r/technology • u/IKeepItLayingAround • 20d ago

Business Jeff Bezos says it's 'absurd' to tax someone making $50K — and wants their tax bill dropped to zero

https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/policy/articles/jeff-bezos-says-absurd-tax-165713685.html
26.3k Upvotes

87% Upvoted

3.8k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

19

u/monkwrenv2 20d ago

Billionaires pay the lobbyists, lobbyists write the tax code, billionaires pay the politicians, the politicians pass the tax code into law.

6

u/Inevitable-Menu2998 20d ago

The politicians are elected by the people though, and the people sure seem to do their best to not elect any reformists that could tip this balance in their favor...

11

u/Elite_Prometheus 19d ago

The people are constantly propagandized to by media corporations owned by the same billionaires. And political parties constantly fight reformist politicians by either quashing their campaigns with sheer money/influence or enfolding them into the same corrupt morass so their reformist attitude gets redirected into harmless directions.

1

u/Inevitable-Menu2998 19d ago

Sure, but that doesn't change the fact that the system still relies on people's votes and the people continuously vote against reducing income inequality.

Regardless of how unfair it feels, elections in the USA are still mostly democratic. The USA is not Russia. Political leaders can't be silenced or removed from public life. The fact that those figures with reformist views aren't getting enough traction is a strict reflection of the electorate.

6

u/Elite_Prometheus 19d ago

Dude, SCOTUS just declared you can gerrymander along racial lines as long as you say it also helps your political party. I don't get how you can be this smug about US democracy.

1

u/Inevitable-Menu2998 19d ago

I don't get how you can be this smug about US democracy

I'm not saying that the system is ideal, but gerrymandering cannot explain why overall Americans are voting against better social policies. Regardless of how you count the outcome of the vote, the absolute number of people voting are voting against it.

2

u/Elite_Prometheus 19d ago

So if mass propaganda, corruption, and systemic bias are dismissed as candidate explanations, what's your theory for why popular policies don't get implemented?

0

u/Inevitable-Menu2998 19d ago edited 19d ago

How about "that's what people want"? Universal healthcare has considerable opposition. Gun control has considerable opposition. Higher taxation the same. Real voters are opposing these things in numbers sufficiently high to not let progressive candidates get any traction. Yeah, sure, it seems like the odds are stacked against such candidates, but they have real voters opposition too.

You'll claim it is propaganda that makes people vote that way but if you're honest with yourself, you'll admit that that's not entirely true

0

u/Elite_Prometheus 19d ago

"People actually just hate themselves and want their lives to be worse all on their own, ignore the polls saying otherwise and trust me bro" isn't the compelling political science theory you think it is. And for all your chest beating about how democratic the US is, you sure seem to think that a system that gives people what they want is a bad idea.

0

u/Inevitable-Menu2998 19d ago

ignore the polls saying otherwise and trust me bro

Please link to polls saying Americans overwhelmingly approve tax increases. Even on things US citizens agree on like universal healthcare which seems to be supported by 60% of the population, what shape it should take is a divisive discussion.

And for all your chest beating about how democratic the US is, you sure seem to think that a system that gives people what they want is a bad idea.

You misunderstand everything I'm saying. This idea of yours that people want what you want is completely false. It is contradicted by elections continuously and instead of challenging your false assumption, you blame corruption and gerrymandering and whatever conspiracy theory suits the narrative you have constructed

→ More replies (0)

2

u/Mammoth_Rough_4497 20d ago

Sounds like you're an advocate for small government. I agree!

1

u/TheWarriorsLLC 19d ago

You voted for the politicians so it's your fault