>> I believe if you set a limit on an individuals net worth, the economy will lose one of its major drivers and job creators
This is a really intresting intuition. My off the cuff resposne would be something like this:
So what? This does not mean anything without understanding what is the social impact of the jobs that were created - I have a bit of doubt that all 80000+ jobs at Facebook is really a net benefit for a world as a whole.
I'm from former Eastern Block country which went through full blown comunism era and we really did not need billioners to help create unlimited amount of bullshit jobs.
And what is more important for me, as I'm in the process of going through Shirer The Rise and Fall of Third Reich, and it had a real impact on my understanding of democracy - I believe at this point that it is paramount to create system in which no single individual or party has the ability to accumulate infinite power, no matter what cost it bears for economy.
If anyone have some reservations - find the part where the infamous German "leader" explains to his generals why the war with west is inevitable and why it has to happen now and not in next few years.
I hear what you are saying but who in the US from the private sector is close to seizing power? Elon Musk is the richest man in the world and a political pariah. There is a big difference between 80k jobs created by the government and 80k jobs created by the free market.
Those 80,000 jobs may not have a social impact as far as moving the world in the a desired direction but what jobs do?
Does a plumber? A teacher? What if they are not teaching what the party in charge wants taught?
Are we going to put someone in charge of determining if a job has meaning and eradicate the job if they don't? What happens when a different political party wins election and starts eliminating positions that the prior party thought had meaning? Can we say certain political parties have no net world benefit and remove them from contention?
That much power in government hands is a slow march back to the communism from which your country escaped.
Hitler was able to do what he did because the government had so much power. Less power in the hands of the government prevents that, not giving the government more power to police who can earn how much money and what jobs are worthy of existing.
I understand what you are saying especially when taken in the context of your childhood but I just disagree with giving anyone the power to enforce it.
>> There is a big difference between 80k jobs created by the government and 80k jobs created by the free market.
So let's start with the obvious - I was not trying to propose "big government" as a solution here, sorry if this was not clear enough - I completly agree that using government as a substitution for private ownership mostly does not work.
My main point was "power accumulation" in hands of few or even one. Elon Musk is good example here - his accumulated wealth give him real power to decide what life of thouseds of people will look like (for better or worse). You may claim that this is not politcal power, but it still is power nontheless. And thus lifes of thousends wages on his mental state which at any moment can go full Caligula.
I know this will sound idealistic .. but I do not like to live in a society where we leave so much power in hands of one individual. This also applies to politicians.
I know trying to solve this problem will probably throttle economic development but as lord Farquaad said "it's a Sacrifice I am Willing to Make" :).
>>Those 80,000 jobs may not have a social impact as far as moving the world in the a desired direction but what jobs do?
>>Does a plumber? A teacher? What if they are not teaching what the party in charge wants taught?
This sounds a bit nihilistic - extrapolating this line of though leads quite easyly to conclusion that nothing matters (and as Camus has written we are then only left with one important question to answer).
>> Are we going to put someone in charge of determining if a job has meaning and eradicate the job if they don't?
Aren't we already doing it with capitalism and statism? :) Or did I missed ChatGPT-XXX taking over the world already (I swear I was trying to pay attention :))?
But in all seriousness - I only propose limiting power of individualsm institutions and corporatios, not giving it to government.
>> What happens when a different political party wins election and starts eliminating positions that the prior party thought had meaning?
And what do you think happes when new CEO takes over company? Because I have seen far worse cleanings done through corporations that were taken over by competition than the biggest governments cleanigs of institutions done by new party taking over government (I happen to have some inside access to local govermants organizational data and know some people that worked for big companies that were raided).
>> Hitler was able to do what he did because the government had so much power.
Still the underling problem is power accumulation - governmant from my point of view was only means to obtaining it. I believe that we are living in times when new doors opened for power accumulation that will grant some individuals almost comparable power. And I would gladly sacrifice parts of economic development potential to do that.
This is a really intresting intuition. My off the cuff resposne would be something like this:
So what? This does not mean anything without understanding what is the social impact of the jobs that were created - I have a bit of doubt that all 80000+ jobs at Facebook is really a net benefit for a world as a whole.
I'm from former Eastern Block country which went through full blown comunism era and we really did not need billioners to help create unlimited amount of bullshit jobs.
And what is more important for me, as I'm in the process of going through Shirer The Rise and Fall of Third Reich, and it had a real impact on my understanding of democracy - I believe at this point that it is paramount to create system in which no single individual or party has the ability to accumulate infinite power, no matter what cost it bears for economy. If anyone have some reservations - find the part where the infamous German "leader" explains to his generals why the war with west is inevitable and why it has to happen now and not in next few years.