Auren, you have a gift for glib perspective. It's usually amusing and sometimes insightful. In this one I think clever has won out over reality and it unfortunately minimizes a real crisis in American capitalism that impacts our system's ability to function. The drop in tax rates and other policies since 1982 did make it easier to get rich, but only for the top 1%. This has been a tremendous driver of inequality, enabling that top 1% to capture nearly all of the economic productivity gains in the past 4 decades. For a quick easy read see https://time.com/5888024/50-trillion-income-inequality-america/, or choose any review of the Gini coefficient in the US over time. In turn, that inequality has led to economic frustration that set the stage for the anti-democratic political destabilization that we are seeing in the US today. Maybe many of the already rich are more comfortable with higher taxes because they realize that if their fortune is cut from $100M to $75M or even $50M it will make no difference in their financial security or daily enjoyment. Maybe they have the luxury of stepping back to see the columns of the republic crumbling and wish to see it change. Maybe they realize their fortunes aren't worth much if the country they're in doesn't support the basic needs (like healthcare and a living wage) for a large portion of its citizens.
To me, the first million or so is relative wealth... do I have enough wealth relative to my needs and desires? Above that it becomes absolute wealth. I don't care if Bill Gates or even Elizabeth Warren has more money than I do; I just want to accumulate as much as I can.
Auren, you have a gift for glib perspective. It's usually amusing and sometimes insightful. In this one I think clever has won out over reality and it unfortunately minimizes a real crisis in American capitalism that impacts our system's ability to function. The drop in tax rates and other policies since 1982 did make it easier to get rich, but only for the top 1%. This has been a tremendous driver of inequality, enabling that top 1% to capture nearly all of the economic productivity gains in the past 4 decades. For a quick easy read see https://time.com/5888024/50-trillion-income-inequality-america/, or choose any review of the Gini coefficient in the US over time. In turn, that inequality has led to economic frustration that set the stage for the anti-democratic political destabilization that we are seeing in the US today. Maybe many of the already rich are more comfortable with higher taxes because they realize that if their fortune is cut from $100M to $75M or even $50M it will make no difference in their financial security or daily enjoyment. Maybe they have the luxury of stepping back to see the columns of the republic crumbling and wish to see it change. Maybe they realize their fortunes aren't worth much if the country they're in doesn't support the basic needs (like healthcare and a living wage) for a large portion of its citizens.
If you think the wealthy want higher taxes to preserve their wealth, you haven't kept up with President Biden's tax plans.
To me, the first million or so is relative wealth... do I have enough wealth relative to my needs and desires? Above that it becomes absolute wealth. I don't care if Bill Gates or even Elizabeth Warren has more money than I do; I just want to accumulate as much as I can.
Yes indeed. Kind of like how Google and Facebook supported GDPR.