Chances are, you don't really own much of anything. You might still be making payments towards the deed or title of ownership but your actual ownership is probably years or decades away.
That the super-rich make money from your labors and loan payments without having any real interest in you is a shame but that's just how the current game is played.
Sure, some people could say that they also benefit from the current system by buying shares of stock through their 401k.
But this is not (yet) your money.
You are just loaning your future money to the super-rich so that they can buy more of what you make payments on and then sell it back to you where they will then turn around and charge you a higher interest rate than they are paying you to borrow your own money in the first place
But what are you gonna' do?
What can you do?.
In short..., nothing.
You see, you don't have a seat on any exchange.
You do not have enough wealth or power to become a member of The Club.
Your paltry 401k contributions only feed the bigger fish so that they can continue to eat all us guppies.
But what if there was a way that anyone could buy stocks in start-up companies?
What if we created a fund which allowed us to use our IRS tax refunds to buy stocks in companies which service the good of the general public?
Our infrastructure is said to be a mess - what if everyone were allowed to invest his tax refund into companies which work on such projects?
(Even the poorest working people get an earned income tax credit so the poor would not be excluded from investing in their own well being.)
Last year, the federal government issued $50,700,000,000 (source; IRS.gov) in tax refunds to residents of the state of California alone.
Much of this money could have been used to invest in... say, "Cali Corp" (CC - which would build and maintains high-efficiency electrical power grids).
CC would be owned by those who had the foresight to purchase stock in a start up instead of spending the same money on new rims.
(Not everyone would invest but at least they would have the same opportunity as the super-rich.)
As the maximum number of shares to be purchased would be limited to whatever ones tax refund check would be, no one could corner the market and gain an unfair advantage in ownership.
This new public/private ownership structure would allow each citizen access to information on how each company is run and how it spends it's money.
Since only tax refund money was spent in the first place, one could only be taxed if he sold his shares in any given company.
Think about it - publicly owned companies which run and maintain schools, power companies, construction companies, whatever... .
Everyone would be given a fair opportunity to benefit from his own labors.
Everyone would actually own the country's infrastructure.
But this will never happen.
The game is not set up to benefit the largest number people - the game is set up so that the select few benefit from the labors of the many.
If everyone had the same ability to own and invest in his own well being it would eliminate the need for many of the hegemonic parasites who run the country's banking system.
If everyone knew that being wasteful would hurt his own bottom line he may rethink the way he allocates his resources.
If everyone sought the good of all because he knew that it would ultimately benefit himself - people might actually begin to act in a responsible manner.
If being selfish meant that acting selflessly was the best way to be we would all be much better off.
When you find Shangrila let me know so i can go there too. But, in the meantime most people are not going to do it and it would have to be forced and that's what taxes are about.
ReplyDeleteTaxes force people to provide for the betterment of the whole.
If the majority of the masses became the majority in thinking this world would look very different. Probably would be socialist and probably would usher in the age of GOD returning. So it's just not in the best interest of the people in charge to provide the apparatus for that type of thinking.
Most people would NOT invest their tax return checks in a new corporation but a lot of people DO use these checks to buy new cars or funiture.
ReplyDeleteIn all honesty, I don't care if most people do well.
All I care about is that everyone has an equal opportunity to do well.
If one doesn't do the work, get the education or make the sacrifices needed - that's on them.
Toll roads, bridges, power companies are all used by the general public but there are cases when private companies own these. If the general public was given the chance to invest in a company which does this work it would be easy to raise the funds for the needed improvements.