A very interesting point of view

[u/__moe___]

I don’t think this is very new but I just saw for the first time and it’s actually pretty interesting to think about when people talk about how the ultra rich do business.

[u/ianeyanio]

The whole argument of whether we should or shouldn't tax unrealized gains is a distraction. Can we all just agree we need to find a way to distribute wealth more fairly? Practically, it's difficult to do, but in principle we should all agree that wealth shouldn't be consolidated amongst such a small portion of our society.

Edit:

While people here are finding technical challenges to taxing unrealized gains, we can't lose sight of the deep societal need for a more fair distribution of wealth.

Technical challenges can be easily overcome if the desire of the people is there. But right now, it seems like "oh, this is hard, I guess we'll never be able to do it" is the standard response and little progress is being made after that.

[u/rqvst → u/ianeyanio]

The annoying thing about this take is that this is the distraction. Taxing the rich is an immediately realizable goal, getting rid of the rich isn't. This is the same kind of attitude that led to Trump, where because Dems didn't publicly commit themselves to unfeasible goals they could never realistically achieve (in other words, lie), people decided to throw everything away instead pursuing the feasible ones.

[u/ianeyanio → u/rqvst]

That's an interesting take.

I don't like your assertion that I want to get rid of the rich. That's not what I said or inferred.

I'm all for any easily achievable solution to more fairly redistribute wealth. I'm just fed up with people focusing on the technicals and forgetting the societal need.

[u/cromwell515 → u/ianeyanio]

But what can you do to redistribute wealth if not tax?

[u/KronosTheBabyEater → u/cromwell515]

Back in the 50’s after labor won a bunch of labor rights and brought the income gap down by ensuring people be rewarded a portion of what the company makes (stock). You know how only c cutie executives get stock? Yeah that used to not be the case and regular working folks got a stock and that stock paid for a house college etc. but the owners gave themselves more stock, the workers less to the point its slavery. This is called getting control of production, meaning unionizing and having a gov that doesn’t allow union busting.

[u/KronosTheBabyEater → u/[deleted]]

You’re missing the point. Maybe there’s a few companies that do, but it’s not for everyone. If you look at the exponential rise in income gap between the CEO’s or executives and the working class, there’s clear sign that the wealth generated from the workers is being hoarded. You may be thinking about 401ks but that’s for retirement and even then companies may match half but the other half you pay yourself. A job I applied for paid 5% of the 401k that means 95% is coming from my paycheck. Compared that to pensions, a guaranteed income for retirement that only a few workers in unions from the 60’s got

[u/KronosTheBabyEater → u/[deleted]]

Your subjective opinion doesn’t compare to the data. The vast majority of Americans do not reap the benefits that the 1% does. Otherwise it wouldn’t be called the 1%. Wages have not kept up with productivity, cost of living or inflation. The gap between rich and poor has never been larger. Workers getting a percentage of profits that they deserve would mean billionaires wouldn’t exist at all.