Yeah.. except that people don't think about the hard work and risk by the person who owns the company.
I started my business.. and as an owner and employee.. I worked harder than ANY other employee that was with me. Because I did my employee job.. and then did all the work as an owner. AND I was the one that takes all the risk. It my retirement, house.. etc.. that was being risked. It was my collateral and future that the bank had on the line.
NONE of my employees took that risk.. and when the business was building... the employees other than me? They got paid.. come high times or low. ME? Sometimes, I didn;t make anything and had a lower salary than my employees despite working harder and more.
So there is nothing more irksome.. to hearing some employee NOW.. when they have no risk.. put forth no risk, no effort.. did NOTHING other than the job they were PAID to do.. and they think I "owe" them something.
Take any of those employees and say.. "gee. it was a bad month.. so I am not going to pay you.. just like I can't take a dividend... that okay with you.?"
Fat chance... people that complain about owners making more money.. want all of the reward without taking the risk or the work.
Funny thing is, I agree almost entirely with the basic points you're making. You DO deserve some rights for doing the things you mention.
But, you're very confused, conflating your situation with every billionaire in the country - why, they're all slaving away earning every dollar they get as hard as you do. IMO, you are simply very biased because of your situation, and it warps your understanding and what makes sense for various roles.
Workers DO make a tradeoff that the owner who does the things you mention, takes most of the profits if things go well, while their compensation is both more limited to a fixed income, and more safe as guaranteed however the business does while it operates and they are employed. Those are the tradeoffs we accept.
The big business issues here have basically nothing to do with the situation you describe. CEO's who join a company that's rigged to give them massive incomes aren't very comparable to your situation, and how hard a person works doesn't continue to have the same merits for dollars earned as you go from thousands to millions to billions.
You sound like you 'deserve' every dollar you make. The CEO of a big company, maybe not nearly as much, but they rig the system. The Wall Street operative, perhaps even less so. The Walton heirs, even less. Yet you would apply your speech to all of them, wrongly.
I see this a lot from small business owners, who I actually have a lot of good to say about, when they identify themselves with and equate the billionaires, as if they're in the same group against those damn greedy workers. They're not. You have a lot more in common with the workers than with the Koch brothers.
Progressive policies, my policies, actually want to HELP such business creator like you, to see you get MORE for those efforts. You don't understand who the threats to your interests are.
Yes, you ARE expected, if you make a good amount of profit, to help pay for society's needs - but that's not who is really limiting your wealth. We should have a moderate amount of inequality, as we did before Reagan, not the extreme record amounts we have now, in which the few at the top not only get all the money and power, but are a threat to our democracy.
