To give backing i’m from Australia which has ~2.5x the median wealth per capita of US citizens but a lower average wealth. This shows through in the wealth of a typical citizen. Less homelessness, better living standards (hdi in australia is higher) etc.

Compare sorting by median vs average to get a sense of the issue; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_wealth_pe...

This is a recent development where the median wealth of citizens in progressively taxes nations has quickly overtaken the median wealth of USA citizens.

All it takes is tax on the extremely wealthy and lessening taxes on the middle class… seems obvious right? Yet things gave consistently been going the other way for along time in the USA.

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jacquesm 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

I think by the time the wealthy realize they're setting themselves up for the local equivalent of the French Revolution it will be a bit late. It's a really bad idea to create a large number of people with absolutely nothing to lose.

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overfeed 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

I suspect the wealthy think they can shield themselves by exerting control over mass media, news outlets, the press, and domestic surveillance, all amplified by AI.

If all that fails, they have their underground bunkers on faraway islands and/or backup citizenships.

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jordwest 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

> I suspect the wealthy think they can shield themselves by exerting control over

Agreed and I think this is a result of a naive belief that we humans tend to have that controlling thoughts can control reality. Politicians still live by this belief but eventually reality and lived experience does catch up. By that time all trust is long gone.

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awillowingmind a day ago | parent | prev [-]

Assuming that they are able to fully replace the workforce, and that technocracy is fully realized, the majority stakeholders of these corporations will rely on corporations akin to palantir & anduril for private security.

	▲	a day ago \| parent [-]
		[deleted]

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baq 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

That’s what the bunkers in New Zealand are for, but if AI keeps its pace, it might not be enough anyway.

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hsuduebc2 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Moreover when you acting absolutely relentlessly like certain car maker.

People usually change their behavior after some pretty horrific events. So I would predict something like that in future. For both Europe and US too.

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tadfisher 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

They already know, and do not care. Their plan is quite literally to retreat into bunkers with shock collars enforcing the loyalty of their guards.

The richest of the rich have purchased islands where they can hole up.

	▲	AstroBen 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		Stripped of their infinite freedom out here to hide in a bunker? No chance The bunkers are in case of nuclear war or serious pandemics. Absolutely worst case last resort scenario, not just "oh I don't care if I end up there"

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zdragnar 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> All it takes is tax on the extremely wealthy and lessening taxes on the middle class… seems obvious right?

You could tax 100% of all of the top 1%'s income (not progressively, just a flat 100% tax) and it'd cover less than double the federal government's budget deficit in the US. There would be just enough left over to pay for making the covid 19 ACA subsidies permanent and a few other pet projects.

Of course, you can't actually tax 100% of their income. In fact, you'd need higher taxes on the top 10% than anywhere else in the West to cover the deficit, significantly expand social programs to have an impact, and lower taxes on the middle class.

It should be pointed out that Australia has higher taxes on their middle class than the US does. It tops out at 45% (plus 2% for medicare) for anyone at $190k or above.

If you live in New York City, and you're in the top 1% of income earners (taking cash salary rather than equity options) you're looking at a federal tax rate of 37%, a state tax rate of 10.9%, and a city income tax rate of 3.876% for a total of 51.77%. Some other states have similarly high tax brackets, others are less, and others yet use other schemes like no income tax but higher sales and property taxes.

Not quite so obvious when you look closer at it.

	▲	yulker 2 days ago \| parent \| next [-]
		The point isn't to just cover the tax bill, it's that by shifting the burden up the class ladder, there is more capital available to the classes that spend and circulate their money in the economy rather than merely accumulate it
	▲	some_guy_nobel a day ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		What are you responding to? How much of the current burden is shouldered by the middle class? How much by the 1%? How does that compare to other Western nations? What measurable effect would raising this on the 1% be? What about the middle class?
	▲	deaux a day ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		Paper income tax rates are completely and utterly meaningless. Bringing them up is just muddying the waters. Effective rates on total income (including from capital, wealth taxes etc.), post-loopholes, are the only thing that matters.
	▲	wotWhytho 2 days ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		[dead]

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naveen99 a day ago | parent | prev [-]

Without usa the way it is, Australia would be much less prosperous. From the perspective of employers and consumers, labor costs are the same. It’s just that in Europe and Australia, taxes are a larger percentage of cost of labor.