Marinejuana wrote:
i just don't think they should be allowed to control things. i think the same way we throw a murderer in prison, we should treat a person the same way if their business dealings put a bunch of people in the poorhouse, ie., by buying up assets. you could simply have a law that says its illegal to make more than 1000x minimum wage. that would be like $16 million in a year, way more than anybody deserves, and yet some people control billions and collapse whole cities with a single business transactions. nobody should have that kind of power over the hard working average person that will pull their weight if they have a chance. if you just allow people to exploit each other, then you have a system like ours which progresses toward totalitarianism as the ever decreasing number of powerful political bodies vie for control while outsiders lack the capital to even make a showing.
How would limiting the amount a person makes (or is allowed to make) maximize personal freedom? The fact that government would be able to limit the amount of money a person makes would seem to me a large impediment on personal freedom. The pursuance of wealth/property is a fundamental aspect of a free society, and also human nature. A limit on that ability is simply arbitrary at best.
A maximum cap on income would actually punish society as a whole - it would strip income (and the ability/incentive to earn above the arbitrary-judgement maximum) from people who want to earn it - the same people that invest capital to create and maintain the country's economic and social infrastructure. Power of a nation-society as a whole (militarily, industrially, politically) is primarily contingent on the infrastructure/industry of the country. In that regard, the potential to create and invest wealth is fundamental to a powerful society.
There definitely needs to be a balance in regards to the ability to create personal wealth and the control that possible amount of wealth could dictate. However, that can (and should) be addressed through the avenues that lead to the ability to control entire economies/industries/societies.
I do agree that corporate welfare needs to end, and there needs to be much more accountability in regards to white-collar crime and government/private sector collusion. However, that (corporate corruption) is entirely removed from a value-judgement on the right of a person to obtain assets - and is a real, tangible problem as opposed to social commentary.
Last edited by KEN-JENNINGS (2008-02-04 01:06:32)