I’ve recently seen some complaints about the rich men in this country… about how awful it is that they just get richer and need to distribute that wealth to others. I’ve heard of some of these people and had to double check my memory because I thought that that was what they did… This is what I found.
Did you know?
A person's "wealth" is not determined by how much they earn each year but by the property they own? So, vehicles, wearhouses, office buildings, homes... they are all counted via how much the property's appraised value is - even if most of that "value" is on credit.
Stocks are also counted even though their "value" changes moment by moment and is not (and should not be) counted as an income until they are sold.
Did you know?
As a teenager, Warren Buffett earned money collecting and selling Coke bottles and being a newspaper delivery boy? (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Buffett) These were among his first business ventures. He didn’t start making REAL money until he started investing in the stock market.
Do you know what that means? He takes some of his own money and gives it to a company that could use financial help in an unsecured micro-loan in hopes that the company will succeed and be able to return that investment with interest. So, his “crime” is that he has become a billionaire by helping others – unlike the many charities formed to help others and beg for donations that never manage to help the cause the donations were for. Oh, and he gives a portion of his yearly income to charity with zero return (though, some of it IS a tax write off).
I also found it interesting that he kept his airline stocks until they hit nearly rock bottom – losing over 7 billion dollars in that area alone. Some say it was a bad financial decision. Me, I think instead of demanding that the airlines give him the profits that he had a right to he let them use that money to keep employees paid and stay in business a little while longer, since he could afford to do it. Such evilness, I know.
Did you know?
As of March 2020, there are over 40,000 people employed by Facebook.
Mark Zuckerberg has connected the world, employed 40,000 people, and has helped millions of businesses grow in the process. 53 Incredible Facebook Statistics and Facts
I think that, in general, he has made the world we live in a better place and deserves the money he gets for having to deal with all the headaches of the people that keep trying to sabotage what he has done. What a terrible person.
Did you know?
Jeff Bezon quit his job to start an online bookstore called Amazon in his garage, knowing that there was a 70% chance of going bankrupt. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Bezos#Amazon
That bookstore has grown to a huge marketplace of 2.5 MILLION sellers – most of which are small businesses that are able to keep more profit for themselves by using Amazon versus other options to conduct business. It’s a win-win situation.
As of last year, Amazon had 750,000 employees worldwide - with more than half of them in the USA. Amazon Now Has 750,000 Employees
They employ over 17,000 veterans, offer some work from home positions, offer flexible hours for many positions, and the median pay in fulfillment centers is typically 30% higher than traditional retail stores. Amazon Now Employs More Than 17,500 Veterans and Military Spouses across the United States, and Expects to Hire over 10,000 More by 2021 How is this a bad thing?
Let's see if I understand this...
Ok… well… these billionaires pay A LOT of federal income tax on the money they make, which, among other things, pays for Safety Net Programs that help millions of people living in poverty (many of whom can’t work for one reason or another) like :
Earned Income Tax Credits (something I, personally, enjoyed as the government gave us tax refunds while the kids were growing up when we didn’t earn enough to pay any taxes)
SNAP (food stamps)
WIC (food specifically for women, infants and children)
School meals
Home Energy Assistance
Housing Assistance
TANF (Temporary financial Assistance for Needy Families)
SSI (disability)
HeadStart (preschool)
Pell Grants (money that doesn’t get paid back to help pay for higher education)
https://www.cbpp.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/7-22-16pov-factsheets-us.pdf
I guess this is simply another area that I cannot comprehend. How is it that billionaires are seen as evil people? The more they make, they more they can help the nation. And, with minimum wage laws, health laws, safety laws, anti-discrimination laws, tax laws, et cetera, in place, they can’t really be viewed as oppressive overlords like was a big problem in the past (which is one reason why we have all of these laws now).
Seems to me that the wealth is already being redistributed and if the profits get much slimmer that the incentive for anyone to make any kind of money will be destroyed. Where will that leave us then?