@br00t4c@rbreich don't call it a tax, call it, ummm, civil forfeiture, no one could have made so much money without there having been some criming, amirite? There is no recourse, no jury trial, no guarantee of speedy trials also.
@tadbithuman@rbreich Why not? Everyday Americans lose legitimately acquired assets in this way with alarming regularity. "civil" asset forfeiture feels like a bit of an oxymoron doesn't it?
It is called unregulated capitalism. Of the kind inspired by Reaganomics. Shrink government until nothing but billionaires are left.
They have it in Europe too now, here we call it neoliberalism. The increasing gap between rich and poor and the shrinking of government have caused the rise of populism, the far right and new fascists.
And yes that is a problem. Clear and present danger.
@xs4me2@rbreich
Capitalism, whether under Reaganomics or neoliberalism, regulated or unregulated, inevitably leads to extreme wealth concentration, social inequality, and the erosion of democratic institutions.
That sounds very attractive, but in fact is not fully true. In a truly social democracy, appropriate taxes and state intervention can avoid this. This is what democratic institutions and ditto rule of law can accomplish.
In other words, tax the rich and the corporations.
In the Netherlands where I live, I am lucky that I earn enough to pay 55% of income tax, and that is a privilege and solidarity in the end.
@xs4me2@rbreich
Social democracy still operates within the confines of a capitalist system, where wealth and power remain concentrated in the hands of a few. Reliance on taxation alone doesn't address the fundamental flaws of capitalism, such as the exploitation of labor and the commodification of resources.
Here in Europe that still seems to work quite well. But the perverted influences of US are doing their best to kill it.
Ultimate state control is no solution either as communist experiments in the former USSR have shown. Neither the Chinese nor Korean alternatives where suppression of individuals is the norm.
@xs4me2@rbreich
I know state control isn't the solution. The solution is to pur control of society into the hands of the people instead of a bureaucratic middleman of authority.
To delegate the daily decisions for that and to avoid chaos and guarantee continuity we have something called (federal) parliamentary democracy.
And an operational government, elected by the people.
In Europe it has been working quite well, in fact. Despite attacks by fascism. Neoliberalism is the current challenge.
@Radical_EgoCom@xs4me2@rbreich even democratic socialism does that. Its what you're given to vote for; different flavours of capitalism, and if you don't vote you should feel bad and you're basically a nazi.
@xs4me2@TheBestLeiya@rbreich
I support voting, but it's black-and-white thinking to presume that not voting is equivalent to voting for fascism. Now, if someone refuses to vote and does nothing else, then that is stupid, but there are other ways for people to positively influence their community/country and counter fascism other than voting.
@Radical_EgoCom@xs4me2@TheBestLeiya@rbreich You cannot not participate in an election. Unfortunately due to the way most voting systems work, the vote results have mostly that effect. Not voting is a level of thoughtless passive behaviour that I can barely tolerate. Also the excuses for not voting are usually even more dumb and baffling that you would imagine in good faith. It gets only worse when the same people keep complaining how dumb politicians and voters(!) are.
@Radical_EgoCom@xs4me2@rbreich if there we're any parties that suited I would vote, but there isn't. The left is not left enough, communist parties aren't even putting up a fight. It's really just bollocks.
@TheBestLeiya@xs4me2@rbreich
You're an anarchist, I presume. There's never going to be a party that you agree with, and it's the same with me. You essentially have two viable options that I know of. You could either vote for a party that most aligns with your core political values, or if you choose not to vote, you can advocate for and/or engage in grassroots organizing, direct action, and community building to challenge systemic injustices and create meaningful change from the ground up.
The good thing about a democracy is that you are free to say and do what you want. It is your own choice. Just realize that this is a luxury not everybody in this world has.
@xs4me2@Radical_EgoCom@rbreich the shameing again. If I need to be peer pressured into voting is it really any different from North Korea. Screw your election. Screw you politicians. Screw the overlords. Fuck this shit.
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