kpeavey wrote:I am completely opposed to everything you propose, from the very core of my being. It will never happen. You completely disregard human nature.
If you took all the money, property, and possessions in the world and divided them equally with all the people in the world, within a few years, the people that have wealth now, will have it again, the people who have nothing, will have nothing again. Stupid people make stupid decisions which keeps them poor. Smart people make smart decisions which makes them wealthy.
When you limit rewards, you limit incentive, not just for growth, but for accomplishment. Why should a person strive to achieve if some millionaire somewhere is forced to hand over his hard earned pay to make things "fair". Where is the incentive for the hard working creative guy to keep producing once he gets his million?
Capitalism is not an ISM, it is simply what people do naturally when they are free to do as they please. If the economy were to collapse tomorrow, I expect a barter economy would develop rapidly. There would be masses of people who would barter themselves homeless. There would be many who would barter themselves sustainably. They would be a few who would barter themselves into a position of wealth and power.
"what happens when nearly everybody becomes rich and owns $1 million? "
It will never happen.
Your plan does not accept the fact that all humans are not the same. People are not equal, never have been, never will be.
Someone has filled you head with ideas of fairness and equality. You should find out who that person was and kick the shit out of him.
If I could possibly escape from the system you describe, I would do so, taking whatever assets I could. If I couldn't escape, I would powerdown my productivity to the point that nothing - absolutely nothing - was generated. You may rest assured that there would be no volunteer work and no charitable contributions, either.
Why is Bill Gates trying to own one more billion dollars, when he can live very very well by not working any more. Heck, he would have to find clever ways just to spend what he is earning !
Is this rational human behaviour? I don't think so.
Ah well, you'll be one less mouth to feed when we have no other choice but to set up a command economy or face death...we'll simply offer folks like you the little white tablets.
Mercani wrote:If somebody is opposed to this system, he should better explain how Capitalism (infinite growth) will be sustainable. Or you could propose your own system.If I could possibly escape from the system you describe, I would do so, taking whatever assets I could. If I couldn't escape, I would powerdown my productivity to the point that nothing - absolutely nothing - was generated. You may rest assured that there would be no volunteer work and no charitable contributions, either.
Do you love to have excessive wealth? Is $1 million not enough for you?
Why is Bill Gates trying to own one more billion dollars, when he can live very very well by not working any more. Heck, he would have to find clever ways just to spend what he is earning !
Is this rational human behaviour? I don't think so.
First, you presume that capitalism requires infinite growth; or, for that matter, growth of any sort. Capitalism is a method for allocating resources - and during a period of general economic shrinkage, efficient allocation may be more critical than ever.
If one could make $200,000 pre-tax on a million, consistently, they would be a financial genius. Out of that $200M, they'd get to keep about $140M. One car would take care of that....
kpeavey wrote: Stupid people make stupid decisions which keeps them poor. Smart people make smart decisions which makes them wealthy.
Mercani wrote: In capitalism,
If a company doesn't make profit, its share price does not rise. Shareholders want share price to rise(or get dividends)
Therefore main incentive for the company is to make profit, which brings economic growth.
Well, economic growth is good until you hit environmental limits. No more oil. or no more water, or no more uranium. Then you crash. Peak oil is the crash of capitalism.
Mercani wrote: Some CEOs make millions a year. Maybe a month. Anyway, how come anybody can need a $140K car every month !
Actually he can buy a car every month, but at some point he will own too many cars(more than 10), and it can be considered as wealth accumulation instead of spending. If he is planning to sell these cars later on, he would be going over the limit and that would be illegal. So he is stuck with a bunch of cars. Basically he was earning more money than he could consume.
This may be the weak point of the system. How do you decide whether something is bought for consumption or investment?
Most rich people were born rich, got the family company/estate and stayed rich!
Mercani wrote:Therefore I propose a new economic system to replace Capitalism, for discussion. I haven't thought about this deeply, so never mind if it is crap.
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