[extropy-chat] Bloodless Redistribution of Wealth

[The Avantguardian]

--- John K Clark <jonkc at att.net> wrote:

> Yes and he probably uses .01% on himself, the rest
> is invested in his
> software company. He does not have 40 billion
> pictures of George Washington
> in a huge money bin like Scrooge McDuck.

Really? He doesn't dive into a swimming pool of
greenbacks? :)

> 
> And by the way, Gates's wealth would be closer to 80
> billion if he hadn't
> already given so much away, mostly to help the third
> world.

I know that. Furthermore he didn't have to kill or rob
anyone or ravage the natural resources of a
underdeveloped nation or exploit their people for it
either. That makes him one of my favorite
billionaires.

> Billionaires won't mind giving up wealth and power
> as long as they get a
> vanity license plate and their picture on a box of
> Wheaties. I've got to
> double check, this must be April 1.

So that is how you think we honor our founding
fathers? By putting them on a box of Wheaties?

> What money? When people say Steve Jobs is worth 5
> billion they mean there
> are investors willing to pay 5 billion for his
> interest in a computer
> company and a movie studio. But under your scheme
> Mr. X would not pay Jobs
> anything for it because as soon as he got it you'd
> take it away from Mr. X.

Then obviously it's Mr. X that ought to be put on the
currency and not Steve Jobs. Futhermore I am NOT
suggesting we take anything away from anybody. My
proposal is completely voluntary, they have to
voluntarily attend an auction and voluntarily call the
highest bid. Nobody is twisting anybody's arm here. 

> If private investors are not running the show then
> what you're talking about
> is nationalization.

Huh? How so? What exactly are we nationalizing here?
Our currency? I thought that minting currency was the
one thing that was already the sole purvue of
government.
 
> Do you really think if Washington bureaucrats were
> running Apple Computer
> they would come out with more innovative products
> than Steve Jobs can, or
> Pixar Animation would make more entertaining movies.
> What you're talking
> about is taking the controls of the wealth creation
> machinery from those who
> have shown great skill in operating it into the
> hands of those who don't
> know the first thing about it.

No not at all. The billionaires get to keep control of
the machinery of wealth creation, they just have the
option of paying some of their already accumlated
wealth for the status of being on our money. There is
nothing to stop them from making it all back whenever
they want. Indeed, this might keep them from sitting
on their laurels. This is not really all that
different from luxury cars and designer suits if you
think about it. All these things are merely badges of
status that cost them money. I am offering them the
highest badge of status of all at an appropriate
price. How did you make the leap from an auction for
having ones face put on banknotes to communism? This
is patently uncommunist. In fact, it is almost too
capitalist for some tastes. 

> > Just make sure to remain as objective as possible
> when assessing whether
> > you are changing the world for better or worse.
> 
> That should be easy! If history has taught us
> anything it is that there is
> never any disagreement about what is right and what
> is wrong.

What?!? Hmmm. This is a loaded statement. I will give
you that any disagreements about what is right or
wrong are usually settled with brute force before the
histories get written. This hardly makes history
objective. History is often no more than the
narcissistic boasts of the victorious that go
uncontested by those who have lost the will to fight. 

The Avantguardian 
is 
Stuart LaForge
alt email: stuart"AT"ucla.edu

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed. . ."

- Albert Einstein, "What I Believe" (1930)


		
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