Interesting News, Articles & Stuff

[florduh]

Taxing rich people to fund a welfare state isn't socialism. That's capitalism. Specifically, it's correcting for the inevitable failures of capitalism.

Owner of Ohio Pizzeria Gives Full Day of Sales to Employees to Show His Gratitude

Josh Elchert held an Employee Appreciation Day at his business so that he could honor the hard work of his employees

people.com

Thanks to the community, the day was a major success, bringing in 220 orders for a total of $6,300 in sales and $1,200 in tips, according to a Facebook post shared on July 6. Divided amongst the staff and the 96 total hours they worked, each employee made $78 per hour, Elchert revealed.

If capitalists weren't leeching off of workers, we wouldn't need much in the way of welfare

Think this may have some merit?

Nope.

Revealing the True Cost of Billionaire Philanthropy - Inequality.org

How the ultra-wealthy use charitable giving to avoid taxes and exert influence — while ordinary taxpayers foot the bill.

inequality.org

Bill Gates's "charity" almost single handedly destroyed public education in this country. Why anyone is in favor of giving this kind of power to unelected scam artists is beyond me.

How Bill Gates Makes the World Worse Off

Billionaires giving to charity, also called philanthrocapitalism, doesn’t actually empower the world’s neediest or reduce inequality.

www.currentaffairs.org

 

[macbill]

Sean 'Diddy' Combs verdict: Combs won't be freed before sentencing​

• The judge denied bail, and Combs will remain detained until his sentencing, which has been set for this fall.

 

[sedentree]

I will read the article at length when I can. I did however scan but not enough to respond properly. It appears that the author is a socialist. No wonder he leans in that direction. I'll respond in detail after I read it.

I also took a look at the article re: it's basically just immoral to be rich. I had to stop after reading the sentence "Because every dollar you have is a dollar you’re not giving to somebody else, the decision to retain wealth is a decision to deprive others".

Really just another socialists opinion. His statement is outlandish and makes absolutely no sense. We ( not me - I don't have that kind of money) should not be forced to give money to the poor. Many people are very charitable. This should be done via the tax system. Or how about we give the wealthy tax breaks if they contribute to government selected entities e.g homeless organizations, food banks, affordable housing agencies, etc. I don't know but lets say a wealthy person contributes 1 million dollars (or 500 million dollars) to one of the aforementioned organizations the donor may receive a tax break in kind. They would still be responsible to pay income taxes but would get some relief. The money sent directly to there organizations would bypass the governments making these payments. The total amount could be used without the governmental using some of those funds for their bureaucratic spending and administrative expenses which would reduce the net amount those charities would alternatively receive from direct payment. Think this may have some merit?

Most importantly how do I get rid of the italics?

I am not sure it is worth responding to these questions when they essentially, to me, are covered by the article which you mention you have not fully read.

When you do get around to reading it, you will see that the point is: once a person has over a specific amount of income, anything more they keep is immoral (to the author). The author goes on to say that everyone should give away everything over this imaginary ceiling eg does any single person need more than eg 100k per year - “everyone who earns anything beyond it is obligated to give the excess away in its entirety. The refusal to do so means intentionally allowing others to suffer, a statement which is true regardless of whether you “earned” or “deserved” the income you were originally given.”

And to paraphrase the first article, which you also state you haven’t read:
Does it make sense that human beings should care about one another and share their resources fairly in a way that ensures nobody is deprived? If you say yes, then you are a socialist.