Yepimonfire

    Yepimonfire New Member

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    Yeah, except banks don't even need deposits to loan money with the federal reserve. When a bank makes a loan, it doesn't have deposits to cover, it magically creates it out of thin air, it then must borrow another loan from another bank to account for its reserves, however, since the loan it just gave you is likely to be immediately deposited into another bank, its simply just borrowing back its made up money, new money exists, out of thin air. The federal reserve can either tighten or loosen the lending through quantitative easing by beefing up banks reserves, or upping the reserve requirement, to keep an economy from growing too fast or to promote growth during a recession. It's nothing more then a big giant orgy of fiat currency mathematics allowing pretend money to chase real goods.
     
  4. Sanskrit

    Sanskrit Well-Known Member

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    Someone with $5 million net worth is rich by most anyone's standards, nothing simpleminded about it. That's around 150k in after tax earnings a year, conservative investments, without touching the principal at all... rich.
     
  5. Rainbow Crow

    Rainbow Crow New Member Past Donor

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    This would be funny if you didn't mean it. As you said, someone you want to be allied with has a net worth around $5 million and so you've set the line there, that's all. There's probably people with $50 million who drive a Honda. You pretending that 0.1% is less arbitrary than 1% is pretty ridiculous.

    The reason inequality is bad is because people want to kill anyone who they think is better than themselves and their allies.
     
  6. ekalski

    ekalski New Member

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    So are you saying everybody is happy with what they have? No demand. It doesn't seem that way. Millions of people are on food stamps. I don't think that is something they enjoy.
     
  7. ekalski

    ekalski New Member

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    I was thinking about what you said and realized I do not think in terms of Supply Side or Demand Side. I think in terms of Free Market Economy vs. Command Economy. In a Free Market Economy, people have different skills, different desires, different energy levels and different ideas. So there will be inequality. And even in a Command Economy, there is inequality. The leaders in that kind of economy do not live like the "common people."
     
  8. fifthofnovember

    fifthofnovember Well-Known Member

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    Please point to where I said that I set the line at 5 million.

    Hey, it was Forbes that said .1% is when people start to really be rich. But, yes, any number that one could arrive at would necessarily be arbitrary. Why not a few dollars more or less? And if a specific, non-arbitrary number were reached, it would just be something like .0858327105%, so why not just approximate?
    ...and people living without basic necessities, but I can see why you wouldn't worry about those people, instead fearing only for what might hypothetically happen to the rich.
     
  9. Rainbow Crow

    Rainbow Crow New Member Past Donor

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    You said that $5 million being rich is "simple minded" and "outdated" and more but you weren't trying to set the line there? I lol'd.
     
  10. fifthofnovember

    fifthofnovember Well-Known Member

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    Had you read the conversation you chose to comment on, you would have seen that MrNick mentioned a specific guy worth about 5 million, and I was commenting on that particular case, not "setting a line" there.

    And why don't I think this guy MrNick mentioned is truly rich? Well, because Nick says that the guy lives in a 150k home in middle class US, drives a Honda and couldn't loan $15,000. Sure sounds more upper middle class than "rich".

    Oh, and Forbes didn't think so, either.
     
  11. Rainbow Crow

    Rainbow Crow New Member Past Donor

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    Yeah, I didn't read it very closely because I am just that astounded to see someone arguing that having $5 million doesn't make you rich.
     
  12. fifthofnovember

    fifthofnovember Well-Known Member

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    Well, get with the times. The idea of having "made it" when you become a millionaire is a thing of the past, simply because the dollar is worth a fraction of what it used to be when that idea was formed. In the past century, the dollar has dropped to 1/23 its 1915 value. So a person who had a million dollars then would only have about $43,500 in todays currency. Not that impressive, huh? Or, conversely, to be on par with a 1915 millionaire, one would have to have approximately 23 million. As I cited, Forbes agrees that the simple millionaire is not really "rich". And MrNick's friend is a case in point.

    http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/
     
  13. Rainbow Crow

    Rainbow Crow New Member Past Donor

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    A for effort man, seriously. But over $5 million is rich. As soon as you can buy anything you want within reason, never worry about money again and live off the interest or capital gains without actually losing money or keeping it from growing, you are rich. It really gets me that some people are so out of touch that they think they can have a life like that but not consider themselves "rich" and choose to identify with poorer people whose lives they probably don't even understand.
     
  14. danielpalos

    danielpalos Banned

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    That doesn't do anything for our economy as would ending the capital gains distinction whenever average wages don't outpace inflation.
     
  15. danielpalos

    danielpalos Banned

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    not at all; it may just depend on the property and what useful stuff can be created. some land owners even try to establish ventures, as that form of productivity, to eventually pay the taxes on the property, years in advance.
     
  16. publican

    publican Banned

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    401k's don't help the economy by letting business keep more of it's earnings thereby possibly avoiding going bk down the road because of pension liability? IRA's don't help wage earners? Think again. My wife started one IRA in 1988, then two more later with about $1,000 in each. The three of them are now worth $300,000 and counting. Wage earners can put money to work for them that will always outpace inflation meaning you can work less. Your class warfare approach is a losing proposition. Save and invest.
     
  17. Keynes

    Keynes Well-Known Member

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    Ah, my favorite argument: If you're poor it means you're either too lazy or too stupid to be rich.
     
  18. Sanskrit

    Sanskrit Well-Known Member

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    So, just how many threads with "inequality" in the title did you search up to bring back from the dead and add one-liner replies to? I count three so far, are there more?
     
  19. danielpalos

    danielpalos Banned

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    what if they don't make enough to invest that much?

    my class warfare approach allows for Individual Liberty not merely playing a blame game.
     
  20. publican

    publican Banned

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    Then you save what you can.


    ........nothing of value.
     
  21. danielpalos

    danielpalos Banned

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    like i said; ending the capital gain distinction whenever average wages for labor don't out-pace inflation is, saving what one can.
     
  22. publican

    publican Banned

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    More babbling in the face of defeat.
     
  23. justlikethat

    justlikethat New Member

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    Anyone that can afford to buy a new iPhone instead of paying rent, flat out cannot manage their money.
    If you can't figure that one out, I suggest you find a new "favorite argument"
     
  24. danielpalos

    danielpalos Banned

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    only the right mis-believes we can win any war on any Thing while lowering taxes.
     
  25. publican

    publican Banned

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    .........gets it right.
     

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