Make the billionaires pay

That’s not a question a lot of people are asking, but why not? When we’ve got more people than ever in poverty, how is it possible we have more people than ever with fortunes in the tens and even hundreds of billions?

Could there be a connection?

Of course! In case you haven’t noticed, politics has become all about the money. When the billionaire class have bought and paid for the political order, why is it considered radical to suggest they tilt the field in favour of their self interest?

And let’s face it, if we cut back a multi-billionaire to a net worth of $900 million, it’s not as if they’ll be deprived of anything. You can have a nice country estate off Airport Road, and luxury condos in Whistler and Florida, and a modest Learjet to get around, and still have $850 million to leave to your kids.

What they’ll be deprived of is the ability to drop billions into political causes.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, somebody making $15/hr is barely gonna make it to a million bucks over the course of their working life. In a political system where money = power, how much power do they have?

On the one hand, there’s nothing like capitalism to motivate you to put in 90 hour weeks in order to make your business grow. Been there, done that. We don’t want to destroy the incentive to work.

On the other, it’s impossible to deny that back in the days of the 90% marginal income tax rate, when unions still had some schlep and before multi-billionaires roamed the earth, life was better.

We need to find a fair balance.