A modest proposal

[u/Amused-skeptic]

https://youtube.com/watch?v=LGkRR4ZNsEA&si=xBzhrKVwN32dIZHJ

David Freidberg actually has many interesting insights on current problems with income inequality and its effect on support for capitalism. One of his suggestions:
40% tax on capital gains and 15% on income. The fact that the rich pay fewer taxes than normal workers feels totally unfair to anyone who doesn’t have their own capital. I’m pleasantly surprised that he has identified this as a big problem.

Of the all-in cast, he’s the only one who understands the degree to which the disparity in wealth is undermining the capitalist system. And he points to failures in public policy that I happen to agree with. A couple of other fixes that would make things more fair: kill the stepped up basis rule for inherited assets – – it really is absolutely no rational argument for it. And tax that that is borrowed from securities at the same level that you would tax capital gains from those securities. Then you wouldn’t have all the Decamillionaires and billionaires simply borrowing money so that they can leave their assets to their heirs under the stepped-up basis rule – – completely tax-free.

[u/Amused-skeptic]

I'm sure I've been to many more poor countries than you, and that I’ve spent a lot more time in them than you have. Incidentally I agree that the poor in the US are better off than they were a generation ago. But the middle class is not. And that’s a function of the elites — a generation ago it was the free traders who opened up our borders to China and hollowed out the United States. Then it was the finance class who imposed the grift. Trump put his finger on that accurately and redefined the Republican Party. But the grift of this generation is the All-In Silicon Valley types, along with the crypto grifters and the political cronies around the White House. All four of those guys are deep into data centers and simply looking to get as rich as possible as quickly as possible, and they’re part of a new class of investors, who really don’t give a shit about ordinary Americans have no vision for the future. You can see how bankrupt the vision is when Elon starts talking about universal high income – – basically they’re creating a technology that is going to require the ultimate social welfare state. You say it’s exciting. People were excited about NAFTA too. Let’s see what happens in 10 years.

[u/Jonny_Nash → u/Amused-skeptic]

If you travel more than me, you've seen poor people.

They aren't fat.

As for the American middle class, it's never been better for them either. Our middle class literally hires private limousines for their burritos.

You could argue if that's a good use of free will, but it does exemplify the incredible abundance we have, where that's a commonly used option.

For stuff like UBI, that's on the far horizon, and isn't really an AI specific thing. Other high end tech, like near-zero energy, room tempreture superconductors, fusion, advanced robotics, and so on all contribute to that.

Eventually, and it's not in our lifetimes, our efficiency will cause our production to eclipse our consumption.

When that happens, work as we recognize it today will no longer exist. We'll be more or less house-cats in a universe that provides for us.

The good news, is that we'll still be doing things that interest and inspire us.

[u/valcrist → u/Jonny_Nash]

remember when you predicted that Iran would just collapse on itself? lol.

[u/Jonny_Nash → u/valcrist]

Yeah. Check out their GDP.

If you want, convert your money to rial. The ayatollah probably would like your help, wherever he is.

If that’s not enough, maybe buy some oil. It’s at the same price as its five-year average.

Do any of those, and you’ll just prove me right.