What Would Plutocracy Look in the US?

Great Debates
81

Nor should they, nor have they ever. You are not entitled to anything. If you want to earn interest on your deposits a checking account isn’t the place for that. And besides, how much are you expecting to receive on the $50 you have in there?

Interest rates are still low, so banks aren’t about to pay you more than they can borrow for. CDs are still paying less than 1.5%. And on top of all of that, your deposits are entirely liquid, so it isn’t even useful for the banks.

Why would there be laws? What other industry do we tell businesses they can’t charge fees? They are providing you with a service, so you have to pay for that service. If you don’t like it, find a bank without fees, or go without that service.

Why is that strange to you? All of the fast food joints have a $1 menu. McDonalds and Burger King both have $1 double cheese burgers. It represents the price people are willing to pay. And for some reason people are dumb enough to pay $5 for ATM fees, that’s up to them.

No, do you own homework. Their are dozens of websites that list all that crap for you. It’s all posited at the bank. Unlike Canada, the US has hundreds of banks, pick one that suits your needs, or simply go without the service. If you can’t go without you need to accept that there is a cost.

If people are dumb enough to pay ATM fees that they’re problem not mine. If a bank can convince some moron to pay $5 every time he withdraws $20 good for them. That’s a bank I’d invest in and see returns on my deposits. Am I supposed to feel sorry for the moron? Set up laws to protect him? Tax the rich so he can have more money to pay for ATM fees?

Back to the point of the thread, who would you rather decide public policy? The guy that wasted $5 at an ATM, or the guy that realized people are stupid enough to pay for their own money? All this talk about progressive income taxes, but that’s where it all ends up. The guy at the bottom is at the bottom for a reason. He’s dumb enough to give it to the rich guy. Now you need the government to step in and give it back.

82

I want a system that isn’t rigged so that the vast majority aren’t turned into the working poor and resources denied that would make the class pyramid a lot less steep.

I also want a society in which everyone is educated and everyone encouraged to participate.

If you really want to make sure the rich guy is capable and not just leveraging wealth, reset the score each generation.

83

I’ve thought a lot about that, and I’m pretty sure you would end up hurting the poor more than you’d hurt the rich. Each generation needs to be encouraged to help the next, it’s how we as a society make forward progress. Imagine if we had to re-invent the wheel every could of years. Instead, we get to sit here and make use of technology that someone 50 years ago invested his time into.

I’m also not clear on where you think that wealth should go. Warren Buffett is currently worth $47 billion, when he dies where does that go?

84

That should be done for the opposite reason, to lower the usage. If you don’t want people to use hard drugs, you should regulate them. Removes all financial incentives from the trade* and gets junkies in contact with the health care system. Less recruitment and more rehabilitation = profit (for society).

  • Drug lords can’t get rich if junkies can get their drugs at the pharmacy.