Wealth Redistribution

I'm getting things ready to send to my accountant to have my taxes done.

Unhappily, I lost my house last year, opted for deed in lieu of foreclosure at the advise of my lawyers and my accountant though they both told me I would pay a tax penalty because my loss is considered a capital gain by the IRS.

The bank received my deed and full payment of the balance of my mortgage because I had paid PMI (personal mortgage insurance) as required by my state.  In effect, I paid to insure the bank against the possibility that I might default on my payments; they get paid.  Why they aren't responsible for their own insurance -- well, think about it....

So, I'm feeling very nervous and vulnerable since I'm guessing that I can't pay the capital gains.   I'm also feeling very angry and hateful toward the banks and impotent to do anything about it.  Thinking about how the owners, stockholders, executives of financials institutions have most of the rest of us by the balls, so to speak, I decided to do a little calculating of revenge.  Here's my thinking:

Total U.S. wealth, as of 2009, was 55,000 billion dollars.  Think about that.

$55,000,000,000,000,000 -- I think

The top 1% owns about 34.5% of that wealth, or -- $18,700,000,000,000 -- $18,700 billion

The population of the U.S., as of 2010 was about 318,000,000.  315,000,000 less the top 1%.

What would it be like if, in the interest of moving the economy and narrowing the gap between the top 1% and the rest of the population, we executed a wealth redistribution program.  We certainly wouldn't take the entirety of the 1%'s wealth away from them.  That would hardly be decent.  What if we took just 10% of their wealth away from them and redistributed it equally among the rest of the population. What would that look like?

10% of 18,700,000,000,000 is 1,870,000,000,000.  A pittance.

Distribute that among the 315,000,000, the rest of the population, minus the 1% and each person would get, roughly, $5,937.    A down payment of a new car; a vacation, whatever.

Just another indication of how enormous the gap is between the top 1% and the rest of us.

Workin' For A Livin'

It's just my opinion but   I really don't believe that anyone can become a billionaire except through inheritance, accident or deceit.

Think about it, if you go to work for somebody every day, put away 10-25% of what you make, invest which is really just gambling that you pick a winner, you will not, even at the end of your life have even one million, let alone a billion dollars.

Now think about advertising.  The key word in business, industry and advertising is spin.  I've known and worked for a few spin doctors.  They think nothing about what spin actually is.  Spin is just lying.

A man has a house to sell.  Buyers come by to see it.  They ask questions:  

"Is the foundation sound?"

He doesn't know but he says, "Yes, I just had it inspected."  (a lie)

"Is the plumbing up to date?"

He replaced visible iron pipes with copper but not those hidden in the walls and he's put temporary sealant on a couple of valve leaks, "yes", he says and shows them the receipts for the copper pipes.

"Is the well water good?"  

"Yes", he says but he just the day before 'shocked' the well by pouring a gallon of bleach in because the water has been iffy since he owned the house.

Do you think he's justified in lying about these things because it would cost him too much to fix them and few people would buy the house if he was honest about them?  Do you think he's in a fix and the only way out is to lie?

Then, you can expect just about anyone else to do the same to you.

Corporations spend millions of dollars learning the weaknesses of consumers in order to make claims, design products and create dependencies so they can continue to sell products that nobody needs.

Now they have gained the power to influence OUR government over the interests of all of the rest of us.

That's the reason regulations are needed.  If you believe that businessmen are honest as saints and will do right by their customers, you are a fool.  If you believe that people who are taken advantage of by the deceit of others deserve what they get, then you will be sure to be screwed by somebody because deceit means that you don't know that you're being screwed.

Dhu!