No, We Definitely Do Want to Take Billionaires' Money
Billionaires: should we take their ####ing money and use it for things that society desperately needs, because they sure don’t ####ing need it? The answer is yes. That said, there are many (misguided but) intellectually coherent ideas as to why we should not do so: for example, some believe the existence of billionaires is but an unfortunate side effect of a free enterprise system that will ultimately enrich us all; some would say that confiscatory taxation would simply cause billionaires to flee to tax havens, making the global situation worse; and so on. In order to have this debate effectively, both the pro- and anti-billionaires need to trot out arguments that—whether or not you agree with them—have some sort of rational and/ or moral heft.
Or, you can just do what Jeff Sommer did in his recent New York Times piece headlined “Why You Might Not Want to Take Away a Billionaire’s Money” and say a bunch of nonsense!!!!!!!!!!
Why mightn’t I want to take away money from someone who has far more than he could ever spend in order to give that money to poor and starving people who could really use it? I hope you brought your A-game, Jeff...
Billionaires: should we take their ####ing money and use it for things that society desperately needs, because they sure don’t ####ing need it? The answer is yes. That said, there are many (misguided but) intellectually coherent ideas as to why we should not do so: for example, some believe the existence of billionaires is but an unfortunate side effect of a free enterprise system that will ultimately enrich us all; some would say that confiscatory taxation would simply cause billionaires to flee to tax havens, making the global situation worse; and so on. In order to have this debate effectively, both the pro- and anti-billionaires need to trot out arguments that—whether or not you agree with them—have some sort of rational and/ or moral heft.
Or, you can just do what Jeff Sommer did in his recent New York Times piece headlined “Why You Might Not Want to Take Away a Billionaire’s Money” and say a bunch of nonsense!!!!!!!!!!
Why mightn’t I want to take away money from someone who has far more than he could ever spend in order to give that money to poor and starving people who could really use it? I hope you brought your A-game, Jeff...
