Only if the wealth is redistributed to the masses though.
Yeah exactly. Normal inheritance means their kids or spouse inherit, and the number of billionaires remains the same.
Fun fact, if I were to inherit the wealth of a billionaire family member who was shot in public I’d get philanthropic real fast!
Many people say this. However of those who talk the talk, barely any ever walk the walk.
However I think if you are born an heir to a billionaire, you’d lack the perspective which might foster selfless philanthropy.
I’d like to think that if someone from the working class would randomly get such money they would. But it still seems unlikely.
I was thinking about this the other day. If I had half a trillion dollars (like the guy who just bought the presidency) I would spend it building a city from scratch. A walkable/bikeable city with free public transportation. I don’t have enough expertise to speak about affordable housing ideas, but with that amount of money I can pay someone to come up with some good regulations. Don’t know why but that’d be my passion project.
So many heirs tho…
What do we do if their heirs just inherit it?
Anakin Skywalker time? 🤔
If we’re waving magic wands around, change the tax laws to limit how much you can inherit.
Changing the step up basis thing is actually pretty low hanging fruit.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/stepupinbasis.asp
https://smartasset.com/investing/buy-borrow-die-how-the-rich-avoid-taxes
Good point, even though the numbers don’t check out.
There were 69 children killed this year. 813 billionaires in the US. It would take almost 12 years.
Edit: These are only the school shootings, not the all deaths of minors
Where did you get that number? John Hopkins is reporting 48,204 gun deaths for people aged 0-17 in 2022.
“There were 2,526 gun deaths in 2022 among 1- to 17-year-olds, averaging to nearly 7 per day.”
48,204 is total gun deaths.
These are both horrific figures and in no way am I intending to diminish either.
I noticed that finding a statistical breakdown is really difficult, so I went with a source I knew was reliable and still gave a number. Thank you for finding something more specific.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12-17/us-school-shootings-2024-in-numbers/104734714
My mistake, I was only looking at the school shootings.
Unfortunately billionaires rarely try to educate themselves about the world at all, let alone gather together in a single cramped room to be educated. Still, it’s a nice idea.
That would involve people actually doing something rather than waiting for someone else.
And even then you guys would fall into conspiracy theories because you can’t believe someone actually did something.
It’s a prisoner’s dilemma. Of fucking course we should revolt and save the world. Organizing that is not easy, especially when it makes you a target.
And this is the heart of our predicament - the ones in control understand this. If they keep our misery at a low simmer they get to extract everything from us, slowly, we won’t revolt. I worry that our only hope may be that they miscalculate and the pot boils over. I really don’t want that, but I’m having a harder and harder time imagining real improvements anymore.
Homelessness is up 20% over the last 2 years. The pot is already boiling over, I’m not sure what more you think most people have left to lose.
It’s the people who think making money is good and moral, even when you have to screw others over to get it, who are the problem.
Everyone is doing something. Working, going to school, living their lives. Even people who have no job, who walk the streets, are doing something: surviving.
Most people’s survival instincts prevent them from taking drastic measures like this, even when things are really bad. Think of how many people who had every incentive to take a shot at Hitler but did not, despite all the horrors of the Nazi regime.
