[ExI] The Problem With Counterfeit People

Jason Resch jasonresch at gmail.com
Sat May 20 00:39:23 UTC 2023 

Pertinent to the discussion:

https://youtu.be/LxJW7hl8oqM

Jason

On Fri, May 19, 2023, 5:38 PM William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

> There is no way we can even begin to pay off our debt without raising
> taxes.  The Defense budget is absurd but no one will touch that.  No one
> will touch Social Security or Medicare orMedicaid, so where will the money
> come from?  bill w
>
> On Fri, May 19, 2023 at 3:47 PM efc--- via extropy-chat <
> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>
>> Hello Bill,
>>
>> Having grown up in a heavily socialist country, and having studied
>> economy, I'm
>> afraid I do not share your view that high taxes can be a good thing in
>> any
>> way.
>>
>> I do however agree with your opinion, that "he who has the most stuff
>> when
>> he dies" is not a sound attitude to life.
>>
>> But given what I've studied and experienced, as well as having met and
>> spoken with a lot of people who lived in soviet russia, there is very
>> little that can convince me that high taxes are a good thing.
>>
>> Best regards,
>> Daniel
>>
>>
>> On Fri, 19 May 2023, William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat wrote:
>>
>> > Thanks, DAniel.  All of the strictly socialist countries are poor and
>> have few friends.  High taxes can be a good thing if you want
>> > to help other people live a good and healthy life.  We need high taxes
>> here because of our enormous debt (but we won't get them - we
>> > love bread and circuses and low taxes. We lead the world in storage
>> facilities for people to store their stuff.  One of the fastest
>> > growing businesses.  Have to have 'stuff' to outdo your neighbors.
>> >
>> > 'He who has the most stuff when he dies, wins')     bill w
>> >
>> > On Fri, May 19, 2023 at 1:10 PM efc--- via extropy-chat <
>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>> >       Hello Bill,
>> >
>> >       It depends on how strict you are with your definitions. The
>> swedish state
>> >       is among the biggest in the world relative to the rest of the
>> economy, and
>> >       thus wields enormous market power being one of the biggest actors
>> on the
>> >       market.
>> >
>> >       In addition to that, they stipulate laws and policies you have to
>> follow
>> >       in case you want to do business with the government.
>> >
>> >       Last, but not least, for SMB:s the taxes are quite high, which
>> also
>> >       distorts market forces.
>> >
>> >       So, no, the swedish government does not directly decide what the
>> market
>> >       should do, but through the methods above, exerts an enormous
>> force on it
>> >       making it work less efficiently.
>> >
>> >       From the individuals point of view as well, given that fact that
>> for most,
>> >       more than half of their income goes away in taxes, I'd also argue
>> that it
>> >       is heavily socialist.
>> >
>> >       Best regards,
>> >       Daniel
>> >
>> >
>> >       On Fri, 19 May 2023, William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat wrote:
>> >
>> >       > I am not sure that's right, that Sweden is a socialist
>> country.  I thought that the government did not run the economy,
>> >       and that's
>> >       > the defining element in socialism.   bill w
>> >       >
>> >       > On Fri, May 19, 2023 at 10:03 AM efc--- via extropy-chat <
>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>> >       >
>> >       >       On Thu, 18 May 2023, Gadersd via extropy-chat wrote:
>> >       >
>> >       >       >> In fact, I fear that the EU, as always, will stifle
>> this wave of innovation as well and fall behind in yet
>> >       another
>> >       >       area.
>> >       >       >
>> >       >       > Do you think the EU will experience a massive brain
>> drain as people move where AI is more accessible? Would
>> >       this
>> >       >       possiblility incentivize the EU to soften its
>> regulations? I don’t see how an advanced economy can remain
>> >       advanced and
>> >       >       competitive without embracing new technologies that other
>> nations adopt.
>> >       >       >
>> >       >
>> >       >       I not only think the EU will experience a massive brain
>> drain, I think
>> >       >       the EU _is_ experiencing a massive brain drain at the
>> moment. It is a
>> >       >       region with the worlds highest taxes and most burdensome
>> administration,
>> >       >       and with increased EU control over its member countries,
>> my opinion is
>> >       >       that it is moving more and more towards socialism as the
>> year go by.
>> >       >
>> >       >       If we zoom in on sweden, many entrepreneurs have left, so
>> for instance
>> >       >       companies such as Ikea, Tetrapak, Skype, Minecraft,
>> Yubikey, Candy crush
>> >       >       and more are either based outside sweden (today) or the
>> founders did
>> >       >       start their companies in sweden, but decided to sell to
>> american
>> >       >       companies.
>> >       >
>> >       >       IT is a bit blessed in that you can create huge value
>> with few
>> >       >       employees. Looking at traditional companies, Volvo is
>> partly chinese,
>> >       >       Absolut vodka was sold and so on.
>> >       >
>> >       >       So sweden has been very socialist and paid its price in
>> lowered quality
>> >       >       of life and lowered disposable income throughout the
>> years. I think the
>> >       >       EU will follow Swedens example and unless people awaken
>> to this reality
>> >       >       (which I doubt, since this is a slow, multi generational
>> decline) the EU
>> >       >       will be a low cost producer and tourist paradise in the
>> future.
>> >       >
>> >       >       Best regards,
>> >       >       Daniel
>> >       >       _______________________________________________
>> >       >       extropy-chat mailing list
>> >       >       extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org
>> >       >
>> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat
>> >       >
>> >       >
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>> >
>> >
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