Income Inequality.

[RestlessSoul]

There are plenty of resources in space without having to move to another planet.
Mining in Space Is Coming

And the amount of energy that would be required to extract them and return them to earth, makes an absurdity of doing so.

 

[Heyo]

What does that have to do with anything?

You asked:

If that is true, why do we always see all of those "Massachusetts millionaires" and billionaires of California and New York constantly using their money and power to elect tax and spend liberals and politicians who vow to tax the rich and make it harder for them to do business, then we see all of those blue collar workers of the Mid west voting for all of those conservative republicans in office who make it easier for business and cut taxes for the rich? People vote their values, not their pocket book.

My post was a direct answer to your question. What didn't you understand? My answer or your question?

 

[Heyo]

No; it depends on the circumstances. Under some conditions the guy that invented the product should get more pay, other conditions the guy who got it to market should.

What are the conditions that would make it fair that a sales person gets more money (in some cases thousands of times more) than the inventor and the producing workers?

 

[Heyo]

The problem with your idea is the government needs taxes paid via money, not wealth. The super rich have very little money, but an awful lot of wealth. The problem with wealth is trying to spend it without destroying something. Take Musk for example; his wealth is the result of owning 15% of Tesla stock. If he were to give all that stock to the Government when he dies, how is the Government supposed to cash all of that stock in without destroying the company?

It seems you not only have no clue about economics but you also lack basic economic thinking skills. (Or you are just flailing because you are not for equality of opportunity and won't admit it.)
Who says that the government has to liquidate the stock asap? Stocks generate money. The government could keep the stock for a time and cash in the dividends. (As Lower Saxony does with VW and France does with their automotive industries.) That way they could also influence the salaries of upper management and the policies of the company.
Now, you'll say "that's socialism!" and you would be right. Socialism is a direct consequence of equality of opportunity.

 

[Heyo]

The super rich don't have much money, they have a lot of wealth; big difference.

Do you think mansions and yachts get paid with wealth? No, the supper rich have hordes of money, not all their wealth can be directly converted in to money, that's true, but the money (dividends) that the wealth creates gives them a nice allowance.

Now, when you have as much cash as a super rich person, you don't buy a yacht or a mansion every month - you buy stocks, adding to your wealth and raising the amount on your next pay check.

 

[ADigitalArtist]

Let's say you are super rich. How does me being poor allow you to live like a king?

What happens to nearby villages when dragons hoard all the treasure, resources and currency?

George Foreman didn't invent the George Forman grill, someone else did but if it wasn't for Forman, the Grill wouldn't be the success it is today. Ray Crock didn't invent McDonalds; the McDonalds brothers did; but if it wasn't for Ray Crock, McDonalds wouldn't be what it is today. If it weren't for Gates, Musk, Bezos and others, the products they established wouldn't be what it is today. Just because you are good at inventing, doesn't mean you are good at getting the product sold. Don't cha think the guy responsible for getting the product to market is just as important as the guy who invented the product? After all; what good is inventing something if nobody notices it? Does this make sense? If not explain why.

This is a moving of the goalposts. You've gone from saying we credit inventors according to their inventions' value, which we absolutely do not, to trying to frame salesman as being more essential (by pay) than inventors. Which is not only ad hoc reasoning to assume we'd have these products through no other method than shysters like Bezos or Crock, but shows the lie that the US is in any sense meritocratic. Rich people aren't rich because of hard work or intelligence or achievement, but in being in the best position to exploit the labor of others.

 

[HonestJoe]

Yeah; but that is the case regardless of income inequality; the extreme rich are not raising the prices of basic stuff.

Even though they obviously generate all of the click-bait headlines, the extreme rich aren't the primary issue (especially in relation to income equality). The real issues are around the growing difference between the upper middle earners and the bottom.

We've seen the effects in recent years, with an increasing number of working people who had previously been just about managing not having any resources to support themselves in the event of extreme circumstances, such as the pandemic and economic issues we've all faced recently. There is more to it than just income inequality (and that in itself isn't simple) but it is a significant factor.

 

[PureX]

Suppose it were not based on greed, selfishness, and contempt for others? Would you still have a problem with it?

But it is. So I do.

It's time for humanity to rise above these stupid and selfish animal instincts as we can no longer afford them. They are going to destroy us. We need to start thinking and behaving for our collective well-being instead of our individual conquest. It's time for cooperation rather than competition. Anyone with an open human mind and heart can see that this is so.

 

[Audie]

But it is. So I do.

It's time for humanity to rise above these stupid and selfish animal instincts as we can no longer afford them. They are going to destroy us. We need to start thinking and behaving for our collective well-being instead of our individual conquest. It's time for cooperation rather than competition. Anyone with an open human mind and heart can see that this is so.

Think how much better basketball would
be if people would help eachother to make
baskets?

And cars. If nobody tried to make cheaper,
better ones, then everyone could have a model T.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Eventually the skills I learned from the 2 jobs allowed me to get a higher paying job.

What skills did those jobs actually teach you?

 

[PureX]

A modern version of the model T would be an excellent start. But no capitalist is going to make them because they don't make cars for people to use. They make cars to get as much money out of people as possible. So they way over design them, and build in obsurd complexity and intended obsolescence, to make us pay huge prices for vehicles that could be twice as good and cost half as much. And that could run on non-poluting fuels. We'll kill ourselves with greed rather than improve life for everyone.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Think how much better basketball would
be if people would help eachother to make
baskets?

And cars. If nobody tried to make cheaper,
better ones, then everyone could have a model T.

There's making cheaper, and then there's making cheaper quality that costs more in the long run. And that cheaper quality is partly what makes being poor more expensive.

 

[Koldo]

But when that happens, the influencer usually agree on what they are saying; they are just getting paid for it.

Depends.

Are you under the impression if the rich had less wealth, the poor would have more?

Depends.

 

[Koldo]

If they aren't hurting the country, why do you have a problem with them?

I don't have a problem with anyone per se.

 

[Koldo]

But it isn't; wealth is created by the rich, and they keep the lions share of the wealth they create. Do you think we would be better off if they did not create the wealth?

How did you reach the conclusion that only the rich create the wealth?

 

[Shadow Wolf]

A modern version of the model T would be an excellent start. But no capitalist is going to make them because they don't make cars for people to use. They make cars to gat as much money out of people as possible. So they way over design them, and build in obsurd complexity and intended obsolescence, to make us pay huge prices for vehicles that could be twice as good and cost half as much. And that could run on non-poluting fuels. We'll kill ourselves with greed rather than improve life for everyone.

You're not much of a car person are you?

 

[Mock Turtle]

But it is. So I do.

It's time for humanity to rise above these stupid and selfish animal instincts as we can no longer afford them. They are going to destroy us. We need to start thinking and behaving for our collective well-being instead of our individual conquest. It's time for cooperation rather than competition. Anyone with an open human mind and heart can see that this is so.

Oh those so stupid and selfish animals. Why on earth did they ever exist.

 

[Koldo]

Remember the economic crash of 2006? During that time the super rich lost billions, the rich lost millions, the middle income lost thousands, and the poor lost a trickle (because they didn’t really have anything to lose). During that time the gap between the rich and the poor lessened. then a half dozen years later when the economy rebounded, the super rich got their billions back, the rich got their millions back, the middle income got their thousands back, the the poor got their trickle back. At this point the gap between the rich and the poor went back to record levels again. This has been the case with every economic rise and fall as of late. Now I couldn’t care less the rich, my concern is with the poor so the question becomes when were the poor better off; with their trickle? Or without it. I think the poor were better off with their trickle even if it means the super rich makes billions in the process.

Do you have the statistics for that?

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Remember the economic crash of 2006? During that time the super rich lost billions, the rich lost millions, the middle income lost thousands, and the poor lost a trickle (because they didn’t really have anything to lose).

Is that why many of my coworkers took huge paycuts? Must be those choses amd stuff you talked about. After all, I chose to be borm at such a time that I was in a spot to have nothing to lose but much to gain as conpanies reshuffled their decks and I walked out of the Recession wealtheir than when it started amd with home ownership.
I guess all those rich people and everybody else just made bad choices.

 

[PureX]

How did you reach the conclusion that only the rich create the wealth?

He drank the coolaid.