There are many perverse, backward, and just plain stupid beliefs floating around in the world. There are people who believe that women are property, that the pyramids were built by aliens, that the earth is flat.
The libertarian-leaning free-marketers, among whom I count myself, are prone to the mistaken belief that billionaires belong in the “us” category when talking economic policy. But billionaires are not “us”. They have billions of dollars. If they chose, they could upend government, start wars, or force any of the rest of us to do just about anything they could dream up. Billions of dollars is a lot of power.
But that’s not exactly what this meme is saying. This meme says “there is no such thing as a mutually beneficial trade.” It says, “billionaires have not done billions of dollars of benefit to society.” And, most importantly, it says, “We are the government.”
And each of those assertions sounds to me like, “the earth is flat!”
“When billionaires exploit workers, it’s not fairness, it’s theft.”
If you really believe that, why do you work for a billionaire? Because what the billionaire offered is better than what you had on your own, because you can earn more money from the billionaire than you can by doing your own thing. Don’t pretend that the middle class life is some sort of existential prison. You can live with the Amish if you like. You can live with the African tribes if you like. You can homestead in the Alaskan tundra or the Brazilian rainforest and no one would stop you, but you don’t because the life the billionaires offer you is better than that life.
Exploitation means they took what they want from someone who has no option but to give it up. You have millions of options. It’s not the billionaire’s fault that none of them are better.
“When workers vote to tax billionaires, it’s not theft, it’s fairness.”
Believe it or not, I am not going to argue against this point. The government should do things for us. Those things should be paid for. The wealthier you are, the more of that debt ought to fall on your shoulders. That is fair.
“Don’t be fooled into thinking taxing billionaires is ‘taking their money.’ It’s taking our money back.”
Really? You get the taxes? You’re choosing to send billions to Lockheed Martin and the CIA? You’re dropping $50,000 bombs in the Middle East? You’re paying Mitch McConnell’s $174,000 salary? It’s stupid to think that billionaires belong in the “us” category, but I can’t even fathom the mind that believes that the government belongs in the “us” category.
I approve of the way Jeff Bezos spends money far more than I approve of the way the federal government spends money, which is why I’d rather Bezos have the money than the government. But I suspect that what the government does with his money is far less important to you than the simple fact that Bezos doesn’t have it anymore.
