Billionaires in space

[Dave Gray]

I have been seeing people bitch about this in my Facebook feed but didn't trust the environment there to get into it.  I was waiting for it to pop up here and it never did, so here I am.

Yes, individuals having so much money that they can cure hunger and instead go to space is a problem.  However, it speaks to wealth inequality and not that individual person's choices, nor the quest to go spend money on things that are beyond us.

I've never liked the mentality that "we could be spending that money here to help people".  Yes, we could.  But that argument could always be made to never seek out anything better.  Why spend time scavenging outside the cave?  We have problems inside the cave we need to solve...y'know?

Also, I personally am not interested in flying to space.  Seems scary.

[pondwater]

As private citizens, if it's their money, they can do whatever they want with it. You need to look at your government. They're too busy wasting money on bullshit.

A billion dollars to India for gender studies? WTF? $500 million to the Kennedy foundation? WTF they do? $12 million to some obscure college somewhere for a few eggheads to study the impact of forest fires on the blue gill horney toad beetle. The list goes on and on. But it is our own fault for electing the same greedy politicians over and over. Disclaimer, no need to fact check and argue about those examples. I made them up, to illustrate the wasteful nature of our government, but you get the point.

We don't have allies, we have prostitutes. Stop the money flow and free handouts and watch all those allies turn into cold bitches.

[Phishfan]

I don't want to judge them but for some reason it rubs me the wrong way.

[Dave Gray]

I think it's just the nature of unchecked capitalism.  You really shouldn't be able to have a billion dollars, because you can't earn it.  You have to get it off the backs of others.

But in terms of using stupid money to go to space to no immediate, obvious gain, I'm all for it.

[masterfins]

Well if I had a billion dollars I wouldn't use it to go to space, but if you have it you can do anything with it you like, legally anyways.  That argument can be made for many things, for instance that guy shouldn't be spending a billion dollars on an NFL team when he could be housing the homeless.

The fact is most of these guys do give a great deal of money to charities.

Another way to look at it also is that the money they are spending on going to space goes into our economy providing jobs for many people, so that they can avoid homelessness.  I'd rather be angry about millionaires that let their money sit in a bank account and just watch it grow, this hurts the economy by taking money out of circulation.  If you really think about the economy it's all about people earning money and spending it, which leads to other people earning the money you spend, and then they spend it, etc. etc.  Bad recessions/depressions are caused more by fear, when people stop spending and hoard their cash out of fear.  This stops the flow of money and has ripple effects throughout the economy leading to recessions.

[Dolphster]

For me, I have to break this down into two separate issues.  The first being taxation of the "rich".   I think most of us here have expressed our varying opinions that one at one time or another, none of us are likely to change our minds, and if we try to address taxation, we will go far down the rabbit hole and away from what I think (correct me if I'm wrong, Dave) was the original intent of Dave's post.  

The second issue which I'm going to focus on is the implications (moral and otherwise) of the AFTER TAX spending by individuals.  SHOULD the rich spend a larger percentage of their net income on problems "inside the cave" than a middle class person?  My opinion is that they should.  The key words in that sentence being "opinion" and "should".   It is okay for me to have the opinion that they should address problems "inside the cave" as opposed to "outside the cave".  But I wouldn't like the idea of my opinion becoming the expectation or any kind of mandate.  I don't like the idea of telling people how they should spend their own money.  I wouldn't like anyone telling me how I am to spend my own money so it would be hypocritical of me to do it to others.  You can have an opinion on how I should spend my money, but you shouldn't have the ability to tell me how to spend my money.  Before I go putting expectations on other people, I always try to turn the tables on myself and ask how I would feel about those same expectations being put on me.  Kind of a check and balance on my own potential hypocrisy. LOL

It is fine if I think that Bezos is a selfish cheapskate for what he does with his money.  It isn't fine for me to have the authority to mandate what he does with his money.  Again, keep in mind that I'm strictly talking about money AFTER taxes.  

[Fau Teixeira]

The fact is most of these guys do give a great deal of money to charities.

Reputation laundering at best.

I'm actually very much for eliminating any charitable deductions from the tax code. If you want to donate to a charity then by all means, go for it. But it has nothing to do with how much tax you should pay. While we're at it, I would also eliminate any non profit tax exemptions. It's all a racket. The NFL for the longest time was a non-profit entity. Bullshit.

I don't care that Bezos went to space, or whomever. But he should pay taxes, at least not pay less taxes than I do.

What I will say about private space travel is just how shitty at it these companies are. The government developed, funded and went into space 70 years ago.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

I don’t have a problem with the space part per se.

I do have a problem with the ever widening income gap.  There has always been an income gap.  There has always been rich and poor folks.  However, the difference between the two has ballooned to unprecedented levels.  Unquestionably, Cornelius Vanderbilt was wealthier than the guys driving the trains.  But the gap between the lowest paid train employee and Vanderbilt was tiny compared between a driver for Amazon and Bezos.

[Spider-Dan]

Every billionaire is a policy failure.

We should not have a system that even allows people to become billionaires.  And I mean this at multiple levels: from confiscatory tax rates, to regulations on pay differentials within companies.  (I'll make an exception for value in stock holdings, which are themselves fleeting until actually converted into money.)

Let's keep in mind that we, as taxpayers, subsidize any business that operates in America and claims a tax break for business-related expenses.  We permit them to avoid taxes in the hopes that the growth of their business is ultimately good for society.  But if you don't like the idea of some government bureaucrats telling you how much profit you need to share with your employees, then I'm willing to meet you halfway: you should be able to voluntarily opt-out of all business tax exemptions, pay full taxes on every single dollar that comes in your door, and then you can be left to do with your profit as you will.

[pondwater]

Every billionaire is a policy failure.

We should not have a system that even allows people to become billionaires.  And I mean this at multiple levels: from confiscatory tax rates, to regulations on pay differentials within companies.  (I'll make an exception for value in stock holdings, which are themselves fleeting until actually converted into money.)

Let's keep in mind that we, as taxpayers, subsidize any business that operates in America and claims a tax break for business-related expenses.  We permit them to avoid taxes in the hopes that the growth of their business is ultimately good for society.  But if you don't like the idea of some government bureaucrats telling you how much profit you need to share with your employees, then I'm willing to meet you halfway: you should be able to voluntarily opt-out of all business tax exemptions, pay full taxes on every single dollar that comes in your door, and then you can be left to do with your profit as you will.

You're willing to meet halfway? Wow, that's mighty white of you. Poor people jealous of rich people, the neverending story.

[dolphins4life]

Every billionaire is a policy failure.

We should not have a system that even allows people to become billionaires.  And I mean this at multiple levels: from confiscatory tax rates, to regulations on pay differentials within companies.  (I'll make an exception for value in stock holdings, which are themselves fleeting until actually converted into money.)

Let's keep in mind that we, as taxpayers, subsidize any business that operates in America and claims a tax break for business-related expenses.  We permit them to avoid taxes in the hopes that the growth of their business is ultimately good for society.  But if you don't like the idea of some government bureaucrats telling you how much profit you need to share with your employees, then I'm willing to meet you halfway: you should be able to voluntarily opt-out of all business tax exemptions, pay full taxes on every single dollar that comes in your door, and then you can be left to do with your profit as you will.

What’s your cut off?  $999,999,999

[Spider-Dan]

You're willing to meet halfway? Wow, that's mighty white of you. Poor people jealous of rich people, the neverending story.

That story wouldn't even be possible without poor people licking the boots of their paymasters, in the vain hope that one day they'll be the one wearing the boots.

[CF DolFan]

I don't see the issue because it isn't my place to tell him what to do with his money. I use Amazon regularly and appreciate his idea that makes it so convenient and inexpensive to get things. He could be an arsehole or the most giving person there is and yet it should be his choice what he does with it IMO.

[Dolphster]

I think the title of this thread, Billionaires in Space, would be a great name of an alternative band i.e. the Dead Kennedys, Butthole Surfers, etc or the name of a kids television cartoon. 

[Tenshot13]

I don't see the issue because it isn't my place to tell him what to do with his money. I use Amazon regularly and appreciate his idea that makes it so convenient and inexpensive to get things. He could be a arsehole or the most giving person there is and yet it should be his choice what he does with it IMO.

This.  If you're pissed off at Bezos or Amazon, stop using it then.  Me?  I'm going to continue to get my convenient items delivered to me while I watch the latest and greatest Amazon Prime TV shows or Movies (Wheel of Time November 2021 wooo!)