If we want to get crime under control and restore social cohesion to our society, we must also tackle inequality - and that means taxing the morbidly rich
Woody Guthrie Quote: " Just because I ain't got as much money as you got is a pretty good sign that you're crookeder than me. And it ain't to laugh about. It makes me do some pretty tall thinking how to get that money off of you and give it back to the folks that's broke. "
Thom -- Reading even a brief overview summary of your early trajectory is enlightening, thought provoking, terrifying, humbling . . . and exhausting. Thanks.
Pugnacious, extreme, and true is often a good place to start negotiating.
Households are the most important, the most numerous, and the most fundamental corporate entities in our country, from one productive perspective.
I just want my household to be taxed like a corporation.
Revenue comes in, we deduct fair and reasonably expenses, and our overlapping communities can tax what's left. [ household revenue is not income . . . for starters . . . and someday I hope to understand how personal income, according to the Fed, just about equals GDP . . . mind bending ]
Of course, if we really did tax households like corporations -- thanks SCOTUS! -- only rich people would pay much in taxes, while spending massively to change the definitions of 'fair' and 'reasonable,' for starters, no doubt.
If we pay a working family a dollar, a rich guy gets it almost immediately.
So rich guys should be spending almost all of their time working to get dollars to households.
That's not what I'm seeing, in the main, so it's up to us, I'm guessing.
Sep 30, 2022·edited Sep 30, 2022Liked by Thom Hartmann
Inequity is a logical cause for much of the crime, stress, and tension we are suffering. Simply put, the resentment and acting on it are human nature.
The problem is the morbidly rich, but we are absolutely obsessed with them. Their lifestyles and toys are endlessly fascinating. We as a society need to get OVER that, and I do see some change taking place.
Accepting the aftermath of the pandemic and the derangement the Trump years have caused would be the adult thing to do. Finding remedies is the right thing to do. Teaching others to help not hurt is the hard thing to do.
Morbidly rich is perfect. It doesn’t just apply to the rich person him- or herself, but also as a perception of anyone observing the rich person. ‘Morbid’ and ‘morbidly’ can be used in a number of descriptive ways. A story or a scene can be morbid, a remark or expression can be made morbidly, etc. We desperately need this phrase and others like it to counter the ongoing avalanche of radical-right deprecatory rhetoric the bad guys work so hard to keep fresh and new!
There's something about the phrase "morbidly rich" that bothers me. Yes, great wealth does sap those who possess it, but its lethally toxic effects on those who don't possess it is the far greater societal problem.
Lately, I decided to make a point to politicians BEGGING FOR MONEY. From me - a person living on Social Security alone. I spent all of my two pensions paying medical bills - even with Medicare and a MediGap. Do NOT get seriously ill in the United States! SO, several senators have been begging for money from me for months! I looked up the current annual salary for US Senators - it's an alarming $174,000. But actually that's just considered in the middle class range.
Just recently I heard from one of my Dem senators, Senator Michael Bennet whining about a Trumpist getting a super PAC of a few million bucks, and asking ME for a donation.
I wrote him back (instead of stewing) and told him I knew how much his Senate salary was, and that he should be embarrassed asking for money for me, who makes $14K/year.
He wrote me back this morning - "I'm opting you out of texts immediately. Have a great day." And I thanked him, told him he was doing a great job AND I was voting for him.
I don't think this is off-topic. Because if my family had been one of those morbidly rich ones, I would be likely "just fine." But I'm NOT! And I hope I started to spread the word to these other politicians! - Alive in Denver
Thom, you are, and have been, living an extraordinary life... and we all are the happy beneficiaries of your experience.
Inequality is a problem. Weird isn't it, that humans have a strong instinct for Fairness, and yet a stronger instinct for Greed? And THAT is precisely why we need Laws and Corporate Regulations.
This has the ring of truth. Inequality stinks -- and the scent is everywhere, corrupting our social interactions. While publications like the NY Post gin up every crime that happens in NYC, they imply that street crime is caused by the sick, the insane, and the just plain incorrigible. It doesn't recognize the truth you are putting forward -- that in an unequal society, resentments spin out of control, and the social cohesion that would prevent violence gutters out like a candle without oxygen.
You shouldn’t even have to go into such detail to justify taxation for the morbidly rich. Kind of a joke that Elizabeth Warren asked about whatever that number was, like 2 percent. Ha ha ha. I’d say we even should outlaw billionaires, where no one needs more than $100M or so. HOWEVER, what I want to contribute is that social cohesion wouldn’t “just mean” taxing the rich. Let’s hear it for Universal Basic Income. Soon enough there won’t be enough jobs thanks to automation and we will have to have something like that, but we are just timidly doing little experiments instead of using that big-time as a way, along with those taxes, to change the game.
Watched a movie last night, mostly about Princess Diana, called "Spencer", and was shocked by the inequality I was seeing. That a person's lifestyle can vary so greatly - on the one hand the royalty feels that it's their duty to spend the day hunting pheasants, while being waited on continuously (they can't even open a car door for themselves; a servant must open the door for them); at the other end of the spectrum are the ones laboring intensively in dirty, toxic conditions to make a few shillings so they can eat. How can the U.K. endure such inequality? - in spite of this inequality, people turned out in droves to catch a glimpse of her casket, and it was all done in a civil manner. So my question is, what's the difference between the U.K. and the U.S.? How can they embrace such inequality, while in the U.S. the solution is to turn to violence and crime? I guess I'm suggesting that inequality isn't the only problem, that there must be other factors at play, factors pertaining to human nature. Do humans need to have an authority figure to worship, such as a king or queen? By forsaking royalty, did the U.S. ensure this kind of societal collapse?
Thom is once again pointing out the obvious that has been well understood for centuries, but somehow keeps being forgotten by citizens - maybe the goal of eliminating education from our educational systems?
Great article, now I wonder how we can keep this alive in minds of Americans without Thom always having to do it.
If only we had a political party to oppose the NaziRepublican Party, they could win every election nation wide by simply telling Americans the truth.
This seems obvious, but I never hear it mentioned, except by Thom.
As kid in the 50's, I was in the top 1%, put in all the honors programs, and had well informed teachers, then got multiple degrees, and have worked in 150 countries - yet I never hear this discussed anywhere on earth.
Although the theory is obvious and obviously true, it's complex and complicated and not at all black and white, thus so boring nobody will listen.
I've long said education was the biggest problem, but while fixing education fixes inequality, fixing inequality fixes education too, so fix either one and we are good to go.
The question is HOW.
Thom and me and you-all discussing this isn't accomplishing any change.
Woody Guthrie Quote: " Just because I ain't got as much money as you got is a pretty good sign that you're crookeder than me. And it ain't to laugh about. It makes me do some pretty tall thinking how to get that money off of you and give it back to the folks that's broke. "
Thom -- Reading even a brief overview summary of your early trajectory is enlightening, thought provoking, terrifying, humbling . . . and exhausting. Thanks.
Pugnacious, extreme, and true is often a good place to start negotiating.
Households are the most important, the most numerous, and the most fundamental corporate entities in our country, from one productive perspective.
I just want my household to be taxed like a corporation.
Revenue comes in, we deduct fair and reasonably expenses, and our overlapping communities can tax what's left. [ household revenue is not income . . . for starters . . . and someday I hope to understand how personal income, according to the Fed, just about equals GDP . . . mind bending ]
See ( .gov ) <https://apps.bea.gov/scb/2022/05-may/0522-gdp-economy.htm#personal-income> Also shows GDP, normalized, so like so many of these damn reports, the whole numbers are not reported, only changes!
Of course, if we really did tax households like corporations -- thanks SCOTUS! -- only rich people would pay much in taxes, while spending massively to change the definitions of 'fair' and 'reasonable,' for starters, no doubt.
If we pay a working family a dollar, a rich guy gets it almost immediately.
So rich guys should be spending almost all of their time working to get dollars to households.
That's not what I'm seeing, in the main, so it's up to us, I'm guessing.
best luck to US -- b.rad
Inequity is a logical cause for much of the crime, stress, and tension we are suffering. Simply put, the resentment and acting on it are human nature.
The problem is the morbidly rich, but we are absolutely obsessed with them. Their lifestyles and toys are endlessly fascinating. We as a society need to get OVER that, and I do see some change taking place.
Accepting the aftermath of the pandemic and the derangement the Trump years have caused would be the adult thing to do. Finding remedies is the right thing to do. Teaching others to help not hurt is the hard thing to do.
Thanks Thom for helping every way you can.
Morbidly rich is perfect. It doesn’t just apply to the rich person him- or herself, but also as a perception of anyone observing the rich person. ‘Morbid’ and ‘morbidly’ can be used in a number of descriptive ways. A story or a scene can be morbid, a remark or expression can be made morbidly, etc. We desperately need this phrase and others like it to counter the ongoing avalanche of radical-right deprecatory rhetoric the bad guys work so hard to keep fresh and new!
There's something about the phrase "morbidly rich" that bothers me. Yes, great wealth does sap those who possess it, but its lethally toxic effects on those who don't possess it is the far greater societal problem.
Lately, I decided to make a point to politicians BEGGING FOR MONEY. From me - a person living on Social Security alone. I spent all of my two pensions paying medical bills - even with Medicare and a MediGap. Do NOT get seriously ill in the United States! SO, several senators have been begging for money from me for months! I looked up the current annual salary for US Senators - it's an alarming $174,000. But actually that's just considered in the middle class range.
Just recently I heard from one of my Dem senators, Senator Michael Bennet whining about a Trumpist getting a super PAC of a few million bucks, and asking ME for a donation.
I wrote him back (instead of stewing) and told him I knew how much his Senate salary was, and that he should be embarrassed asking for money for me, who makes $14K/year.
He wrote me back this morning - "I'm opting you out of texts immediately. Have a great day." And I thanked him, told him he was doing a great job AND I was voting for him.
I don't think this is off-topic. Because if my family had been one of those morbidly rich ones, I would be likely "just fine." But I'm NOT! And I hope I started to spread the word to these other politicians! - Alive in Denver
Thom, you are, and have been, living an extraordinary life... and we all are the happy beneficiaries of your experience.
Inequality is a problem. Weird isn't it, that humans have a strong instinct for Fairness, and yet a stronger instinct for Greed? And THAT is precisely why we need Laws and Corporate Regulations.
This has the ring of truth. Inequality stinks -- and the scent is everywhere, corrupting our social interactions. While publications like the NY Post gin up every crime that happens in NYC, they imply that street crime is caused by the sick, the insane, and the just plain incorrigible. It doesn't recognize the truth you are putting forward -- that in an unequal society, resentments spin out of control, and the social cohesion that would prevent violence gutters out like a candle without oxygen.
You shouldn’t even have to go into such detail to justify taxation for the morbidly rich. Kind of a joke that Elizabeth Warren asked about whatever that number was, like 2 percent. Ha ha ha. I’d say we even should outlaw billionaires, where no one needs more than $100M or so. HOWEVER, what I want to contribute is that social cohesion wouldn’t “just mean” taxing the rich. Let’s hear it for Universal Basic Income. Soon enough there won’t be enough jobs thanks to automation and we will have to have something like that, but we are just timidly doing little experiments instead of using that big-time as a way, along with those taxes, to change the game.
Watched a movie last night, mostly about Princess Diana, called "Spencer", and was shocked by the inequality I was seeing. That a person's lifestyle can vary so greatly - on the one hand the royalty feels that it's their duty to spend the day hunting pheasants, while being waited on continuously (they can't even open a car door for themselves; a servant must open the door for them); at the other end of the spectrum are the ones laboring intensively in dirty, toxic conditions to make a few shillings so they can eat. How can the U.K. endure such inequality? - in spite of this inequality, people turned out in droves to catch a glimpse of her casket, and it was all done in a civil manner. So my question is, what's the difference between the U.K. and the U.S.? How can they embrace such inequality, while in the U.S. the solution is to turn to violence and crime? I guess I'm suggesting that inequality isn't the only problem, that there must be other factors at play, factors pertaining to human nature. Do humans need to have an authority figure to worship, such as a king or queen? By forsaking royalty, did the U.S. ensure this kind of societal collapse?
Thom is once again pointing out the obvious that has been well understood for centuries, but somehow keeps being forgotten by citizens - maybe the goal of eliminating education from our educational systems?
Great article, now I wonder how we can keep this alive in minds of Americans without Thom always having to do it.
If only we had a political party to oppose the NaziRepublican Party, they could win every election nation wide by simply telling Americans the truth.
This seems obvious, but I never hear it mentioned, except by Thom.
As kid in the 50's, I was in the top 1%, put in all the honors programs, and had well informed teachers, then got multiple degrees, and have worked in 150 countries - yet I never hear this discussed anywhere on earth.
Although the theory is obvious and obviously true, it's complex and complicated and not at all black and white, thus so boring nobody will listen.
I've long said education was the biggest problem, but while fixing education fixes inequality, fixing inequality fixes education too, so fix either one and we are good to go.
The question is HOW.
Thom and me and you-all discussing this isn't accomplishing any change.