this post was submitted on 18 Jan 2024
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GenZedong
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I say they go ahead and do that of course, but I wonder why they'd do this.
Have they come to the conclusion that wealth taxes are inevitable (or are inconsequential) and are using it for PR instead, or is this a way of trying to stave off revolutionary thought temporarily?
This smells like concessions to avoid larger inconveniences to me. Obviously I say do that shit... But it's a ways away from eating of the rich that I'd prefer.
That's exactly what it is, and it's not new. It might seem paradoxical, but the very wealthiest capitalists -- the movers and shakers of the entire ruling class -- are often less concerned about day-to-day profits than maintaining the stability of the system. This is because their wealth is so bound up with the entire system, and if it collapses, they do too; hence they are often willing to countenance "progressive" reforms, especially if they can so swing it that other capitalists lower down the ladder of wealth are the ones footing the bill. This is sometimes referred to as capital taking on a "managerial" mindset. Examples of it are DuPont supporting the creation of the Federal Reserve, the Rockefellers supporting Roosevelt, and so on. This creates tensions, of course, within the ruling class, as less wealthy capitalists (whose business empires will often shrink) resent the restrictions which high-level capital is forcing on them, and seek to throw off the imposed restraints.
I imagine for those few with any sense- or with any genuine notions of "patriotism" or other such values outside of pure greed- they can see how the tides are turning, that being- that western "civilization" is headed for a collapse, and if there isn't some sort of new New Deal (a band-aid fix, but still something) shit will really hit the fan, and their imperialist golden goose might finally just die off (to the benefit of the rest of humanity)
That said, actions mean more than words- and in their actions, for self-interest, surely they won't do much of anything about it, and in truth they can't- it doesn't matter what they might even genuinely think, not that I expect much from them, but even in the entirely hypothetical scenario where there was one "good apple," all the other decaying apples around it would win out- the other billionaires, the other institutions and bureaucracies of capital. That's the nature of the capitalist system, something far greater than a few supposedly "dissenting" or "suddenly conscientious" billionaires- capital, in this system where capital is king, will continue to do as it always has- and considering the state of western and particularly Anglo-American society, I don't see anything changing course for the better anytime soon, but rather spiraling further into late stage capitalism.
If governments actually complied they would move their business elsewhere most likely