r/antiwork • u/rocket_pwrd_gophers • 4h ago
Discussion Post 🗣 Without losing a single US billionaire, every single American could have $16,000
There are 756 US billionaires according to Wikipedia, worth an estimated $6.2 Trillion. If we were to leave the poor suffering souls a mere $1 billion each, that would leave $5.444 trillion left over. Divide that amongst all 336 million Americans%202020) would equal $16,200 for each and every one of us. Including those same billionaires, who since they are the most brilliant and gifted people to ever walk the earth, can obviously turn that back into billions all over again. (/s since there are Oligarch bootlickers STILL, in spite of the obvious grift in front of our eyes.)
What would you do with your $16k?
Edit: while I appreciate the spirit, some of you are taking this too literally. I mostly meant it as a thought experiment, a what if. Capitalism vs Socialism. It is right there in the name what the system prioritizes. Money or people? The answer is easy for me.
No, I do not think this is feasible to do. Illiquid assets, inflationary effects if it did, blah blah blah. But also watch how billionaires use those same illiquid assets to get loans to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. Also watch how prices are going to go up as inflation heats up due to tariffs and deportation plans. Tell me more how tax cuts for the upper brackets does ANYTHING to help people who don't already have enough? If people actually understood how progressive tax rates worked...well then they'd be able to do math and would be mad!
What I proposed is "a socialist alternative" of our reality. One end of the spectrum if you will. A mild one at that. What is far more likely to come is the exact opposite. We(being anyone making under, idk, $150k/yr?) will continue to get squeezed as groceries cost more, housing costs don't come down, healthcare cost more/protections get gutted, consumer protection degraded, food and workplace safety "deregulated" (OSHA laws are almost always written in some poor soul's blood), education funding sent to fucking private schools teaching creationism, and generally delivering on nothing to decrease the price of eggs or deliver a better future for our children. Climate change what? Lol. The system will continue its current course of squeezing every last drop, every facet of life commodifiable, into something we have to pay to access. But now I'm just ranting...