GREED!!!

Current pay for entertainers is a result of the multiplication effect of technology. Prior technological advances, people paid to see an individual stage or athletic performance at a fixed place, and the number of people the venue would hold plus the amount those people were willing to pay for a seat in that venue determined the value of the performance. With technological advances, performances are now broadcast to billions globally and the performers get paid for the audience numbers.
You make a good point, but......
Well, YIPPEE! for them. That doesn't mean that they aren't exorbitant. I was just stating my opinion. Starting next baseball season, Bryce Harper of the Phillies will be paid at the rate of $260,000.00 per game, even if he is hurt and cannot play. Between cable TV and fan ticket money and a few other sources of income, he will get his money from us.
 

In this country. food clothing and shelter should be free. If you want a car, boat, or luxuries you pay. High speed rail or other mass transportation across and around the country should be in place by now. There should be a cap on how much money and assets any one person may hoard. No one needs multiple billions of dollars. Go over the amount set for the cap, it goes into the food clothing and shelter fund. No exceptions. Healthcare should be on a sliding scale. Can't make a payment? Lower the payment. Lifesaving drugs should dispensed at the doctor's office as needed. There should be a healthy lifestyles branch to every medical practice, with a gym in the basement and daily walks or other forms of exercise scheduled. Again payment for the service on a sliding scale for the individual. Amen

Emphasis mine

Take away incentive for bright, hard workers to go beyond your cap and the funding for freebies evaporates.
 
911:
The TV series "The Million Dollar Man," was obviously not a pro baseball, basketball or football player.
 

As Celine said in Before Sunset: "Not wanting anything. . . Isn't that a symptom of depression? It's very human to desire." Is having everything for doing nothing the best way to live? To quote Celine again: "Well then I think desire is the fuel of life. Do you think it's true that we'd never be unhappy if we never wanted anything?"
 
Olivia:
When is enough, who decides, "That's plenty
A trip down to the 'poor,' will depict entirely different definitions of 'want,' not really want, but the essentials of life..'

Ronnie:
One, example of greed, and there are several, in our state and fed bureaucracies is ‘empire building.’ The more ‘underlings’ the bureaucrats can add under their jurisdiction the more power they obtain. Greed and power, in govt are synonyms, our military, especially those in the pentagon answer only to their cliques
Our politician playing with our lives to obtain power…
What a depressing topic, need to come up for air.
 
Olivia:
When is enough, who decides, "That's plenty
A trip down to the 'poor,' will depict entirely different definition of 'want,' not really want, but the essentials of life..'

I decide when is enough and what the definition of "want" is for me. Too many people let others decide for them. That's not greed. It's interesting because early human species didn't survive but Homo sapiens have survived because they were the most greedy and violent of the human species. So why are we so surprised about humans today (us)?
 
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Never said what the cap should be. Could be a million dollars for all I care. Didn't mention how everyone should get a basic income either.

It doesn't matter the cap; a cap disincentives the brightest and hardest working, especially if they know that they're supporting a boat load of freebies for people who aren't working. They're not going to fund that system. Some will leave, a lot will cheat the system, some will get tired, give up and stick their hands out. Or they'll overthrow the system, and the pendulum will swing in such a way that what flawed social welfare systems we do have in place--however bad one may perceive them to be--will look like paradise.

And I didn't read your initial post as advocating for a basic income. If clothing, shelter, food and healthcare are free, there's not much need for a basic income.

Our universe is mathematically governed and that applies to social sciences.
 
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One, example of greed, and there are several, in our state and fed bureaucracies is ‘empire building.’ The more ‘underlings’ the bureaucrats can add under their jurisdiction the more power they obtain. Greed and power, in govt are synonyms, our military, especially those in the pentagon answer only to their cliques

Our politician playing with our lives to obtain power…

What a depressing topic, need to come up for air.
 
If the brightest and the hardest working want to sit on their butts and collect only basic income because they can't hoard billions they'll never use so be it. Not everyone feels that way.
 
Which of these socialistic programs would you abolish:


No offense intended but which of these socialistic programs do you want to abolish:

Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the military, road/highway/ bridge construction and maintenance, police, fire, postal service, libraries, museums, public schools, legal system - courts/ jails/prisons, vaccine programs, farm subsidies, sewer systems, transportation systems such as city buses/subways/Amtrak, dams and water control, PBS, CDC, FEMA, ICE and other border control. And there must be others that don't come to mind just now.

Please tell us, which should go?
A limited social democracy that funds welfare and social programs is very different from a socialistic society where the means of production are owned or regulated by the people/government.
 
Definitions? don't know definitions:

Communism has never been tried, we have no idea what it is, it is and has always been a scare word.
Socialism is not a bad word; it has been made a scare word by capitalist.
The Scandinavian Countries seem to function well with socialism.
Check it out on the net, problems yes, but the people accept them.

If yout took pen and paper and added up the amount of money you pay fed, state, and county taxes you might be astounded –don’t forget sneaked tx: on land phone lines, lic tag alcohol, cigarette tax, non-food items at grocery store and the dozens of others we have paid without murmurs.
You don’t find it peculiar that the first item revolutionary govts that have succeeded do is pass a law outlawing revolutions

I want no part of paying 40% of gross income, Yet, I had no idea just what % of my gross income went to taxes. Primarily, those hidden taxes we never consider.
Plus, we have no input on how our state and fed taxes are allocated-that’s a job for our betters.
1. New York
Total tax burden: 13.04 percent
Property tax burden: 4.62 percent
Individual income tax burden: 4.78 percent
Total sales and excise tax burden: 3.64 percent
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/10/us-states-with-the-highest-tax-burdens.html
This is in addition to Fed, FICA and Medicare taxes, City and or County sales taxes.
Nor does it count the hidden taxes in phone/elec/water/cable/internet/etc. bills.
 
One, example of greed, and there are several, in our state and fed bureaucracies is ‘empire building.’ The more ‘underlings’ the bureaucrats can add under their jurisdiction the more power they obtain. Greed and power, in govt are synonyms, our military, especially those in the pentagon answer only to their cliques

Our politician playing with our lives to obtain power…

What a depressing topic, need to come up for air.


And if they do, who exactly will fund your utopia
Lots of crazy folks live there, seem to like it. 'course they don't pay taxes
Lots of restrictions, but they get three hots and a cot.

The biggie is prisons, by far, they are a real deficit on any meaningful project our govt's attempt to fund; well over $100.00 per head per
prisoner., per day, if we are to believe politicos.
 
I shake out on the side of condemning most MD's as greedy bastards. My last wife was an RN, my gf is in medical billing. I've seen things up close, and personal.

We talk about the healthcare crisis, yet very few call it like it is: It starts with greedy doctors and hospitals and insurance execs. They're all in bed, together. Talk to an MD for ten minutes, get a bill for $250! GREED!
 
I’ll tell you what bugs me. Over paid professional athletes. Over paid owners of professional sports teams. Over paid movie stars. Over paid rock stars. The millions and millions of dollars that are paid to corporate execs as bonuses. The amount of money paid out by companies to those acting as product endorsers. I am a believer in capitalism, but their should be some common sense when paying the above mentioned people.

Personally, I know an Oncologist that also does surgery removing tumors. His wife told my wife just last year that he made $1.6 million dollars in 2017. I’m OK with that. The man is out there saving lives and “earning” his money. But, how do you support someone making $26 million per year playing baseball? Which person’s abilities are more important?

I agree that’s why I believe in boycotting, hit them in the pocketbook. I no longer go to movie theaters and watch movies, I don’t watch any sports teams and I haven’t been to a rock concert for many years other than the journey concert in Vegas but I couldn’t say no to that LOL
 
A limited social democracy that funds welfare and social programs is very different from a socialistic society where the means of production are owned or regulated by the people/government.

Don't like to beat a dead horse but I think many of our older generation are offended by the word 'socialism' itself because it is what Germany claimed to be prior to WW II. Just hearing the word itself creates a bad taste in the mouth because of an unconscious association with Nazi Germany.
 
I’ll tell you what bugs me. Over paid professional athletes. Over paid owners of professional sports teams. Over paid movie stars. Over paid rock stars. The millions and millions of dollars that are paid to corporate execs as bonuses. The amount of money paid out by companies to those acting as product endorsers. I am a believer in capitalism, but their should be some common sense when paying the above mentioned people.

Personally, I know an Oncologist that also does surgery removing tumors. His wife told my wife just last year that he made $1.6 million dollars in 2017. I’m OK with that. The man is out there saving lives and “earning” his money. But, how do you support someone making $26 million per year playing baseball? Which person’s abilities are more important?
A heart surgeon save my dad’s life and he lived 25 additional years before dying in his sleep. That guy I am sure wasn’t paid any more than five or $600,000 it’s ridiculous to think that these guys that throw balls and bounce balls are making so much more money than this guy who saved my father’s life and probably hundreds like him, it’s disgusting 🤮
 


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