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"Billinaires shouldn't exist." Do you agree with Bernie?

Billionaires shouldn't exist -- do you agree?


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Josie

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(Let's pretend everything is spelled correctly in the title.)
 
People should have the freedom to succeed and become rich.

Becoming rich is the incentive that drives investment, productivity, and innovation. No innovation ever came out of socialist countries.
 
Innovation requires huge piles of private capital.
 
Bernie: "half a million Americans sleeping out on the street today"


It's like 80% of those are on drugs and alcohol. Another 15% are mentally ill. We've thrown money at the problem for years and it's had no effect.
 
Innovation requires huge piles of private capital.

And huge risks.

But what is NOT happening is anti-monopoly laws are not enforced. Amazon, Google, Apple are too big to fight, too big the break up - though particularly Amazon and Google are the largest monopolies to exist in world history. They are so powerful that they wipe out entire companies at a whim, even just triggered by some computer software or insider dealing.

It takes money to innovate, but mega billions is its own weapon and own money maker. It also buys political influence. For example, we-the-people subsidize every Amazon Prime package $1.48 per package. No other merchant gets Amazon's low mailing rates. No other merchant gets 1 day shipping for the price of general delivery. $3 billion a year of Bezos money comes from the government subsidizing his shipping - no one else's.

Amazon and Google are known to just instantly surprise ban a company - no communication - and overnight the entire company is destroyed and everyone lost their job - with no reason given and no appeal. Maybe someone in Amazon or Google has a relative who wants or has that business too. These companies are so massively wealthy they truly do not care if they lose a multi-million dollar account.
 
People should have the freedom to succeed and become rich.

Becoming rich is the incentive that drives investment, productivity, and innovation. No innovation ever came out of socialist countries.

Do you have proof or this?
 
As much as I envy & am jealous of millionaires/billionaires/hundredthousandaires, it is not my business OR concern OR right to say to them; "I'm sorry, you can't have that."
 
And huge risks.

But what is NOT happening is anti-monopoly laws are not enforced. Amazon, Google, Apple are too big to fight, too big the break up - though particularly Amazon and Google are the largest monopolies to exist in world history. They are so powerful that they wipe out entire companies at a whim, even just triggered by some computer software or insider dealing.

It takes money to innovate, but mega billions is its own weapon and own money maker. It also buys political influence. For example, we-the-people subsidize every Amazon Prime package $1.48 per package. No other merchant gets Amazon's low mailing rates. No other merchant gets 1 day shipping for the price of general delivery. $3 billion a year of Bezos money comes from the government subsidizing his shipping - no one else's.

Amazon and Google are known to just instantly surprise ban a company - no communication - and overnight the entire company is destroyed and everyone lost their job - with no reason given and no appeal. Maybe someone in Amazon or Google has a relative who wants or has that business too. These companies are so massively wealthy they truly do not care if they lose a multi-million dollar account.
How are you defining a 'monopoly'? Google has literally hundreds of competitors, as does Amazon.
 


(Let's pretend everything is spelled correctly in the title.)


I have no issue with billionaires existing. I think it's a silly statement to say they shouldn't exist. If you created an amazing invention or company and made that money off of your work then more power to you. But at the same time these companies/billionaires need to pay a good portion of taxes to help sustain all of this infrastructure that allowed for their businesses to take off and to make that money. The thought that CEO pay has risen at 200-300% faster rates than worker pay over the last few decades, and that we have the greatest country on earth but my facebook feed is still full of families starting gofundmes so that they can afford a procedure for their child is pretty disgusting if you really think about it.
 
The top 10% of wealthy Americans own 70% of America's wealth.
 
There about 650 billionaires in the US. I'm not sure why Bernie hates them, because where else would he get the money to fund free stuff for the other 330 million people?

I subscribe to BernieMath: take 7.5% from the 650 billionaires, and 330 million people will get free everything forever.
 
I thought this video gave a good perspective on the 1% and it is only getting worse. If things continue to go the way they have for decades are you all really ok with 1% of the population owning 99%? Im not, nothing anyone has done has warranted that type of wealth.

 


(Let's pretend everything is spelled correctly in the title.)


This is the land of opportunity. People want to come to America for their chance to become rich.
If you work hard enough, smart enough, are innovative what is wrong with being a millionaire or billionaire.
How many people do these millionaires and billionaires have working for them?

The left on the other hand would like to give the money these people worked hard for and simply give it away to someone less fortunate, perhaps someone that does not want to work as hard.
 
The Comrade Sanders response is always the same. Demonize those that create jobs and are successful. Ignore the facts. Try this.

Rather than spending the last 4 decades demonizing the wealthy, why havent the Bernie Sanders of the world been building competing and successful socialist business in the US? Why havent the Tom Steirs who claim to be benevolent and the Bill Gates and the George Soros's been building the businesses with the types of "workers of the world' models and pay scales they preach about rather tan constantly piss themselves and bitch and whi9ne and cry and moan about people that have built successful businesses...businesses which BTW do NOT get successful by paying minimum wage.

You all know the answer.
 


(Let's pretend everything is spelled correctly in the title.)


I'm not sure if I agree with the assertion on a completely unqualified basis in a vacuum, but I absolutely agree with the underlying sentiment that economic inequality shouldn't be nearly as high as it is; that way lies economically toxic and socially destabilizing consolidations of wealth, and is symptomatic of a broken system where the excesses of capitalism aren't being well regulated.
 
I think we also have to recognize though that "opportunity" for everyone to get educated and make a good living, even the ambitious, is becoming less possible every decade - year maybe ?

We have many many well educated people who AREN'T able to make a good living, simply because there just aren't enough well paying jobs for them ALL.

On top of this, we have lawless immigration policies, rapidly changing demographics and other factors.. what's the solution ??

I don't know ?.. but I DO know that socialism/communism aren't the right answers.
 
I oted no because I am a big NFL fan and team owners have to be billionaires to do their jobs. There is no NFL (or NBA, NHL, and MLB) without billionaires owning all the teams. Job losses go both ways: People can work for billionaires who create jobs. Or they can work for small businesses that, as a result of a similar corporation's size, go out of business. Will the people who work for big companies lose thei jobs if the monopolies are broken up? Probably. What about those one-of-a-kind businesses? It is impossible for anyone to win if they are eliminated just because their owners are billionaires. There will always be a benefit to having super-rich Americans. That said, it is absolutely necessary to break apart monopolies if we are going to keep all the smaller businesses alive and operating for a long time. The number of billionaires needs to go down to help the economy.
 
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Notice Bernie didn't say "millionaires shouldn't exist?"

Bernie is a millionaire.

It's hypocrisy.
 
I oted no because I am a big NFL fan and team owners have to be billionaires to do their jobs. There is no NFL (or NBA, NHL, and MLB) without billionaires owning all the teams. Job losses go both ways: People can work for billionaires who create jobs. Or they can work for small businesses that, as a result of a simialr corporation's size, go out of business. Will the people who work for big companies lose their jobs if the monopolies are broken up? Probably. What about those one-of-a-kind businesses? It is impossible for anyone to win if they are eliminated just because their owners are billionaires. There will always be a benefit to having super-rich Americans. That said, it is absolutely necessary to break apart monopolies if we are going to keep all the smaller businesses alive and operating for a long time. The number of billionaires need to go down to help the economy.

Agree and disagree maybe ?

I'm not sure we want some government policy/law/bureaucracy deciding such things though. That always seems to end up making bigger, long-term troubles later.
 
Notice Bernie didn't say "millionaires shouldn't exist?"

Bernie is a millionaire.

It's hypocrisy.

Bernie is a communist and wants to be a communist leader.

Leaders in communist countries have all the wealth they need/want while they make sure everyone else has "what they need." . . . which is never what they want
 
Agree and disagree maybe ?

I'm not sure we want some government policy/law/bureaucracy deciding such things though. That always seems to end up making bigger, long-term troubles later.

The European Union does it.

Barack Obama prevented cell phone companies from merging.
 
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