Should Weath Be Redistributed?

[Cepheid]

Do you think we should redistribute the wealth of rich people who have worked so hard to get where they are?


Why or Why not?


In my opinion, innovation does not come from slacking and waiting around for government hand outs, it comes from honest, efficient, hard working people that bring something different to the table.


What about you?

People that have never had money dont realize the competitive advantage it gives you. Thats why all these pawns that voted no, really dont understand what is fare and what isnt. You ever heard the term "It takes money to make money"? Well let me tell you its true, if you have a million bucks in the bank. It is VERY easy to keep that in the bank and make 80k a year off it. IMO this shouldnt be possible, you should have to WORK for every penny you earn (like the middle class does)

OT: Should the rich be taxed at a higher rate?? YES because it makes sense to have EVERY person (regardless of how much money you have in the bank) work for the money they make. I would like to see that competitive advantage taken away from millionaires and billionaires and level the playing field. It will result in a more innovative, diverse, and equal economy which every1 will reap the benefits of. If you wanna make money, it should be because of your IDEAS and HARDWORK, not because you got lucky, made a million, and hired some guy from a hedge fund to cheat the system and make you tones of money...

[oblivionx]

The money the rich people have in swiss bank accounts and on the offshore islands are effectivly out of circulation - putting them back would cause inflation...

That's not inflation technically.

Inflation is a depreciation caused by an increase in money supply.

I guess money that isn't in circulation like you mentioned suddenly being put into play would cause it, but there would have to a reason for that money to suddenly be brought back into circulation en masse.

[Mayhem]

so we are at "free capitalism" is the best system we can get?

approximatly 1 quadrillion dollars worth of derivates float through our free unregulated system

the GDP of the world is about 55 trillion dollars

go figure how long that glorious system will work

[IIamaKing]

I was in line at the store, a couple nights ago. I had purchased a reasonable Sirloin, some baking potatoes and a small bottle of spirits. The total was ~20 dollars.
The man ahead of me had 4 choice cut New York Strip steaks, a small package of crab legs and a some bread of a sort. His total was ~ 60 dollars. Paid for with food stamps.

Redistribution of my taxes bought that man a nicer meal than me. GG no thanks I'd rather buy the New York strip for my self than some stranger.

[Rumred]

No as many of the people who have said wealth have worked hard to earn it. Sure you might question their methods and what not but they worked for it even if they are a singer or ceo they had to work. Many of them had to get a very good education and or spend years learning on the job. Sure some just had it fall into their lap but that also means their family worked for the money. They had as much right to the billions daddy left them as many of us have the right to the few thousand dollars or house our parent leave us.

If i know that the money i earned is going to be taken and redistributed then why would i work hard for it? Whats the point if most of the rewards i will get will be taken and given to people who didn't or couldn't work as hard as me? Should rich people pay higher taxes then middle class? yeah but that does not mean we take half their money or what not away.

[Deleted]

consequences: people who were rich have more debts and can sell their belongings, which may not balance out too well; a lot of money transport; illegal money by holding it back.

Also: what about the poorest of people on this planet?

It's a bit too chaotic imo (and dangerous).

[Jackmoves]

The best would be a phase out over 10 years. Each year we implement more and more libertarian systems until eventually the new system barely resembles the old.

10 years would not be nearly enough time for such radical changes, there would be "casulties"(in lack of better word) left, right and center, you would need much more time then that.

[Rumred]

People that have never had money dont realize the competitive advantage it gives you. Thats why all these pawns that voted no, really dont understand what is fare and what isnt. You ever heard the term "It takes money to make money"? Well let me tell you its true, if you have a million bucks in the bank. It is VERY easy to keep that in the bank and make 80k a year off it. IMO this shouldnt be possible, you should have to WORK for every penny you earn (like the middle class does)

OT: Should the rich be taxed at a higher rate?? YES because it makes sense to have EVERY person (regardless of how much money you have in the bank) work for the money they make. I would like to see that competitive advantage taken away from millionaires and billionaires and level the playing field. It will result in a more innovative, diverse, and equal economy which every1 will reap the benefits of. If you wanna make money, it should be because of your IDEAS and HARDWORK, not because you got lucky, made a million, and hired some guy from a hedge fund to cheat the system and make you tones of money...

Like people on welfare and social secruity are working for their money? Most people take out more then they ever put in so saying you have to work for every penny you get would mean alot of poor people need to get to work. And don't give me they are trying and cant find work. I see a lot of people who live off uncle sams dime and live better then me who works. They have no interest what so ever in working and only work when they have to and even then they only work long enough so they can jump back on uncle sams dime.

[Cepheid]

Yay for communism.

Communism looks great on paper; it never works out though.

If everyone in a society put forth the same effort and had the same 'reward' for their effort and there was no human flaws present such as greed, this would work great.

It will never happen.

Wikipedia communism before you spout your retarded un-educated bullshit. Redistribution of wealth is not communism.

[Jackmoves]

I was in line at the store, a couple nights ago. I had purchased a reasonable Sirloin, some baking potatoes and a small bottle of spirits. The total was ~20 dollars.
The man ahead of me had 4 choice cut New York Strip steaks, a small package of crab legs and a some bread of a sort. His total was ~ 60 dollars. Paid for with food stamps.

Redistribution of my taxes bought that man a nicer meal than me. GG no thanks I'd rather buy the New York strip for my self than some stranger.

Well the US seems to have a worthless welfare system(not bashing your country), at least from what I read, it seems ineffeciant, there seems to be little to no follow up and control, which leaves it wide open for cheaters and people to exploit it.

[oblivionx]

Wikipedia communism before you spout your retarded un-educated bullshit. Redistribution of wealth is not communism.

The redistribution process is handled by the transition socialist state.

Communism is the elimination of wealth all-together.

[Cepheid]

Like people on welfare and social secruity are working for their money? Most people take out more then they ever take in so saying you have to work for every penny you get would mean alot of poor people need to get to work. And don't give me they are trying and cant find work. I see a lot of people who live off uncle sams dime and live better then me who works. They have no interest what so ever in working and only work when they have to and even then they only work long enough so they can jump back on uncle sams dime.

Im actually against wellfare, medicaid, and other programs like these. My problem is when mommy and daddy give you money and you live your life partying and living off the interest. THAT IS MY PROBLEM. I mean talk about dead weight. Those people are much more of a problem then the near-homeless people trying to feed their family off of 400 bucks a month.

Also, you dont know how social security works, do you? so many stupid people, gah.

[Kamari]

I didn't read more then the first page, but if someone hasn't said it: Taxes are theoretically a redistribution of wealth, especially a sliding scale. Although it is a pretty terrible form of redistribution as much, not all, of the money is wasted or at least not used nearly as efficiently as it should be.

[bergmann620]

My question to Laize was how to achive this ideal sociaty? How do we achive it without shafting kids that got born into the world without the same possibilities as you and me?

There's no way to do it suddenly, as it is a generational problem directly relating to two factors: The breakdown of the family, and lack of need to work hard.

Near me, the Cleveland Public School system is failing as hard as a school can fail, even though they spend 40% more per student than the school I went to.

My answer to the school issue is two-fold.

One, promise EVERY child that graduates a chance to continue their education, be it college or trade school, and fund their education through a personal tax that they would opt into that would be a lifetime tax. There would be brackets determined by the school you pick (e.g. Kent State would be 2% for life, Harvard would be 5%). The brackets are established in such a way that the lifetime tax would cost you 30-50% more than your education, and that money would be used to fund vouchers and boarding-school style public options that would allow students from crap homes the option of a stable environment to learn and grow in. I can't imagine any but the very worst parents denying their children such an opportunity.

Two, EVERY government assistance program at every level needs to stress learning, growth, and responsibility. As they say, beggars can't be choosers- every bit of assistance that is offered needs to be offered through programs that teach and enforce self-reliance and accountability. The Unemployment Office needs to figure out WHY people don't have jobs, rather than just handing out a check for not having one. Some states do this already, but most don't seem to.

[Laize]

Inflation is only caused by the government printing money.

Wealth redistribution doesn't cause it.

Inflation is caused by anything that causes price increases. If everyone has $1million then suddenly it doesn't seem so far fetched to pay $10 for a gallon of milk. Yet that will be inflation.

[oblivionx]

Well the US seems to have a worthless welfare system(not bashing your country), at least from what I read, it seems ineffeciant, there seems to be little to no follow and control, which leaves it wide open for cheaters and people to exploit it.

There have been developments at state levels that made it so.

For instance, in New York state every person you try to take off welfare or food stamps requires an independent hearing. ie a backlog so big you can't do it.

The current administration has offered rewards for enrollment... they want as many people on it as possible, and being that in most the big states that are their power base you can't realistically take it away (even when you should legally) it becomes untenable.

---------- Post added 2012-05-04 at 03:46 PM ----------

Inflation is caused by anything that causes price increases. If everyone has $1million then suddenly it doesn't seem so far fetched to pay $10 for a gallon of milk. Yet that will be inflation.

That's gouging, not actually inflation.

[Incandio]

Wealth is already redistributed in any country with a progressive system of taxation.

[Kivimetsan]

so we are at "free capitalism" is the best system we can get?

approximatly 1 quadrillion dollars worth of derivates float through our free unregulated system

the GDP of the world is about 55 trillion dollars

go figure how long that glorious system will work

The only reason there is no much derivate fraud going on is because the banks dont care, they're ensured by the governments because they are 'too big to fail'. In a real free market, those companies will have internal audits that make sure the company works ethically and doesn't sacrifice itself.

[Laize]

The money the rich people have in swiss bank accounts and on the offshore islands are effectivly out of circulation - putting them back would cause inflation...

Wrong. The wealthy had to sell their us dollars in exchange for Swiss francs. Whoever bought those us dollars then spent them in the us in some way.

[Stanton Biston]

No system is perfect. Capitalism, however, with educated masses is the best option we can hope for though.

This isn't a bad contention per se, but I do want to point out that in the real world, the people who are actually representing the view that capitalism is good are also pushing for less spending on education, which of course has a disproportionate impact on poor schools.

Unless the idea is that the 'masses' are the middle three quintiles and bottom quintile is expected to not participate vis a vis they're no longer 'an issue'.