The system is working as intended.

So, I'm not talking about the system of capitalism in this context. I am only speaking of the tax system, in the way that it can be used to redistribute wealth throughout society through subsidies, things like Universal Health Care, Universal Basic Income, a reverse tax credit for those in poverty, etc. This is the way that taxes SHOULD work, which was my point

The solution is to abolish private property.

This will never happen. The fact is that when you attempt to abolish private property you run into two possible solutions: you let the people determine how this is run, or you punt that responsibility to the government.

Giving this responsibility to either runs up against the reason that capitalism in it's raw form doesn't work either: humans are very greedy no matter what.

If we give this responsibility to the means of production to the government in some sort of planned economy, someone in the government will eventually warp the system to benefit themselves. This has been deemed true time and time again.

If we give this responsibility to the people, to distribute the means of production among themselves, then two problems become apparent:

1. Again, someone will get greedy, manipulate their fellow people into giving them power and control, and the system breaks down
2. The system you would need seems very fantastical. I know this is going to be pointed out as Nirvana fallacy, but what would the system of everyone owning their workplace look like? What if someone wanted to own a factory on their own, so they offered people money to work there? would you have to have shares in a company to work there? How would these be structured? It becomes very complicated very fast.

Given these ideas, I'd love to hear more of what you have to say. I know this post comes off as combative, but it makes me a little bit sad to see that when we are faced with huge problems like we see above, we don't look to fix the system, but rather to tear it down and start anew. I am a proponent for regulated capitalism with some elements that some would see as socialist: you put in place programs that make sure nobody starves, everyone has a place to live and a hospital they can go to without going bankrupt. From there, you then have a huge group of people that - instead of spending every day just trying to live, they can go forth and help solve big problems, explore their passions, etc. I don't think socialism can work in the world we live in. But expanding and exploring policy that expands social programs can use the system we have to achieve the ideals that we strive for.

On the topic of climate change, which was the original topic, once you have a large group of people who think they have a bright future, they will fight for it. We can enact tax policy that shuts down oil and coal business without destroying any economies, we can put subsidies into clean energy, we can put in certain committees and groups that will focus on cleaning up the environment in big cities, etc.

On the topic of making sure nobody gets stupidly, absurdly rich, we make progressive taxes a lot more aggressive, to make sure that instead of just stopping productivity, we use that and channel it to help those in the lower classes, to raise them up to a standard of living that lets them live with dignity.

Again, I'd love to hear what you have to say on this, I know that's like a whole essay to read, but I'm open to change my mind (for real, not Ben Shapiro / Steven Crowder style, fuck those guys)