• Ogmios
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    10 days ago

    The point is that no matter what sort of social structure you invent, you’re going to need some sort of authority to determine who gets what if you want to redistribute people’s things. That authority position will be greatly coveted by those who desire to use it to monopolize whatever wealth your society possesses.

    • GoofSchmoofer@lemmy.world
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      9 days ago

      Right - but a well educated, fully engaged population in a democratic state can keep those types of people in check.

      This is a difficult and ongoing battle with those that want to seize that power and wealth and it takes sacrifice and time to do.

      • Ogmios
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        9 days ago

        well educated, fully engaged population

        …is something you aren’t going to have when exceeding the average is “rewarded” by have any gains you may have made redistributed to underachievers.

        • Kalothar@lemmy.ca
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          9 days ago

          “Underachievers”

          I hate this myth of the lazy person, that there are significant portions of people that are lazy enough to throw the entire system off.

          In almost every single UBI study done on this planet, that has not been the affect.

          Turns out the vast majority of people like to achieve things, rewards are not just monetary and the way people feel about money varies.

          The odds of you motivating me to do something specifically for money is so low, there has to be another incentive. Why because my base needs are already met, so I have the ability and time to focus on my other needs.

          That’s what inherited wealth does for people. There is not a massive portion of underachievers and this seems more reflective of the way you view people.

          • Ogmios
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            9 days ago

            If you’re trying to redistribute society’s wealth, then you’re going to have to take from those who produce more than average, and give it to those who produce less than average.

            Your point about being motivated by things other than money is something I’ll readily agree upon, but is also irrelevant to a discussion on the redistribution of wealth, where we’re specifically addressing those parts of society which generate wealth.

            • Kalothar@lemmy.ca
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              9 days ago

              I think our ideas of how to redistribute them are different, I see your point nonetheless.

              However we don’t live in a society where your ability to produce is directly connected to what you receive from what you produce.

              That’s the main problem with our society, no ceo is 250 times more productive than a line worker.

              I mean you are kind of describing the difference between socialism and communism with that point about productivity.

              Under socialism workers get back a percentage of what THEY put in. Under communism the workers get back a portion of what ALL the workers produce or the revenue of that.

        • GoofSchmoofer@lemmy.world
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          9 days ago

          I think your definition of redistribution and mine are not the same.

          If I’m reading this right you are saying that any “reward” someone gets for over achieving will be punished and that person has to transfer a certain percentage of their bonus to an underachiever. That is to say that the redistribution is a direct hand out of your reward in the form of cash to some underachiever?

          My definition of redistribution is that if you live in a society that values the education of its citizens, then the redistribution (ie taxes) is pooled and then spent in a way can help people out of difficult situations so that they can pursue an education and a career that will improve their lives and in a bigger sense improve the economic life of the country.

          I see taxes as patriotic that if you truly believe in your country (that is the people that make up the country) you are willing to make a small sacrifice to help others become better citizens.