redistribution of wealth

[Pimppeter2]

Le snip.

Isn't that kind of, well, sick? I'd rather have a doctor who cared treat me than one who didn't. The caring one would put aside their problems to help, while the other one would just do the minimum, in theory.

I'd rather have someone treat me. Period.

Money can be the biggest motivator to do a good job. A surgeon who cares about his stats becuase he can get a higher paying salary with good ones is just as likely to make sure that everything is taken care of down to the finest detail as someone who is caring.

Sure, I would like for my doctor to stop in and talk to me and stuff. But then again, all I actually want is for someone to take care of my ailment, and send me on my way.

We don't live in a society of lolipops and rainbows.

Playing FF13 are we?

>

Yes.

 

[rokkolpo]

those people earned that money, they should do as they please.

i have yet to have an epifany about equality in humankind.

Really? Stock traders who made wealth because of the success of talented and hard working companies earned their wealth? CEOs who ran their companies into the ground and bankrupted thousands of people earned their money?

i was actually talking about that 17 year olds mom (doctor).

CEOs who dragged many people through the dirt for profit should be hanged. i'm talking about the honest people.
THEY should never have to share their well earned wealth.imo

 

[Hawgh]

After hearing my mother's doctor talk about the 2-day, 5 band, 100+ kids party she just threw for her 17 year old (17?! you don't rock 17 that hard!!! you wait for 18!) son, I'm thinking some of that money could be used to help people who can't even afford food.

Do you have any idea how much medical school costs? Do you have any idea how hard it is, how much blood, sweat, and treasure she had to give to become a doctor?

Yeah, if I went through god knows how many years of college, I would want to be able to throw money around.

Redistribution of wealth is stupid. It kills all initiative to do anything. Why would I want to become a doctor if I can make just as much running a day care?

Is money the only reason you become a doctor?

Yes

We don't live in a society of lolipops and rainbows.

If doctors have to go through 8 years of school and $200,000 to become a doctor, and still make the same salary as Joe the high-school drop out Trucker, then I personally would chose to throw on the backwards baseball cap and grow a beer belly.

Sure, there are people who become doctors to save lives, and becuase they love it. But the money is a GIANT incentive.

As they say, Money makes the world go round.

Isn't that kind of, well, sick? I'd rather have a doctor who cared treat me than one who didn't. The caring one would put aside their problems to help, while the other one would just do the minimum, in theory.

Of course, hadn't the second doctor chosen the field at all, you'd just have to go with a slow and uncomfortable death in an understaffed hospital.
While I have nothing against giving back to society(taxes), I find it completely unreasonable to demand people giving up all their dough, unless you're willing to give them the same privilege.
If somebody wants to spend a heinous amount of money in a vulgar display of wealth, they're welcome to it, but my insistence that they stay out of my business means that they deserve the same safety from judgmental attacks.
Of course, they don't get to complain when the huddled masses break down their diamond-crusted gates because they keep flaunting their power.

 

[ben---neb]

Everyone has different abilities, gifts and talents. Everybody is not equal in this regard. Therefore everyone is not paid equally. Simple.

Trying to change it? You might as well try and edit the laws of gravity.

 

[Doitpow]

There is a definite creep from the Politics and Religion section and its been getting worse...
Get back to the damn P+R section!

see ya there!

 

[SamuelT]

Hey!

That's what our taxes are for.

Seriously, on the paycheck of one four-person family, there are three others who can't support themselves leeching off that money. The Dutch system is coddly like that.

 

[JWAN]

They earned the money let them decide what to do with it.

 

[Mucinex-D]

Of course... because why should anyone be entitled to what they've earned? Let's just give all the money to people who have done nothing to deserve it... destroying motivation for success and leading to an overall decline in the economy. Redistribution of wealth isn't one of the values America was founded on. I was under the impression we rewarded people for hard work and success in this country. Oh and to the people who say "evil big corporations with their money and greed", guess who makes it possible for millions across America to be employed? The big corporations... you know why? Because they have money to do it with... Taxing corporations will trickle down and cause massive lay offs, increase in product cost, and end up not saving any money in the larger scheme of things. Went a little off topic there, but when people talk about unjustly taking something someone else has earned just to be more "equal" kind of makes me angry.

/end rant.

 

[JWAN]

no i completely disagree people work harder than others to earn wealth so that they can do stuff like that, if you take away that there wont be incentive to work hard,

but you say mcgroobber, there are people who work hard and dont make that much money, yes that is true but they also do jobs that are unskilled that anyone can do, they are necessary but they are stuff anyone can do surgeons get paid so much because there are few who can do the job

besides redistribution of wealth doesn't make everyone rich, it makes everyone poor


people may say that this is selfish because its just the rich trying to keep their money

but which is more selfish, trying to keep your money or taking someone elses away?

^this
I ask myself often what could George Thorogood teach in this scenario? He teaches that you need to earn your money and that you can either het a haircut and get a real job or do what you love and succeed under your own power.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iHFA31l1uY

 

[Skinny Razor]

I'd rather have someone treat me. Period.

Money can be the biggest motivator to do a good job. A surgeon who cares about his stats becuase he can get a higher paying salary with good ones is just as likely to make sure that everything is taken care of down to the finest detail as someone who is caring.

Also a superb incentive to perform unnecessary procedures and milk the insurance companies for as much as you can. That ole Invisible Hand, that's the one you don't feel slippin' into your pocket.

There also seems to be a strangely commonplace that people with wealth have all "earned it." Tell me, what exactly did Bil Gates or Larry Ellison do to "earn" billions? Most of the wealth in the world is in the hands of individuals anyway, it's looked up by multinationals and financial institutions, and we've all seen how well they spend other people's money.

 

[Burningsok]

nah i don't think it would do good over all, to many problems would occur from this.
Plus I'm sure alot of the rich worked hard for the money they have.

sure it would solve alot of problems, but new problems would just arise from it.

 

[Aulleas123]

I remember Warren Buffet complaining at the level of tax he and secretary got. I'm fuzzy on the details but basically, she was getting, income tax-wise, completely screwed over, while he was getting taxed rather lightly.

I did read that he claimed that he got taxed less than his employees, however Buffett formally endorsed and made campaign contributions to Barack Obama's presidential campaign. Maybe not making him liberal, but he did support one of our more liberal presidents.

 

[Typhusoid]

A redistribution of wealth would be a good start, but a fundamental change in the system would be required in order to stop things reverting back. Also, we would need to find a way to ensure the politians don't fuck it up (like they do everything else).

 

[Typhusoid]

Of course... because why should anyone be entitled to what they've earned? Let's just give all the money to people who have done nothing to deserve it... destroying motivation for success and leading to an overall decline in the economy. Redistribution of wealth isn't one of the values America was founded on. I was under the impression we rewarded people for hard work and success in this country. Oh and to the people who say "evil big corporations with their money and greed", guess who makes it possible for millions across America to be employed? The big corporations... you know why? Because they have money to do it with... Taxing corporations will trickle down and cause massive lay offs, increase in product cost, and end up not saving any money in the larger scheme of things. Went a little off topic there, but when people talk about unjustly taking something someone else has earned just to be more "equal" kind of makes me angry.

/end rant.

Ok but here's the thing, it is inarguable that many people gain money without earning it at all, either through things like inheritance or lottery, or through exploitation of others. Isn't it fair that the people being exploited get a slice of the pie?

 

[Nalesnik]

I think it's a bad idea. The people that run companies, essentially driving the economy are a few super rich people, and rich investors. If you take their money away from them, then they can't invest in all the industries anymore, and it would therefore probably crash, leaving all the rest of us jobless. Putting aside the idea of fairness/equality, I think a complete distribution of wealth, in the long run, would just make everyone worse off than they were, including the third world countries.

That's not to say taxes are bad. Like many other posters pointed out, we need taxes for police, roads etc... And personally I would love to have free complete healthcare, and education, since those have huge social benefits.

PS: Also like others have said, who would be crazy enough to trust any gov't to redistribute the such a huge amount wealth anyway? We already have politicians leaching off our taxes, think what would happen if they have even more money to play with.

 

[mcgroobber]

no i completely disagree people work harder than others to earn wealth so that they can do stuff like that, if you take away that there wont be incentive to work hard.

But then again, once people reach the point of begin super rich they may not actually have to work hard to make any money. I don't agree with the OP and I don't think money should simply by taken away from someone but I still think the American capitalism is shit and that Western Europe has a much better system that decreases the gap between the rich and poor.

When people get rich through hard work then that is all very well and good but the moment the rich become so extremely rich that they start to run the show rather then the government (as is the case in the US) then the whole system goes straight down the toilet.

i would agree, the quality of life is pretty good, im not saying that there should be no gov help for the poor, but the riches money shouldn't just be taken away

 

[Akai Shizuku]

http://memegenerator.net/Marx-Says/ImageMacro/653334/Marx%20says%20-%20Get%20bitches%20share%20wealth.jpg

'Nuff said. I'm not going to make a serious argument about this because this board is mostly populated by pampered upper middle class kids who have no idea what it's like to suffer on the economic level, who scream praises for capitalism while sitting on wealth they never worked a day in their lives for. No offense intended to anyone, but I'm just not in the mood to argue...especially with people who have no idea what they're talking about.

 

[FaithorFire]

The problem is that there is NO flawless way wealth can be redistributed. To think it is at all a good idea requires a TOTAL ignorance of human nature. Capitalism at least uses corrupt human beings for the general good. By being selfish AND competitive, you will work in the long run to improve the quality of life of lots of people besides yourself (By pushing technological innovation:meaning more available food, amenities, shelter, you name it).
Even if wealth could be redistributed properly, you can't change the fact that innovation dies without reward. Redistribution of wealth will ultimately result in everyone being mired in poverty together.
The solution is not to just give stuff away, it is to teach the poor how to earn for themselves.

NOTE: Posters in favor of redistribution need to knock off the jackass-ery and stop arguing that full redistribution is good because we've all used police services. There is a huge moral and practical difference between using universally accepted taxes for police, fire services, etc. and evenly distributihg the wealth across society.

 

[Mucinex-D]

Of course... because why should anyone be entitled to what they've earned? Let's just give all the money to people who have done nothing to deserve it... destroying motivation for success and leading to an overall decline in the economy. Redistribution of wealth isn't one of the values America was founded on. I was under the impression we rewarded people for hard work and success in this country. Oh and to the people who say "evil big corporations with their money and greed", guess who makes it possible for millions across America to be employed? The big corporations... you know why? Because they have money to do it with... Taxing corporations will trickle down and cause massive lay offs, increase in product cost, and end up not saving any money in the larger scheme of things. Went a little off topic there, but when people talk about unjustly taking something someone else has earned just to be more "equal" kind of makes me angry.

/end rant.

Ok but here's the thing, it is inarguable that many people gain money without earning it at all, either through things like inheritance or lottery, or through exploitation of others. Isn't it fair that the people being exploited get a slice of the pie?

Are you saying people should have their Inheritance stolen from them? They may not have earned it but they have more right to their families hard work than strangers. As for the exploitation of others, it would be easier if you give examples. You might think paying minimum wage is exploitation, and I see it as job opportunities. I think you should get paid for the work you do. If you're being exploited do something about it or find a new job.

 

[Deathsong17]

Hmm... Maybe not wholesale. Consider this, people with ridiculously large amounts of money simply wate that money, while others need that money simply to sustain themselves. However, taking the riches away would rob the incentive for work. So, if you only taxed people with large incomes a small percentage extra, it would have a huge impact on the needy and minimal on the rich.

Of course, this money woyuld be reserved exclusivly for the needy. Anyone caught taking from it will be considered to be volunteering all of their assets to charity.