@ianb Elizabeth Warren said it best.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elizabeth-warren-there-is-nobody-in-this-country-who-got-rich-on-his-own/

"You built a factory out there? Good for you," she says. "But I want to be clear: you moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for; you hired workers the rest of us paid to educate; you were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn't have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory, and hire someone to protect against this, because of the work the rest of us did."

She continues: "Now look, you built a factory and it turned into something terrific, or a great idea? God bless. Keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along."

Elizabeth Warren: "There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own"

In video, Mass. Senate candidate rebuts notion that raising taxes on wealthy is "class warfare," says "there is nobody in this country who got rich on his own"

CBS News
@njr @ianb Still disappointed Warren is not the potus. Thanks for sharing this.
@njr @ianb she should have been president.
Mind you, doesn't the Trumpian logic say that all of those things that everyone paid for should actually be privatised so that the factory would get to be defended by private armies of deplorables, the roads would all be paid for every time anyone uses one (with profits to the nameless president) etc etc.
@ArchaeoIain @ianb She world have been so good.
Not as good as he is bad.
But really good.
@njr @ianb
All the Right has to do is scream "Socialism" and the rich just keep getting richer.

@njr @ianb Elizabeth Warren's got some very true & convincing points reminding us all, that in human societies rights don't come without natural duties & responsibilities.

One of those duties is fairness, the essential part of the "social contract".

@njr @ianb This is what Obama meant when he said “You didn’t build that”, and bunch of Republican business owners got all huffy.
@njr @ianb It's nuts that we still have to explain how civil society works to folks in the 21st century

@njr Nah. It misses the point: it’s still a transactional argument.

And transactional is what we need to get rid of.

@njr @ianb

SHE is the President we've been needing for quite a long time, not Hillary, not Kamala.

@njr @ianb How interesting that Warren didn't acknowledge what a successful company _has_ to give back. Not social contract--fines or prison if you misbehave. For instance:

Roads -> Gas tax
Fire/police -> Property tax, sales tax
Employees -> Income tax

In truth, she's not saying "give back". She's saying "what we take is not enough". Since this is the _only_ thing a politician ever says, it's not really that compelling.
@njr @ianb Isn’t this the return of the “We Built That” mantra from a few years ago?

@XennyG @ianb I don’t know. If you’re talking about this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_didn%27t_build_that

Wikipedia says that echoed Warren, who said it first. Also seems like Obama watered it down. But I don’t know.

Maybe it’s like how Beethoven copied the Rolling Stones.

You didn't build that - Wikipedia

@njr @ianb Right! And yes, Warren said it first — it’s good to see it in play, either again, or for the first time in a new way!

@njr @ianb Not just pay it forward, but pay for it now

Corporations that don't pay taxes aren't paying for the amount of infrastructure they use and benefit from today