Taxes are the only way to get rid of excess money? "We ask you to tax us, the very richest in society," reads an open letter to the world leaders assembled in Davos, Switzerland, penned by 250 millionaires and billionaires who seem to be gluttons for punishment.
"We'd be proud to pay more," declares their website, which is thusly named. "This will not fundamentally alter our standard of living, nor deprive our children, nor harm our nations' economic growth. But it will turn extreme and unproductive private wealth into an investment for our common democratic future." Signatories include Disney and Rockefeller heiresses, as well as actor Brian Cox.
Currently, nobody is forcing them to keep their earnings. They have full freedom to do whatever they'd like with their money—including giving it away to charity or coordinating with other similarly rich people to pool money together to tackle specific issues that might be too large for just one billionaire to handle.
"Inequality has reached a tipping point, and its cost to our economic, societal and ecological stability risk is severe—and growing every day," reads the letter, which in no way substantiates how "inequality" has reached this "tipping point" or what exactly happens if inequality continues to grow. (Absolute wealth is infrequently mentioned in these types of calls to action. It's always relative wealth, which allows signatories to ignore the vast standard-of-living gains that have been made over the last century.)
"If our elected officials refuse to address this concentration of money and power, the consequences will be dire," warned Cox.
Speaking of concentrations of power: The impetus for the open letter is the World Economic Forum's meeting in Davos, which is happening now and drawing leaders from across the globe—frequently arriving on their private jets. ("Private jet emissions quadrupled during Davos 2022," reads a Guardian headline from last year, which put the total number of private jet flights at 1,040. Fascinating that those who are so concerned with climate change still feel comfortable flying private.)
The bright spot, amid the calls for coercive wealth redistribution, was undoubtedly the speech given by newly elected Argentine President Javier Milei, who is so full of fiery takes that he might just singe your eyebrows off.
"Today I am here to tell you that the Western world is in danger, and it's in danger because those who are supposed to defend the values of the West are co-opted by a vision of the world that inexorably leads to socialism, and thereby to poverty," said Milei. "Unfortunately, in recent decades, motivated by some well-meaning individuals willing to help others, and others motivated by the desire to belong to a privileged class, the main leaders of the Western world have abandoned the model of freedom for different versions of what we call collectivism."
But Argentina knows firsthand, he warned, just how bad of an economic situation can arise from state intervention: "We are here to tell you that collectivist experiments are never the solution to the problems that afflict the citizens of the world, rather they are the root cause."
"Today's states don't need to directly control the means of production to control every aspect of the life of individuals," he continued. "With tools like printing money, debt, subsidies, control of the interest rate, price controls, and regulations to correct the so-called market failures, they can control the lives and fates of millions of individuals."
And, later on: "They say that capitalism is evil because it's individualistic and that collectivism is good because it's altruistic, of course with the money of others."
You couldn't engineer a better response to the taxation-hungry billionaires mentioned above if you tried. People are always free to give their own money away, but it takes a special breed to favor coercion.
"Do not be intimidated either by the political caste nor by parasites who live off the state. Do not surrender yourself to a political class that only wants to perpetuate itself in power and keep their privileges," Milei added, closing with a forceful defense of value creators: "You [entrepreneurs] are social benefactors, you are heroes, you are the creators of the most extraordinary period of prosperity we have ever seen. Let no one tell you that your ambition is immoral."
After all, "the state is not the solution, the state is the problem itself."
It's about time someone went into the lion's den and forcefully defended free market capitalism.
Oh, and Milei? He flew commercial, saving taxpayers an estimated $392,000.
Milei viajando a Davos en avión comercial, como cualquier normal. Los argentinos no tienen idea de los millones de dólares de impuestos que nos ahorró el presidente con su austeridad. pic.twitter.com/l2NTeO1fhX
— Pregonero (@PregoneroL) January 15, 2024
Scenes from New York: Can someone please check in on the NYC media class? They're obsessed with polyamory right now, and the rest of us are bored. (It's good that people have more sexual freedom now than ever before. It's bad that I have to hear about it.)
The new issue of @NYMag explores the world of ethical non-monogamy. The package includes a feature by @AllisonPDavis on one specific polycule, and offers poly-curious readers an in-depth guide to opening up their relationships. Read about the issue: https://t.co/Gf188nm2sV pic.twitter.com/Oi6oyvKbmg
— New York Magazine Communications (@nymagPR) January 16, 2024
QUICK HITS
- "I'm worried that authorities don't feel compelled to provide citizens with towns and cities that work, and feel safe, and offer slivers of shade and corners that don't smell of piss," wrote Chris Arnade for Unherd. "But I'm also worried about the cultural forces that have got us here: that they allow the tolerably well-off to ignore the plight of those who are forced to depend on public services. The regulatory mindset is a problem that can be easily changed; the more pernicious part is that we are now firmly a low-trust society, and social trust impacts everything—every facet of life—and it can't simply be legislated back."
- "There is nothing more unjust than social justice," says Milei:
"There is nothing more unjust than social justice.
Because what is the greatest achievement of liberalism? Liberalism's greatest achievement is 'equality before the law.' When you adhere to the ideas of social justice … what you are really doing is using the repressive state… https://t.co/gbzwSbwsuQ
— Liz Wolfe (@LizWolfeReason) January 18, 2024
- The U.S. launched even more strikes against Iran-backed Yemeni Houthis (which the Biden administration redesignated as a terrorist organization yesterday).
- The World Health Organization just released guidance stating that the evidence supporting "gender-affirming care" for children is actually "limited and variable." National Review has more.
- Yes, AI is a labor-replacing tool, what of it?
- California legislators finally realized that banning tackle football for kids and teenagers was an insane idea all along.
- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has pulled out of campaigning in New Hampshire and is concentrating his resources—to the extent that they exist—on South Carolina.
- Disturbing:
4.1 percent of all deaths were medically assisted in Canada in 2022. 13,241 Canadians were euthanized -- a growth rate of 31.2% over 2021. pic.twitter.com/vneUmmBYQe
— Wesley Yang (@wesyang) January 17, 2024
- Death to intersectionality:
The left loves to be like "it's all connected! Climate change, racism, Palestine, capitalism! It's all one issue!" And while I fundamentally disagree with that outlook, if you insist on framing it that way, then fine. I guess you've lost me on everything.
— Ben Dreyfuss (@bendreyfuss) January 18, 2024
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