[surveyor]

[quote=CA renter]
One, single person with a lot of wealth can wield much more power than a hundred thousand people (or more) with no wealth. I don’t see how that can work out to anyone’s benefit but the very rich/powerful. The wealthier and more powerful these people become, the more they can extract from the country and from the people via regulations and policies that favor themselves over “the masses” and society. How does society benefit from that?[/quote]

Gates and Buffet have created arguably thousands of jobs during their lifetime and many millionaires where there were previously none. Those jobs have not only benefited the workers, they have also created a society where luxuries that could only be previously accessible to the rich are now even affordable to the poorest of the United States.

Gates and Buffett have also decided to spend a large portion of their personal fortune to charity and other humanitarian causes.

Their benefits to society should be pretty evident and was not just limited to the rich and powerful.

Not saying everyone does this, but there is something in America that fosters this more than any other civilization. Even other societies have benefited from this, not just ours.

[surveyor]

[quote=CA renter]
One, single person with a lot of wealth can wield much more power than a hundred thousand people (or more) with no wealth. I don’t see how that can work out to anyone’s benefit but the very rich/powerful. The wealthier and more powerful these people become, the more they can extract from the country and from the people via regulations and policies that favor themselves over “the masses” and society. How does society benefit from that?[/quote]

Gates and Buffet have created arguably thousands of jobs during their lifetime and many millionaires where there were previously none. Those jobs have not only benefited the workers, they have also created a society where luxuries that could only be previously accessible to the rich are now even affordable to the poorest of the United States.

Gates and Buffett have also decided to spend a large portion of their personal fortune to charity and other humanitarian causes.

Their benefits to society should be pretty evident and was not just limited to the rich and powerful.

Not saying everyone does this, but there is something in America that fosters this more than any other civilization. Even other societies have benefited from this, not just ours.

[surveyor]

[quote=CA renter]
One, single person with a lot of wealth can wield much more power than a hundred thousand people (or more) with no wealth. I don’t see how that can work out to anyone’s benefit but the very rich/powerful. The wealthier and more powerful these people become, the more they can extract from the country and from the people via regulations and policies that favor themselves over “the masses” and society. How does society benefit from that?[/quote]

Gates and Buffet have created arguably thousands of jobs during their lifetime and many millionaires where there were previously none. Those jobs have not only benefited the workers, they have also created a society where luxuries that could only be previously accessible to the rich are now even affordable to the poorest of the United States.

Gates and Buffett have also decided to spend a large portion of their personal fortune to charity and other humanitarian causes.

Their benefits to society should be pretty evident and was not just limited to the rich and powerful.

Not saying everyone does this, but there is something in America that fosters this more than any other civilization. Even other societies have benefited from this, not just ours.

[surveyor]

[quote=CA renter]
One, single person with a lot of wealth can wield much more power than a hundred thousand people (or more) with no wealth. I don’t see how that can work out to anyone’s benefit but the very rich/powerful. The wealthier and more powerful these people become, the more they can extract from the country and from the people via regulations and policies that favor themselves over “the masses” and society. How does society benefit from that?[/quote]

Gates and Buffet have created arguably thousands of jobs during their lifetime and many millionaires where there were previously none. Those jobs have not only benefited the workers, they have also created a society where luxuries that could only be previously accessible to the rich are now even affordable to the poorest of the United States.

Gates and Buffett have also decided to spend a large portion of their personal fortune to charity and other humanitarian causes.

Their benefits to society should be pretty evident and was not just limited to the rich and powerful.

Not saying everyone does this, but there is something in America that fosters this more than any other civilization. Even other societies have benefited from this, not just ours.

[surveyor]

flu, not sure your /sarcasm is off but here goes:

“The American founders believed, and capitalism rests on the belief, that people are driven by “self-interest” and the desire to better our condition. Self-interest is not necessarily bad; in fact, Smith believed, and capitalism presupposes, that the general welfare depends on allowing an individual to pursue his self-interest “as long as he does not violate the laws of justice.” When a person acts in his own interest, “he frequently promotes [the interest] of society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it. ”7

Here it is important to distinguish between self-interest and selfishness. Self-interest—unlike selfishness—will often lead one to commit acts of altruism; rightly understood, it knows that no man is an island, that we are part of a larger community, and that what is good for others is good for us. To put it another way: Pursuing our own good can advance the common good. Even more, advancing the common good can advance our own good.

http://american.com/archive/2010/december/human-nature-and-capitalism/

[surveyor]

flu, not sure your /sarcasm is off but here goes:

“The American founders believed, and capitalism rests on the belief, that people are driven by “self-interest” and the desire to better our condition. Self-interest is not necessarily bad; in fact, Smith believed, and capitalism presupposes, that the general welfare depends on allowing an individual to pursue his self-interest “as long as he does not violate the laws of justice.” When a person acts in his own interest, “he frequently promotes [the interest] of society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it. ”7

Here it is important to distinguish between self-interest and selfishness. Self-interest—unlike selfishness—will often lead one to commit acts of altruism; rightly understood, it knows that no man is an island, that we are part of a larger community, and that what is good for others is good for us. To put it another way: Pursuing our own good can advance the common good. Even more, advancing the common good can advance our own good.

http://american.com/archive/2010/december/human-nature-and-capitalism/

[surveyor]

flu, not sure your /sarcasm is off but here goes:

“The American founders believed, and capitalism rests on the belief, that people are driven by “self-interest” and the desire to better our condition. Self-interest is not necessarily bad; in fact, Smith believed, and capitalism presupposes, that the general welfare depends on allowing an individual to pursue his self-interest “as long as he does not violate the laws of justice.” When a person acts in his own interest, “he frequently promotes [the interest] of society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it. ”7

Here it is important to distinguish between self-interest and selfishness. Self-interest—unlike selfishness—will often lead one to commit acts of altruism; rightly understood, it knows that no man is an island, that we are part of a larger community, and that what is good for others is good for us. To put it another way: Pursuing our own good can advance the common good. Even more, advancing the common good can advance our own good.

http://american.com/archive/2010/december/human-nature-and-capitalism/

[surveyor]

flu, not sure your /sarcasm is off but here goes:

“The American founders believed, and capitalism rests on the belief, that people are driven by “self-interest” and the desire to better our condition. Self-interest is not necessarily bad; in fact, Smith believed, and capitalism presupposes, that the general welfare depends on allowing an individual to pursue his self-interest “as long as he does not violate the laws of justice.” When a person acts in his own interest, “he frequently promotes [the interest] of society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it. ”7

Here it is important to distinguish between self-interest and selfishness. Self-interest—unlike selfishness—will often lead one to commit acts of altruism; rightly understood, it knows that no man is an island, that we are part of a larger community, and that what is good for others is good for us. To put it another way: Pursuing our own good can advance the common good. Even more, advancing the common good can advance our own good.

http://american.com/archive/2010/december/human-nature-and-capitalism/

[surveyor]

flu, not sure your /sarcasm is off but here goes:

“The American founders believed, and capitalism rests on the belief, that people are driven by “self-interest” and the desire to better our condition. Self-interest is not necessarily bad; in fact, Smith believed, and capitalism presupposes, that the general welfare depends on allowing an individual to pursue his self-interest “as long as he does not violate the laws of justice.” When a person acts in his own interest, “he frequently promotes [the interest] of society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it. ”7

Here it is important to distinguish between self-interest and selfishness. Self-interest—unlike selfishness—will often lead one to commit acts of altruism; rightly understood, it knows that no man is an island, that we are part of a larger community, and that what is good for others is good for us. To put it another way: Pursuing our own good can advance the common good. Even more, advancing the common good can advance our own good.

http://american.com/archive/2010/december/human-nature-and-capitalism/

[surveyor]

deadzone:

The problem with taxing the rich or other plans so that it’s better “they” pay than the rest of us is that it will eventually be us who will have to pay the taxes.

AMT was originally devised as a way to catch those “filthy rich” but it now regularly hits middle class people.

Remember, the rich are the rich because they know how to handle their money. If there is an estate tax here, they will just go somewhere else or they will devise some way to legally divest the money to their heirs without triggering the estate tax. How many billions will Gates and Buffet not pay in estate taxes? They are deliberately putting most of their fortune in charities or other things. As a result, they will not pay as much estate tax as you think. Many others will do this.

And maybe you think it’s a loser for families to help their children. But the overwhelming number of us live our lives, scrape, and deny ourselves many things so that we can build a better future for our children and our grandchildren. If you tax that ability, rest assured that our children will not be better off. You will basically force people to spend it all before dying.

So if you think that having more taxes on others will spare you from those taxes, think again. History has proven you wrong.

[surveyor]

deadzone:

The problem with taxing the rich or other plans so that it’s better “they” pay than the rest of us is that it will eventually be us who will have to pay the taxes.

AMT was originally devised as a way to catch those “filthy rich” but it now regularly hits middle class people.

Remember, the rich are the rich because they know how to handle their money. If there is an estate tax here, they will just go somewhere else or they will devise some way to legally divest the money to their heirs without triggering the estate tax. How many billions will Gates and Buffet not pay in estate taxes? They are deliberately putting most of their fortune in charities or other things. As a result, they will not pay as much estate tax as you think. Many others will do this.

And maybe you think it’s a loser for families to help their children. But the overwhelming number of us live our lives, scrape, and deny ourselves many things so that we can build a better future for our children and our grandchildren. If you tax that ability, rest assured that our children will not be better off. You will basically force people to spend it all before dying.

So if you think that having more taxes on others will spare you from those taxes, think again. History has proven you wrong.

[surveyor]

deadzone:

The problem with taxing the rich or other plans so that it’s better “they” pay than the rest of us is that it will eventually be us who will have to pay the taxes.

AMT was originally devised as a way to catch those “filthy rich” but it now regularly hits middle class people.

Remember, the rich are the rich because they know how to handle their money. If there is an estate tax here, they will just go somewhere else or they will devise some way to legally divest the money to their heirs without triggering the estate tax. How many billions will Gates and Buffet not pay in estate taxes? They are deliberately putting most of their fortune in charities or other things. As a result, they will not pay as much estate tax as you think. Many others will do this.

And maybe you think it’s a loser for families to help their children. But the overwhelming number of us live our lives, scrape, and deny ourselves many things so that we can build a better future for our children and our grandchildren. If you tax that ability, rest assured that our children will not be better off. You will basically force people to spend it all before dying.

So if you think that having more taxes on others will spare you from those taxes, think again. History has proven you wrong.

[surveyor]

deadzone:

The problem with taxing the rich or other plans so that it’s better “they” pay than the rest of us is that it will eventually be us who will have to pay the taxes.

AMT was originally devised as a way to catch those “filthy rich” but it now regularly hits middle class people.

Remember, the rich are the rich because they know how to handle their money. If there is an estate tax here, they will just go somewhere else or they will devise some way to legally divest the money to their heirs without triggering the estate tax. How many billions will Gates and Buffet not pay in estate taxes? They are deliberately putting most of their fortune in charities or other things. As a result, they will not pay as much estate tax as you think. Many others will do this.

And maybe you think it’s a loser for families to help their children. But the overwhelming number of us live our lives, scrape, and deny ourselves many things so that we can build a better future for our children and our grandchildren. If you tax that ability, rest assured that our children will not be better off. You will basically force people to spend it all before dying.

So if you think that having more taxes on others will spare you from those taxes, think again. History has proven you wrong.

[surveyor]

deadzone:

The problem with taxing the rich or other plans so that it’s better “they” pay than the rest of us is that it will eventually be us who will have to pay the taxes.

AMT was originally devised as a way to catch those “filthy rich” but it now regularly hits middle class people.

Remember, the rich are the rich because they know how to handle their money. If there is an estate tax here, they will just go somewhere else or they will devise some way to legally divest the money to their heirs without triggering the estate tax. How many billions will Gates and Buffet not pay in estate taxes? They are deliberately putting most of their fortune in charities or other things. As a result, they will not pay as much estate tax as you think. Many others will do this.

And maybe you think it’s a loser for families to help their children. But the overwhelming number of us live our lives, scrape, and deny ourselves many things so that we can build a better future for our children and our grandchildren. If you tax that ability, rest assured that our children will not be better off. You will basically force people to spend it all before dying.

So if you think that having more taxes on others will spare you from those taxes, think again. History has proven you wrong.

[surveyor]

[quote]
What about rents?
Thoughts?[/quote]

Apartment building and house building in San Diego = regulations, requirements, costs

Apartment building and house building in Miami = less regulations, less requirements, less costs.

[Author]

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