Ban Billionaires?
Food for thought. No, hold that, there are others that need that food more than we do. Those in the deprived countries that barely get by, those in sweatshops that continue to live as if they were under an imperial rule that most countries seemingly completely kicked along with European dominance in the 20th century. But, no they still exist. In the age of billionaires, poverty is still a thing, a fact that doesn't sit well with many.
Bernie Sanders might have sunk down in the polls, but his ideas are worth debating. Demonizing the wealthy has been a useful tool in many public arsenals, and each side holds valid arguments.
The Argument in favour-
“Billionaires should not exist,” Mr. Sanders says. Not what you’d expect from a cis white male, who’s worries consists of dentures, and relating to his grandkids but I’m glad someone’s said it. The statement may sound delirious, but really, it’s the state of our world that’s bonkers. In the US, the richest 0.1 percent make as much as the bottom 90 percent. You don’t have to cross seas, here in the UK the richest six people control as much wealth as the poorest 13 million.
So, while Jeff Bezos with his polished head and unsettling smile is proudly brandishing his richest man status like a kindergartener with a gold star sticker, we have countless destitute and dying from poverty.
Some may argue the money is theirs but they didn’t just magic it out of thin air. Whether that’s scamming teenagers into eating disorders, looking at Kylie Jenner here who was recently declared youngest ‘self-made’ billionaire or overworking employees to the point where they urinate in empty bottles, this ones on Amazon, this capitalism only seems to reward the ruthless.
Oftentimes, it’s those that come from wealthy families like Donald Trump with his father’s million dollar investment, or the Sheikhs of the middle East and those that come from upper middle class families and can afford Ivy league’s eye watering tuition, like Bill Gates, that end up with all the wealth in this system. While the rest of us are left in a never-ending cycle of suffering, and hardships. Working minimum wage, paying high taxes to fund our public system while supporting our families.
Some might say that this fuels innovation. But great minds like Marie Curie existed, who discovered two elements and won two Nobel prizes, yet died relatively poor? Real innovation isn’t driven by greed, it’s driven by passion.
Toxic capitalism makes us want to believe that the only hope for advancement, is with an absurd monetary reward and behemoth monopolies like Google and Amazon.
The Argument against-
Its catchy isn’t it? “Ban billionaires!” A rallying cry that many socialists and laymen could get behind on. Something that the media can certainly exploit- after all it makes for a great front-page headline. Not only the media, ‘ban billionaires’, is being used by many politicians to gain everything from attention to votes.
It sounds lovely. We all know the world has problems, the impoverished, the destitute, the dying children, cats, dogs, or toads. We know.
And we all know these people have money. A day doesn’t go by when we haven’t heard of some new ridiculous world record, just take a look at Dubai. Tallest building, biggest boat and what not. And who hasn’t seen Jeff Bezos, sitting with a weirdly unsettling smile, a polished head and a new ‘richest man’ crown floating above him.
But let’s bring our heads back down from cloud nine and look at the reality on ground. When we talk about billionaires, I think we all see the wrong picture. They aren’t some creatures, wildly guarding huge pots of gold under rainbows. Instead a lot of these billionaires only have worth on paper. Most of these people own illiquid assets, bound in stocks in multi-billion-dollar companies.
if Jeff Bezos were to start selling his shares today, he and all those advocating for this radical policy might be in for a shock. Basic economics dictates that price is always dependent on demand and supply. So, while Bezos’s 16 percent of Amazon might be worth around eighteen hundred dollars per share right now, when he starts selling, it will fall. It’ll fall faster than the smile on the billionaire hater faces when they find out, that the richest man on Earth is suddenly not worth as much!
Wealth taxes sound fun, but the real intricacies are much harder to navigate. How much is Amazon worth? A quick google search might give you an answer, but how much is it really worth? At least Amazon has some infrastructure, but what about Facebook? At the end of the day, it’s really just a software isn’t it? Its value is just dependent on how much investors agree it should be. Which is why it’s possible for these people to lose billions in a day and not bat an eye.
A lot of this money is invested, it makes the economy grow. A socialist utopia in which we just keep throwing money on problems in hopes of making the world a better place just is not practical. What we need to do is dig deep down and see what is causing these problems. Social stigma, drug abuse, absent parents- life is hard.
And sure, money helps. The rich should be taxed, and they should be a taxed higher. Something that Bill Gates, who many will know as one of the world’s greatest philanthropists and billionaire, as well as Warren Buffet agree upon. But, the complications with 'banning billionaires' should be well accounted for.
Conclusion-
Navigating topics such as this, often can seem a constant back and forth. Each sides holds points that can be validated if you look close enough. However, a general trend on people's worldview is dependent on their status in life. Any impoverished man or women, with kids to feed and aging relatives to take care of lights up at the idea of some sort of monetary payout from the government fueled by taxes on the wealthy. However, ask someone that worked day and night in to build their own empire and they may scoff at very idea as attune to blowing on a house of cards, complete disaster.
However, in the real world we can't argue both worldviews as their policy would be obviously contradictory. Perhaps we should argue on morals. Is it morally right to have this much money when others are suffering. But then is it morally right to take away someone's hard earned money either? There isn't an easy answer, which is why all we seem to be capable of is keeping the conversation going.