Controversial title, I know. Now let me explain my stance.
I am not referring to the enslavement of people to do one's bidding. That obviously was legally abolished, at least in this country.
I am referring to money. We are all slaves to money.
Think about it - just about every damn thing you want or need, you have to give money for it. Food, shelter, clothes, entertainment - the list goes on. They haven't found a way to put a price on the air we breathe as of this post, but you never know. Greed has a funny effect on people.
And it's those few people who are able to monopolize certain things and control the prices that are essentially enslaving the people. Greedy CEO's and the like will hoard as much money as they can, which leads to everyone else having less money to "share" between us. Then we (the common folk) can't buy certain luxuries, and thus reduces the demand of products. And when the demand goes down, the price must go up. Paradoxical, when you think about it: no one is buying your product, so you have to raise the price to stay in business.
Can't the government see that it would be more beneficial for the economy to have the majority of people in this country living with financial freedom? Let's use this example: there are 10 people each with $1 million, and one person with $10 million. The 10 millionaires will buy (between them) on average 10 sets of products, whereas the one multi-millionaire will only buy one set of products. Seems obvious to me that a business would rather sell 10 units versus 1 unit, no matter what the price difference is.
Which brings me to my next point - how much is too much? Does it really matter if you have $10 million vs. $15 million? Or $900 mil vs. $1 billion? There is literally no way you should be able to spend a billion dollars in your lifetime without being a greedy, materialistic douchebag who just HAS TO HAVE twelve different sports cars and a mansion big enough to house a small town - in five different countries, no less.
We live in a free country, so unfortunately there is no way for the government to place a cap on people's wealth. But just imagine the impact that could be made if all that excess wealth could be put to good use - teacher's would finally have good salaries (not to mention a seat in a good public school for every child), there would be a hospital room for every person in the country, decent living conditions, healthier people (cause poorer people have less to spend on healthier foods, which are only expensive because they are constantly undercut by cheaply-processed shit), better law enforcement/public services, and so on.
I commend Bill Gates for promising to give something like 99% of his wealth away to charities and such - now if every other person that is fortunate enough to not be a slave to the dead presidents would follow Bill's lead, maybe one day no one else will be a slave either. I have a dream...
[post composed listening to "Cloud 9" - B.o.B.]
A couple of thoughts to add......WE are the government, so why is commerce so lopsided? Who is really to blame?
ReplyDeleteAnd second....We are being charged to breathe the air...we, thru taxes pay for the air we breathe to be healthy-ish, ect.
I think we are born into corporate slavery, we have to pay someone to exist but we. really have ourselves to blame for that.
good topic
Good Point!!!
ReplyDeletei like that..."we have to pay someone to exist"
ReplyDeleteand i do agree that we are to blame. i just want to know how and when things started going this direction. having corporate politicians certainly doesnt help
Corporate greed is ruining our country. In the 1950s, corporate income taxes were 23 percent of federal income. Now it's under 8 percent. That's why our country is broke. That's why we pay so much for everything. Anytime there's a buck to be made, those with $$ and lawyers make sure $0.99 of that is directed to their profits. And the minute profits are threatened, lawyers make sure loopholes and subsidies magically appear. They own most of our politicians and they've convinced the idiots among us that allowing them to continue screwing us is in our best interest. In the rest of us, they've made us feel like our voices and votes don't count. Don't buy into the lie!
ReplyDeleteyou make some good points. however, who is gonna decide who has too much money and who to give it too? sounds like obama's share the wealth plan and or communism. if i am one of the fortunate who is an innovator or a good businessman, why should i work hard or take risks if my money is gonna be taken away and shared with others who are not as inclined to work...but sit around waiting for the share? no easy answers here.
ReplyDelete350lex, you have good points. im not proposing communism, that is definitely not fair for the people who work their asses off to get their fortune. I just wish there was a way to motivate the obscenely wealthy to give back, and i know lots of them that do - gates, eli broad (old man from 60 minutes) - i appreciate those few.
ReplyDeletea wise man i know once proposed a flat tax rate - say, 5% - that every single citizen would pay, regardless of income. that sounds like a great idea to me, and seems to be fair. for example, 5% of 100 grand is 5 grand, 5% of a million is 50 grand, and 5% of a billion is 50 mil (assuming my maths are right) - imagine all the things a community could do with that kinda dough for public works, and at seemingly low-cost to the tax payer. im young, so i dont know what the average person pays in taxes percentage-wise, but if what i heard is correct in that about half of americans did not pay income tax this year, 5% seems like a gift from heaven