Qasim Rashid, Esq.Jul 11, 2023

EIon Musk’s Wealth
2009: $.6B
2023: $249B

Jeff Bezos’s Wealth
2009: $6B
2023: $153B

Mark Zuckerberg’s Wealth
2009: $.6B
2023: $105B

Federal Minimum Wage
2009: $7.25
2023: $7.25

Billionaire tax rate: 8.2%
Worker tax rate: 13%

Pay workers.
Tax Billionaires.
Save our economy.

Show threadgeobeckJul 11, 2023

@QasimRashid
I immediately thought ot the typical counter-argument: "But they create jobs!"

However, immediately under this was a post about layoffs by a mega-corp.

Show threadAaron
@geobeck @QasimRashid The companies they own create jobs. The billionaires that own them do not.
Jul 13, 2023 at 9:33pmWeb
Show threadgeobeckJul 13, 2023

@hosford42 @QasimRashid
Even that's limited. The primary mission of a corporation is to serve the interests of its shareholders. If a company is young and expanding, that creates jobs. But if revenue isn't increasing as quickly as shareholders demand, the usual recourse is to cut expenses, including jobs.

Increasing demand creates jobs. Companies may or may not, depending on demand.

Show threadAaronJul 13, 2023
@geobeck @QasimRashid I like to point out the very reason for the existence of for-profit corporations, which you just touched upon: They exist for profit -- the extraction of money changing hands between workers and customers. They do this by acting as middle men between them. Couched in different terminology, for-profit corporations are parasitic by design. As long as our economy is built around for-profit corporations, this will continue to be a problem. We need to support the replacement of for-profit corporations with cooperatives, both individually and in government.
Show threadgeobeckJul 13, 2023

@hosford42 @QasimRashid
An extreme example is US health insurance. Americans pay more taxes per capita toward health care than Canadians do, but still pay a ridiculous amount in premiums and fees.

Put another way, *every penny* of US health premiums and user fees is profit for parasitic insurance companies.

Show threadHeather HJul 14, 2023

@geobeck @hosford42 @QasimRashid

Who made up the rule that the purpose of a company is to enrich the shareholders. It’s not a law. (Hint: it was shareholders, and the economists they employ.)

How about a new rule? The purpose of a company is to create jobs. Full stop.

Show threadAaronJul 14, 2023

@HeatherH @geobeck @QasimRashid Sadly, it is a law. #FiduciaryDuty

The issue is, *somebody* has to decide what the right course is for a company. We call people who have the right to make that determination "shareholders" or "owners". These folks can only be counted on to make decisions in their own best interest. (Altruism exists, but try asking a random person on the street for money and you'll quickly learn it's far from universal.) So the law is designed to work within that constraint.

If you really want companies to do right by the average worker or consumer, the owners/shareholders of those companies have to be the workers or consumers, not third parties. Then the shareholders screwing the workers or consumers becomes the shareholders screwing themselves, and nobody will be on board for that. Like magic, making the oppressed and the oppressors be the same group makes the oppression cease.

Show threadAaronJul 14, 2023
@HeatherH @geobeck @QasimRashid #Cooperatives FTW!