As imperfect and flawed Capitalism is, it has worked better than other forms of economic and political systems-so far.
It’s very simple in “Theory.” Capitalism is an economic and-or, political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.
In other words, keep Government out of it as much as possible. This does not mean having no social programs as a safety net for the elderly, sick, and those born with limitations. A civil society cares for those who are unable to care for themselves, but it does not mean citizens should care for those who are able to but refuse to work and contribute.
In a Capitalistic economy, a person who invents some new technology, or discovers some new drug, should be rewarded, otherwise the incentive to risk everything will stifle progress in all fields.
But how how much should one person be rewarded for a new idea??
Jeff Bezos was worth 185 BILLION Dollars, before the divorce. His ex-wife walked away from her divorce with Jeff Bezos last July with 25% of his Amazon shares, then worth $36 billion. Since then, her fortune has nearly doubled as the pandemic has disrupted traditional retail.
What about Jeff Bezos net worth today, Breaking the amount down, Bezos is making about $321 million a day,
$13.4 million an hour,
$222,884 a minute,
and $3,715 a second this year.
The largest single-day
increase in Bezos's net worth is $13 billion, which he
achieved on July 20, 2020,because of the pandemic. Remember, all small business owned retail stores were forced to close, almost a year now.
The average two working couple in the USA makes “about” 63,000 dollars. That’s about 32,000 dollars each.
THIS IS THE MAIN REASON WHY SOCIALISM IS OVERCOMING CAPITALISM IN AMERICA. It’s just not fair that ONE PERSON attains more wealth than he/she will be able to spend in a LIFETIME, while others are struggling to avoid becoming homeless.
So WHAT IF, instead of being a sign of economic success, billionaires are a sign of economic failure? Is it possible that extreme wealth IS generally, more harmful than, a “Sign” that Capitalism works?
How is Billionaire wealth attained? Is it all attain by invention? Absolutely Not! Approximately one third of billionaire ‘s wealth comes from inheritance.
Here is the problem with that. It creates a new aristocracy who are rich simply because their parents were rich. And now these inheritors who didn’t work at creating something beneficial for humanity, and may actually be idiots, have now inherited the power over your average citizen, (masses-sheeple) This is how idiots with power are born.
Whether inherited or secured in other ways, extreme wealth takes on a momentum of its own that cannot be overlooked. For example; Bill Gates was worth nearly $100 billion dollars in 2019, almost TWICE what he was worth when he stepped down as head of Microsoft. This is despite his admirable commitment to giving his money away.
BUT there’s more!
Didier Jacobs, a researcher at the London School of Economics, calculated a few years ago that another third of billionaire wealth comes from crony connections to government and monopoly, for example as when billionaires secure concessions to provide services exclusively from government, using crony connections and corruption.
“The Economist has developed a similar measure of crony capitalism with similar findings. What is clear is that corruption and crony connections to governments are behind a significant proportion of billionaire wealth.”
“Almost all sectors of our global economy are now characterized by monopoly power, as is detailed by Nick Shaxson in his great newbook, the Finance Curse. Whether food, pharmaceuticals, media, finance, or technology, each sector is characterized by a handful of huge corporations.”
President Franklin Roosevelt famously said that
“Government by organized money is just as dangerous as government by organized mob.”
These monopolies impose hidden monopoly taxes on every consumer, as it enables these companies, and their wealthy shareholders, to extract excessive profits from the market, directly fueling the growth in extreme wealth at the expense of ordinary citizens.
Behind corporate power and corporate actions is increasingly the power of super-rich shareholders.
Once billionaire wealth is accumulated, the way it is used also casts doubt on how useful it is to have billionaires. The super-rich use their wealth to pay as little tax as possible, making active use of a secretive global network of tax havens, as revealed by the Panama Papers and other exposes.
Billionaires can also buy impunity from justice, buy politicians, and buy a pliant media, and influence elections.
This active political influencing by the super-rich directly drives greater inequality, by constructing reinforcing feedback loops, in which the winners of the game get even more resources to win even bigger next time.
So, do you all thing there should be a cap on how much ONE PERSON SHOULD BE REWARDED?
Should there be a cap on How Much Children of the Billionaire should receive as inheritance?
Would implementing these two rules be an incentive for people to stop praising Socialism, and asking the Political leaders to get rid of all forms of Capitalism?