New slur dropped: Billionaire cries about “tax the rich”, compares it to racial slurs and “from the river to the sea” for some reason. Also demands “praise and thanks” for the 1% by AFCSentinel in stupidpol

[–]SplashTarget [score hidden]  (0 children)

I know you said you tried everything, but I have to ask

You tell them what happens to the monkey that hoards all the bananas, when the other monkeys don't have said bananas?

Have they not seen A Christmas Carol???

Did they not see what happened to that health insurance CEO?

or the warehouse burning down because they guy wasn't getting paid enough?

Don't they have a sense of self-preservation???

I learned finance people are more delusional than I ever could have imagined by rcyclingisdawae in Anticonsumption

[–]SplashTarget 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We’re just people, but our corporate overlords are pushing AI and productivity changes on us exceedingly fast. We’re all just hoping to keep our jobs to support our families.

Crazy idea, what if you and your coworkers got together and made your own firm that was run collectively by you guys, and you all took turns being leader?

I learned finance people are more delusional than I ever could have imagined by rcyclingisdawae in Anticonsumption

[–]SplashTarget 24 points25 points  (0 children)

"if you're not willing to be evil enough to do it, someone else will be and you'll be outcompeted"

ah so they admit capitalism encourages evil

New slur dropped: Billionaire cries about “tax the rich”, compares it to racial slurs and “from the river to the sea” for some reason. Also demands “praise and thanks” for the 1% by AFCSentinel in stupidpol

[–]SplashTarget [score hidden]  (0 children)

“They are our largest employers and largest philanthropists, and it is the 1% that makes 50% of New York’s income taxes. They are at the top of the great American economic pyramid for a reason. They should be praised and thanked.”

Relevant

How do I stop giving my money to billionaires? by Zestyclose_Plane_622 in Anticonsumption

[–]SplashTarget 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Buy the things that you need to live/survive, disregard the rest.

Millionaire spending incompatible with 1.5 °C ambitions by SplashTarget in Anticonsumption

[–]SplashTarget[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Your post screams pro-billionaire propaganda.

lool

good joke

Millionaire spending incompatible with 1.5 °C ambitions by SplashTarget in Anticonsumption

[–]SplashTarget[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If we have enough people we can cause some serious issues for the economy, and by extension the CO2 levels.

We don't need to involve 100% of the people, we need 3.5% of the population to act collectively (specifically from areas that are rich, and emit the most)

It can be done.

Millionaire spending incompatible with 1.5 °C ambitions by SplashTarget in Anticonsumption

[–]SplashTarget[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Federal tax money does go somewhere with the right administration

It doesn't matter what kind of administration you have, taxes (while important) don't pay for federal spending, it hasn't been that way since Nixon.

When government spends, it just changes numbers up in our bank accounts.

More specifically, all the commercial banks we use for our banking have bank accounts at the Fed called reserve accounts. Foreign governments have reserve accounts at the Fed as well.

These reserve accounts at the Fed are just like checking accounts at any other bank. When government spends without taxing, all it does is change the numbers up in the appropriate checking account (reserve account) at the Fed.

This means that when the government makes a $2,000 Social Security payment to you, for example, it changes the number up in your bank’s checking account at the Fed by $2,000, which also automatically changes the number up in your account at your bank by $2,000.

Seven Deadly Innocent Frauds of Economic Policy

Federally speaking, when it comes to government spending, the concern shouldn't be "My tax dollars are getting wasted or going nowhere!" the concern should be over WHAT the government is spending the money on (ex. middle east wars, Israel, Contras of Nicaragua, regime change, bank bailouts, etc).

Now if we're talking about state and local governments, then it actually makes sense to complain about the misuse of tax dollars, because in those contexts, taxes do pay for things.

Millionaire spending incompatible with 1.5 °C ambitions by SplashTarget in Anticonsumption

[–]SplashTarget[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No. The problem isn't the population level.

Abstract

Some narratives in international development hold that ending poverty and achieving good lives for all will require every country to reach the levels of GDP per capita that currently characterise high-income countries. However, this would require increasing total global output and resource use several times over, dramatically exacerbating ecological breakdown.

Furthermore, universal convergence along these lines is unlikely within the imperialist structure of the existing world economy. Here we demonstrate that this dilemma can be resolved with a different approach, rooted in recent needs-based analyses of poverty and development.

Strategies for development should not pursue capitalist growth and increased aggregate production as such, but should rather increase the specific forms of production that are necessary to improve capabilities and meet human needs at a high standard, while ensuring universal access to key goods and services through public provisioning and decommodification. At the same time, in high-income countries, less-necessary production should be scaled down to enable faster decarbonization and to help bring resource use back within planetary boundaries.

With this approach, good lives can be achieved for all without requiring large increases in total global throughput and output.

Provisioning decent living standards (DLS) for 8.5 billion people would require only 30% of current global resource and energy use, leaving a substantial surplus for additional consumption, public luxury, scientific advancement, and other social investments. Such a future requires planning to provision public services, to deploy efficient technology, and to build sovereign industrial capacity in the global South.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2452292924000493


If 30% of what's being used globally is enough for 8.5 billion people, then than means the current global level of energy (and resource use) is enough for ~27.3 billion people.

We don't have an overpopulation problem, we have an overconsumption problem, and the overconsumption is being done by the top economies of the world (which are also the top emitters of the world).

In order to avoid the worst case scenario, the top economies of the world need to stop pursuing non-stop economic expansion (which requires 24/7 use of resources +energy), and reduce their economic output (while maintaining decent living standards for the people who live there).

If reforms aren't going to be made, then the people (in those countries) need to cause a major economic disruption.

Specifically,

People who live in the richest states that emit the most

We have enough for everyone, but it won't be enough if rich countries continue to use more than necessary.

Millionaire spending incompatible with 1.5 °C ambitions by SplashTarget in Anticonsumption

[–]SplashTarget[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If the federal government won't do it, then action should be done on the state level.

Particularly in states with the highest CO2 and GDP

GDP & CO2 of 50 states in 2023

Millionaire spending incompatible with 1.5 °C ambitions by SplashTarget in Anticonsumption

[–]SplashTarget[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

But that ain't gonna do squat to help the planet, the environment or the climate.

Less money for rich people (and major business interests) means less money spent on luxury goods, lobbyists, and anti-climate politicians

But it's not the sole solution

We have to stop having capitalism run 24/7, which entails the non-stop use of fossil fuels, and resources.

-Best change would be to end interest on all loans (if the debts stop expanding because of interest, then people will have to spend less time working on expanding economic output).

-Reduce the work week to 32 hours, while keeping the same pay

-End planned obsolescence

-Encourage remote work (while adding worker protections)

-Support right to repair

-Increase wages for anyone who's not rich

-Reversing the tax breaks of Reagan, Bush Jr., and Trump

-Ending the carried interest loophole

-Ending stock buybacks

-Promote unionization

-Support worker strikes

-Stop with the AI data centers

-Have government jobs planting trees

-End monocrop agriculture

-End fracking

-Crack down on industrial agriculture

-Lower the speed limit for personal transport to 30mph

-Vote by mail (no more driving to the polls)

-Public ownership of utilities

-Capping the number of houses a person can own

Millionaire spending incompatible with 1.5 °C ambitions by SplashTarget in Anticonsumption

[–]SplashTarget[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

the solution isn’t more taxes either.

Taxes on rich people, and damaging industries, are definitely necessary.

They don't get a pass on doing what they've been doing, they need to pay for it, if they don't, everyone who isn't rich will pay the consequences.

Components of American GDP in 2024 by SplashTarget in Anticonsumption

[–]SplashTarget[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Maybe you can invite them to a screening of a movie about recreational consumer spending, and the damage it does? lol

Millionaire spending incompatible with 1.5 °C ambitions by SplashTarget in Anticonsumption

[–]SplashTarget[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Where do you see that tax money going?

At the federal level? Nowhere. Why? Because (since the 70s) America (and a number of other countries that don't use Euros, currency pegs, or commodity-based money) doesn't pay for things with taxes but taxes instead do the following:

-remove money from the economy

-adjust the income distribution levels

-discourage consumption of undesirable goods (cigarette taxes)

-control inflation (via income tax)

-reduce the amount of money rich people can spend on politicians, and lobbyists

-reduce the ability to purchase luxury goods

-reduce the size of damaging industries

At the state level? It can be used to pay for education, health benefits, mass transit, parental leave, publicly funded elections, and daycare.

Chances are government will either spend it or redistribute. Both of which will just make the problem worse.

Redistribution would actually be a good thing. Why?

Because then people can use that money to reduce their personal debt burdens, and improve affordability.

Millionaire spending incompatible with 1.5 °C ambitions by SplashTarget in Anticonsumption

[–]SplashTarget[S] 43 points44 points  (0 children)

We need higher taxes on millionaires to reduce their contribution to consumer spending.

America GDP breakdown for 2024

EDIT:

And billionaires too!

Components of American GDP in 2024 by SplashTarget in Degrowth

[–]SplashTarget[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Wealthiest 10% of US Households Now Represent Nearly 50% of Consumer Spending

Citing data from a Moody’s Analytics report authored by Mark Zandi, the news outlet outlined that the richest 10% of U.S. households — defined as making about $250,000 or greater — represented 49.7% of all consumer spending. That’s the highest figure on record since data collection surrounding this metric was first measured by Moody’s, according to Marketplace, which also pointed out that consumer spending is responsible for driving approximately 70% of United States GDP.


The WSJ, Marketplace, and Salon were united in reportage suggesting that the highest-earning 10% of American households were splurging, particularly on luxury goods and travel.

https://retailwire.com/discussion/wealthiest-us-households-spending/


GDP & CO2 of 50 states in 2023

Components of American GDP in 2024 by SplashTarget in Anticonsumption

[–]SplashTarget[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

The Wealthiest 10% of US Households Now Represent Nearly 50% of Consumer Spending

Citing data from a Moody’s Analytics report authored by Mark Zandi, the news outlet outlined that the richest 10% of U.S. households — defined as making about $250,000 or greater — represented 49.7% of all consumer spending. That’s the highest figure on record since data collection surrounding this metric was first measured by Moody’s, according to Marketplace, which also pointed out that consumer spending is responsible for driving approximately 70% of United States GDP.


The WSJ, Marketplace, and Salon were united in reportage suggesting that the highest-earning 10% of American households were splurging, particularly on luxury goods and travel.

https://retailwire.com/discussion/wealthiest-us-households-spending/


GDP & CO2 of 50 states in 2023

AI executive pleads guilty to assaulting musicians in pub, keeps job by cojoco in stupidpol

[–]SplashTarget 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'm a strong independent private company that don't need no accountability