If they made their money in a vacuum with no interaction to society then they would owe nothing to society. That isn't the case. They absolutely made their money on the back of society, including the decades of wealthy lobbying/bribery that came before them that has allows them to keep their immoral gains
Re:What If Andrew Yang Was Right?
by manigandham on Friday March 20, 2020 @01:13PM
(#22639298)
We all interact with, benefit from, and pay into society.
Whether that value is real or whether that value was created just by the founders is something that needs to be discussed.
Re:What If Andrew Yang Was Right?
by manigandham on Tuesday March 17, 2020 @06:45AM
(#22603603)
What does "value is real" even mean?
Re:What If Andrew Yang Was Right?
by claudeganon on Tuesday March 17, 2020 @07:39AM
(#22603848)
The internet was created by governments, much of its technical infrastructure through open source projects, and I’m pretty sure most of those billionaire companies had at least some employees (many of whom I assume were also educated in public schools and state universities).
So, yes, quite obviously, they made it on the “backs of society.”
Re:What If Andrew Yang Was Right?
by manigandham on Tuesday March 17, 2020 @07:42AM
(#22603868)
We all pay taxes and benefit from "society". There's nothing special about it, and you too have the freedom to start your own company.
Re:What If Andrew Yang Was Right?
by claudeganon on Tuesday March 17, 2020 @07:49AM
(#22603942)
This presumes that societies are run and tax so as to provide equal benefits to all. This is disproven by, I dunno, the history of every society.
Re:What If Andrew Yang Was Right?
by manigandham on Tuesday March 17, 2020 @11:07AM
(#22605545)
Taxes are not equally paid either. I'm not sure what your point is. Do you want to limit wealth? Do you want to ban entrepreneurship? Do you want communism?
Re:What If Andrew Yang Was Right?
by claudeganon on Tuesday March 17, 2020 @12:31PM
(#22606663)
You’re right. Workers now pay a higher tax rate than Capital owners:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/10/16/us-now-ta...
What I want is for the value workers create to be returned to them, not hoovered up by the wealthy in some distortive, unjustifiable scheme that prizes Capital ownership over everything else, including the lives and well-being of the majority of citizens.
Re:What If Andrew Yang Was Right?
by manigandham on Tuesday March 17, 2020 @01:12PM
(#22607242)
Sure, I agree with removing capital gains taxes. Remove corporate income tax too. That would eliminate a lot of the discrepancy and tax loopholes.
But tax rates are meaningless otherwise. The top 1% pay as much as the bottom 90% combined, and the bottom 40% pay nothing at all.
>Do you want communism?
Yes
>Do you want to limit wealth?
Absolutely
Re:What If Andrew Yang Was Right?
by manigandham on Friday March 20, 2020 @01:15PM
(#22639323)
No thanks. No need for an ideology that has killed hundreds of millions while keeping the ones the survived in poverty.
Any wealth inequality that exists in capitalism is only magnified in communism where an even smaller group of people have both political and monetary power.
Do you really think they made it on the "backs of society" through "corruption and bribery" rather than building a company that provides value to those willing to pay for it?