Do billionaires exist in a vacuum, creating their wealth away from society? What does it mean to be a billionaire? Physically, it means they’ve affected a large amount of the population. For the better, or worse? Take away the companies the billionaires created and imagine life.

You seem to assume that billionaires would throw a hissy fit and go off grid to Galt's Gulch if they faced a wealth tax. But maybe they are motivated by more than the concrete purchasing power of their wealth.

If they are motivated by the desire to build, they would still build. If they are motivated by the desire to beat their peers in a game of "Who Has The Most Money," they would still compete. The winning number would just have fewer digits. If they are motivated by the power money buys, well, maybe the rest of us are better off not playing that game.

To curtail and equalize the political power of the rich with the rest of world, their wealth have to be reduced to such an extent that they also don't have the leisure to engage in deep politics. Let's say, if 75% of the voting population has < $x and if even 1% has 3x of that, then they basically have 2x leisure buffer over everyone else to be more politically engaged and influence the small number representative politicians, to manipulate the narrative for the rest of the 75% etc.

They would leave, though. There’s evidence of capital flight in high tax regions of Europe.

there's evidence of capital flight and offshore tax havens now. they need to tax the movement of money.

Capitalism has done more to lift people out of poverty than any other system in human history, so it's got that going for it.

Marx wrote something almost to that effect in the Communist Manifesto. About half the first chapter is intense praise for the advances brought by capitalism.

Actually that title belongs to the CCP.

"China's Economic Success Proves the Power of Capitalism"[0] My point still stands.

[0] https://www.forbes.com/sites/rainerzitelmann/2019/07/08/chin...

Billionaires are not necessary for capitalism.

I wouldn’t be surprised if billionaires are a one of the many reasons people want to immigrate to America.

I never said they were. I believe they are merely a symptom of it.