Quote:
Originally Posted by Itse
I feel like a billion dollars is pretty safe upper limit on the sense that it's so ridiculously high that there's really no danger to anyone.
Like, sure, you can for example own stocks that are worth a lot but can't actually turn them into usable funds for reasons. What ever. At one billion dollars no one is going to be living in poverty.or even mild discomfort that could be made better with more money.
I also don't think anyone, the government or anyone else, can be trusted to be particularly smart.
Which is a point for limiting personal wealth. Money is power, especially when we're talking billions.
No single person should have that much financial power. Ten people owning a billion dollars is better than one person with ten billion.
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If I am understanding you correctly, what you are essentially saying is that $1 billion is more than one person will ever "need" and by limiting a person's wealth to $1 billion, the societal greater good will improve.
I have a number of problems with this perspective. Firstly, what you need or don't need is irrelevant. No doubt I could look at your life and find a great number of things that you don't actually need. Arbitrarily setting limits on those things and taking whatever is in excess strikes me as a pretty immoral thing to do.
As you acknowledged, billionaire's tend to be worth billions not because they have piles of cash lying around, but because they founded companies that now have billion dollar valuations. Their wealth lies in the stocks that they own. Your idea to prevent them from being able to sell those stocks is absurd as you would be making them worthless. I also fail to see how this would make your life, or anyone else's life better for that matter.
Last week, the top 5 richest men in the world lost a combined $24 billion. Did your quality of life improve as a result? Are you feeling any freer today than you were a month ago? I suspect not. The wealth gap is a political slight of hand. Chances are that Jeff Bezos' net worth has no direct impact on your ability to earn a decent living.