Complete space flight.

[Danioover9000]

   Hey guys Richard Branson has just flown with his space plane and successfully landed the plane! We might be able to fly in space in the future!

   What are your thoughts about this?

[Danioover9000]

   Yes, the problem of the shrinking middle class over there. It's pretty bad in the USA.

[Leo Gura]

Meh...

Tax the rich.

[trenton]

1 minute ago, Leo Gura said:

Meh...

Tax the rich.

@Leo Gura

I hear this a lot and there was strong support for taxing corporations to pay for infrastructure.  I am curious as to how much you think the rich should be taxed and for what purpose.  How much could we pay for it a wealth tax were added?  How high should the wealth tax be?  After all of the taxes are out on the rich, how much money should we plan on having?

forbes.com/sites/tommybeer/2020/10/08/top-1-of-us-households-hold-15-times-more-wealth-than-bottom-50-combined/?sh=6aa17d355179I

 "According to the latest Fed data, the top 1% of Americans have a combined net worth of $34.2 trillion (or 30.4% of all household wealth in the U.S.), while the bottom 50% of the population holds just $2.1 trillion combined (or 1.9% of all wealth)."

 This is just the top 1%.  I think if there were high enough taxes on the rich while closing various loopholes, we could pay for expensive projects like infrastructure and free medical care for all.  Alexandria Ocasio Cortez thinks there should be a 70% income tax on anyone worth over 10 million dollars.  Currently, it is only 37% and Warren Buffett thinks the rich should be taxed higher.

nytimes.com/interactive/2019/09/24/business/economy/wealth-tax-rich.html#:~:text=Yes. Raising the top income tax rate is,70 percent tax on earnings above %2410 million.

[captainamerica]

4 hours ago, trenton said:

Currently, it is only 37% and Warren Buffett thinks the rich should be taxed higher.

@trenton I think 37 percent is not capital gains tax which is how you tax on stocks and real estate? 

That is income tax not capital gains tax. 

Edited July 12, 2021 by captainamerica

[captainamerica]

9 hours ago, Husseinisdoingfine said:

Good lord income inequality in the United States has gone way out of hand. People are launching themselves into space whilst we have people sleeping in the streets.

Based on your previous conversations as well I suspect that What you are talking about is not income equality. It is easy to confuse between the two.

You are talking about equality of outcomes. In creating equality of outcomes, opportunities and wealth creation itself is lost. 

The only way to have equality of outcomes, in practice, is by everyone having nothing. (Venezuela, Holodomor Ukraine, etc.) The meta-message applies when it is done selectively as well.

What Richard Branson did by creating the company Virgin Galactic is possible with higher taxation as well. Some people will still whine about it. In the highest tax or wealth caps, wealth/value creation and opportunities themselves are lost.

@Husseinisdoingfine What is your take on Quantitative Easing done by the govt. out of thin air? What (percent) role do you think it played in creating income/wealth inequality? 

I have observed these patterns lately. The far-right understands these complex systems and patterns but is pathologically indifferent hence leads to deaths. The far-left is pathologically incapable of understanding these complex systems and patterns (either that, or depending on the person, wants pathologically high degrees of equality of outcomes leading to a new form of inequality and mass-destruction ) and hence leads to deaths. 

The abundance of opportunities for growth of civilization and collective (or individual) wealth creation and equality of outcomes are two mutually exclusive things. Only one can exist at a time. There is a difference between equality and equality of outcomes.

Edited July 12, 2021 by captainamerica

[Hardkill]

5 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Meh...

Tax the rich.

You think that Biden and the Democrats in Congress will be able to effectively raise the taxes on the rich and corporations? Or will the lobbyists be able to persuade them not to raise them?

[Chives99]

The same man that begged the gov to bail out virgin airlines with tax payers money. The rich are dispicable 

[Leo Gura]

12 hours ago, trenton said:

@Leo Gura

I hear this a lot and there was strong support for taxing corporations to pay for infrastructure.  I am curious as to how much you think the rich should be taxed and for what purpose.  How much could we pay for it a wealth tax were added?  How high should the wealth tax be?  After all of the taxes are out on the rich, how much money should we plan on having?

Those are niggly details that I'm not too concerned about. People will work out the numbers when creating the laws.

There is no sense in arguing over such minutia. We just gotta worry about the big picture: wealth tax. 2%-5% is a good starting point. And eliminate capital gains tax discounts and other loopholes.

6 hours ago, Hardkill said:

You think that Biden and the Democrats in Congress will be able to effectively raise the taxes on the rich and corporations?

I wouldn't bet on it.

Any raises Biden does will be negligible. It is not sufficient just to raise the personal income tax rates. Structural tax reform is needed and Biden is not going to do it.

[Rajneeshpuram]

The video that shows the flight is created by computer, Branson is bluffing, and with the excuse that  "anonymus" rich millionaires will be the future travelers we will never know if its true or fake.

I will only believe it when people like you and me travel to space and capture it with your smartphone camera.

[Leo Gura]

@Rajneeshpuram Banned

[diamondpenguin]

@Leo Gura what was the infraction: Conspiracy theorizing?

[Danioover9000]

@diamondpenguin

1 hour ago, diamondpenguin said:

@Leo Gura what was the infraction: Conspiracy theorizing?

   Probably too much trolling.

[Leo Gura]

8 hours ago, diamondpenguin said:

@Leo Gura what was the infraction: Conspiracy theorizing?

Yes

He was warned many times about that.

[Stomatopod]

On 12/07/2021 at 6:34 AM, captainamerica said:

You are talking about equality of outcomes. In creating equality of outcomes, opportunities and wealth creation itself is lost. 

The only way to have equality of outcomes, in practice, is by everyone having nothing. (Venezuela, Holodomor Ukraine, etc.) The meta-message applies when it is done selectively as well.

Straw man. Nobody is advocating for equality of outcomes.

You could easily provide everyone a base line comfortable life with reasonable work hours, a living wage, affordable housing, education, health care and still send rich people into space. It's purely for ideological reasons that these issues have not been solved. These libertarian types would literally rather flush money down the toilet than give it to homeless people.

[cetus]

All the leaders on Earth should be the first ones offered a seat so they could experience the "Overview Effect" for themselves.

 

[Epikur]

@cetus

No  I think it would make them even more narcissistic.



 

[captainamerica]

5 hours ago, Stomatopod said:

Straw man. Nobody is advocating for equality of outcomes.

You could easily provide everyone a base line comfortable life with reasonable work hours, a living wage, affordable housing, education, health care and still send rich people into space. It's purely for ideological reasons that these issues have not been solved. These libertarian types would literally rather flush money down the toilet than give it to homeless people.

@StomatopodNot a strawman.

Did you see his previous posts??

He wants a Socialistic revolution. And yes, he is advocating for equality of outcomes. That is what Socialism is.

In the original post, this is clearly mentioned by me in the first sentence.

Edited July 13, 2021 by captainamerica

[Stomatopod]

8 hours ago, captainamerica said:

He wants a Socialistic revolution. And yes, he is advocating for equality of outcomes. That is what Socialism is.

(The only way to have equality of outcomes, in practice, is by everyone having nothing.)

I don't even have to add anything. We can just let these beautiful quotes stand on their own.

[captainamerica]

5 hours ago, Stomatopod said:

I don't even have to add anything. We can just let these beautiful quotes stand on their own.

Lol. 

It's like cutting the word man out of mansion and claiming mansions are made out of men and their bones, not bricks and pillars. That's how foolish this is.

Edited July 14, 2021 by captainamerica