Anyone who thinks that most billionaires are "properly compensated" is clueless. The most valuable contributors are rarely ever the ones who make the billions. They just know how to manage power most effectively for their own benefit. Not to mention that a huge amount of wealth is made off of economic rents - using power to take advantage of inefficiencies in the system that enable you to direct money to yourself while benefiting no one at all.
Look at Trump, for instance. How has he made most of his money?
1. Using insider politics to win government contracts he didn't deserve, then fukking over the contractors/workers he paid to do the actual work.
2. Taking out huge loans, then declaring bankruptcy (despite still holding massive wealth) to avoid his obligations on paying back the loans.
3. Violating contracts, then using his legal power and financial standing (he can wait, the people he screws over can't) to force people to settle for far less than they were actually owed.
4. Running stock market scams (bought up stock, claimed he was initiating a takeover, having the stock value rise as a response and then selling high)
5. Running actual scams as businesses (such as Trump University).
6. Using financial power to make money off of subleasing properties he rents (such as Trump Tower) even though he didn't contribute any value of his own.
7. Sales from a book he didn't write based off of someone else's writing skill and the false image that he had business wisdom to share.
8. Income from a "reality show" he didn't write that was built off the fake image that he was a eutreprenuial genius when he's just an a$$hole who flexes power.
9. Straight political corruption.
10. Using fraudulent activity to undermine competitors
11. Charity fraud
12. Leasing his name out to companies he has nothing to do with.
13. Employing illegal immigrants to avoid labor law
14. Inheritance (and accompanying inheritance fraud)
15. Shady deals with foreign banks and other foreign entities which we still don't know about
I probably missed some shyt but the list is long enough. Except for the last one (which we just don't know enough about yet), none of that shyt is even disputable. THAT is how he's made his money. None of it has made society better and most of it has made society worse. Are there seriously posters here who think that Trump "deserves" to be a billionaire solely because he was born with power and was ruthless enough to use that power to circumvent the law (or take advantage of laws specifically designed to serve the wealthy) and fukk others over?
And if you think Trump is unique, come on now. He's just the tip of the iceberg.
#1. Converting goods into money. You cut down a forest, drill for oil, deplete a fishery. There is now more money in the system, but the actual goods have been reduced.
#2. Increasing the money supply (such that the actual worth of the money is devalued).
In the ideal capitalist world, you could create value without depleting value. But because our system doesn't take into account actual costs (companies are charged virtually nothing for depleting resources, polluting the environment, destroying their workers' lives, fukking over customers, etc.), in reality the vast majority of high-profit companies are reducing the long-term actual value that is available in the system.
Would you rather have healthy oceans or wealthy fishing vessels? Clean water or rich chemical manufacturers? Surviving rainforests or highly profitable ranchers and loggers? Employees who make a living wage or stockholders who don't have to work at all? Long-lasting products that serve their customers well or bullshyt designed to be obsolete so that customers constantly have to replace and landfills constantly grow? Families with homes or speculators and slumlords with wealth?
Those are the real tradeoffs going on. I have personal experience in a lot of this and have spent the last 20 years of my life trying to pick up the pieces.
Look at Trump, for instance. How has he made most of his money?
1. Using insider politics to win government contracts he didn't deserve, then fukking over the contractors/workers he paid to do the actual work.
2. Taking out huge loans, then declaring bankruptcy (despite still holding massive wealth) to avoid his obligations on paying back the loans.
3. Violating contracts, then using his legal power and financial standing (he can wait, the people he screws over can't) to force people to settle for far less than they were actually owed.
4. Running stock market scams (bought up stock, claimed he was initiating a takeover, having the stock value rise as a response and then selling high)
5. Running actual scams as businesses (such as Trump University).
6. Using financial power to make money off of subleasing properties he rents (such as Trump Tower) even though he didn't contribute any value of his own.
7. Sales from a book he didn't write based off of someone else's writing skill and the false image that he had business wisdom to share.
8. Income from a "reality show" he didn't write that was built off the fake image that he was a eutreprenuial genius when he's just an a$$hole who flexes power.
9. Straight political corruption.
10. Using fraudulent activity to undermine competitors
11. Charity fraud
12. Leasing his name out to companies he has nothing to do with.
13. Employing illegal immigrants to avoid labor law
14. Inheritance (and accompanying inheritance fraud)
15. Shady deals with foreign banks and other foreign entities which we still don't know about
I probably missed some shyt but the list is long enough. Except for the last one (which we just don't know enough about yet), none of that shyt is even disputable. THAT is how he's made his money. None of it has made society better and most of it has made society worse. Are there seriously posters here who think that Trump "deserves" to be a billionaire solely because he was born with power and was ruthless enough to use that power to circumvent the law (or take advantage of laws specifically designed to serve the wealthy) and fukk others over?
And if you think Trump is unique, come on now. He's just the tip of the iceberg.
There are two primary ways you "grow the pie".The fixed pie perspective just wont go awayNo matter how many times its proven false.
#1. Converting goods into money. You cut down a forest, drill for oil, deplete a fishery. There is now more money in the system, but the actual goods have been reduced.
#2. Increasing the money supply (such that the actual worth of the money is devalued).
In the ideal capitalist world, you could create value without depleting value. But because our system doesn't take into account actual costs (companies are charged virtually nothing for depleting resources, polluting the environment, destroying their workers' lives, fukking over customers, etc.), in reality the vast majority of high-profit companies are reducing the long-term actual value that is available in the system.
Would you rather have healthy oceans or wealthy fishing vessels? Clean water or rich chemical manufacturers? Surviving rainforests or highly profitable ranchers and loggers? Employees who make a living wage or stockholders who don't have to work at all? Long-lasting products that serve their customers well or bullshyt designed to be obsolete so that customers constantly have to replace and landfills constantly grow? Families with homes or speculators and slumlords with wealth?
Those are the real tradeoffs going on. I have personal experience in a lot of this and have spent the last 20 years of my life trying to pick up the pieces.
this right here is the difference between rich and poor mindset
folk just assume everyone makes money the same way a W2 does
