Post ApPc8444xXJyMoOn0S by freemo@qoto.org
(DIR) More posts by freemo@qoto.org
(DIR) Post #ApPc82n1hS5QPdPemu by randahl@mastodon.social
2024-12-23T06:04:22Z
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While Musk is trying to get AfD elected in Germany, Trump is now threatening to put tariffs on all of Europe.They really do not get how much hurt Europe could cause for them. Tesla, Amazon, Facebook — they are all here!EU politicians should begin talking about the wonders of putting levies on their energy use, and how we support better working conditions and increased wages.When Elon, Bezos, and Zuck support a fool, who wants to hurt European economy, remind them it is a two-way street!
(DIR) Post #ApPc8444xXJyMoOn0S by freemo@qoto.org
2024-12-23T06:06:32Z
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@randahl If we are cutting income tax and offsetting that with tarrifs I am all for it. Taxes need to be levied somewhere and any taxes we can move off income tax and apply more towards taxing expenses the better.That said I doubt Trump will execute things well, he rarely does.
(DIR) Post #ApPc84zVW1G5EvGeWG by randahl@mastodon.social
2024-12-23T06:14:56Z
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@freemo I remember his last trade war. We put a considerable tariff on Harley Davidson motorbikes, etc.I do not recall them winning anything.
(DIR) Post #ApPc85r2J04nuwJOxE by freemo@qoto.org
2024-12-23T06:17:33Z
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@randahl You mean a European tariff on USA goods? Yea I expect that to be the case. We tax incoming foreign goods, they tax from us. Import/export tax is pretty common to go both ways. Just another way to collect money and superior to income tax IMO.
(DIR) Post #ApPc86Ru5vZDlHYqQ4 by randahl@mastodon.social
2024-12-23T06:19:03Z
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@freemo there will be a lot of tit for tat in Q1.
(DIR) Post #ApPc8723vUUTZQTimO by freemo@qoto.org
2024-12-23T06:27:32Z
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@randahl Sure, thats not a bad thing. With income tax I have to pay tax for the money I make, but that money gets re-taxed on the way out too, in other words, all tax tends to work in both directions, its a feature not a flaw. The important part is that we distribute the taxes across behaviors we want to discourage. No one should be discouraged from earning a lot of money (income tax), but generally we want to discourage spending (sales tax and tarrifs), ideally in a way that puts more tax burden on luxury items.So anything we can do to move taxes from an income tax to a tarrif/import tax/sales tax is a good thing. The fact that it works both ways is normal and expected and shouldnt discourage that.
(DIR) Post #ApPc87eLd97DUAOISG by Paulos_the_fog@qoto.org
2024-12-23T07:13:24Z
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@freemo @randahl I would imagine we would agree that one of the ultimate goals if not THE ultimate goal of human life is happiness. That generally comes from living in a society where wealth is equitably distributed not one where the gap between rich and poor is monstrous. The happiest populations in the world are normally adjuged to be in countries where tax rates are amogst the highest in the world and are slanted very much towards enforcing income equality not letting the extremely get richer! The put it bluntly we need cleaners, refuse collecters, nurses, teachers, refuse collectors and others who do relatively menial tasks very much more than we need the entirely parasitic Elon Musks and the Jeff Bezos's of this world. I would therefore tax people with such obscene wealth at 99% once they reached a level of wealth that would leave them comfortably off for the rest of their lives!
(DIR) Post #ApPc88Kt4z8vc6IGlE by freemo@qoto.org
2024-12-23T07:37:05Z
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@Paulos_the_fog I disagree with your premise that wealth disparity is contrary to the happiness of a society.Rule number one of economics is that wealth is not a zero sum game. Others having more does not mean you must have less. The existence of ultra rich in no way implies more poor people or that poor people suffer more, in fact quite the opposite, rich people produce the most wealth which, in a healthy economy (read a fair market) it benefits everyone.@randahl
(DIR) Post #ApPc88sv2SMhJeDRo0 by randahl@mastodon.social
2024-12-23T11:07:26Z
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@freemo equality is not about everyone having the same balance on their bank account.It is about equal opportunity, and the US is moving away from that.Example: Literally thousands of people owned businesses which depended on Twitter, but a person of extreme wealth bought it and destroyed it.The extreme inequality of the US has created a society which have characteristics of The Dark Ages, where a king could decide to burn down an entire city if he felt like it.@Paulos_the_fog
(DIR) Post #ApPc89cIJkf3aNRgX2 by freemo@qoto.org
2024-12-23T11:12:02Z
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@randahl > equality is not about everyone having the same balance on their bank account.Exactly my point, agreed.> It is about equal opportunity, and the US is moving away from that.Also agreed, nor did I say anything to the contrary.> Example: Literally thousands of people owned businesses which depended on Twitter, but a person of extreme wealth bought it and destroyed it.Wealth can be destroyed just like it could be created. When he destroyed it he destroyed his own wealth making himself less wealthy, thus the point, wealthy people create wealth which is how they get wealthy (or inherit it in some cases), and likewise they can become poor (or at least poorer) when they make bad decisions and destroy wealth.> The extreme inequality of the US has created a society which have characteristics of The Dark Ages, where a king could decide to burn down an entire city if he felt like it.Nah you have it backwards. The lack of a free market (a market that can be gamed and is unfair) is what has sent us to the Dark Ages. Assuming it is due to wealth disparity as the driving cause is unfounded and just repeating the popular narrative rather than representing an understanding of the problem, which is quite nuanced.@Paulos_the_fog
(DIR) Post #ApPc8AI7oE7bg715jU by Paulos_the_fog@qoto.org
2024-12-24T21:06:20Z
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@freemo @randahl 'Equitably does not mean equally; it means fairly!It is nonsense to suggest everyone should have the same amount in their bank account! It is not nonsense to say that everyone in society should receive a fair share of society's earnings and profits.
(DIR) Post #ApPc8B7AkQxGEQtrIe by freemo@qoto.org
2024-12-25T08:23:56Z
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@Paulos_the_fog @randahl No one claimed anything about everyone needing equal... But no demanding a share of another person's creation due to their hard work is complete nonsense. Other people generating wealth doesn't mean you deserve a cut
(DIR) Post #ApPc8C2FKEbn5RbRGC by Paulos_the_fog@qoto.org
2024-12-25T09:09:54Z
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@freemo @randahl ...so are you naïve enough to you think Bezos got rich due to his own "hard work" - of course he didn't! He got rich by exploiting other people's hard work!The conditions Amazon workers endure are appalling in most countries.
(DIR) Post #ApPc8DA58aTEa2HD72 by freemo@qoto.org
2024-12-25T09:12:16Z
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@Paulos_the_fog Paying someone a salary and providing them a risk free income while you take al the risk is not "exploiting" anyone. Lol.@randahl
(DIR) Post #ApPc8DjszT6uN51nv6 by Paulos_the_fog@qoto.org
2024-12-25T11:51:52Z
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@freemo @randahl Paying them a salary that is so low that no one could possibly live on it, is 'exploiting' people or do you have a polite euphemism for paying starvation wages like 'what the market dictates'?
(DIR) Post #ApPc8EQmPzQCW763mK by freemo@qoto.org
2024-12-25T18:01:37Z
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@Paulos_the_fog If people are starving then the government failed to provide welfare. In a proper society there is welfare to ensure no one is forced to work as a slave. Then anyone who works chooses to. So If there is slave labor blame the government for failing to provide education welfare and food. It's certainly not a companies fault for paying the market wage, it's the governments fault for allowing a no free market to exist to begin with.@randahl