Re: the future long term financial apocalypse of the USA

On 5/30/2024 8:49 AM, Cryptoengineer wrote:

On 5/30/2024 11:18 AM, Dimensional Traveler wrote:

On 5/29/2024 9:12 AM, Paul S Person wrote:

On Tue, 28 May 2024 11:51:23 -0700, The Horny Goat <lcraver@home.ca>
wrote:
>

On Thu, 23 May 2024 02:24:03 -0400, Kevrob <kjrobinson@mail.com>
wrote:
>

OTOH, sending every adult in the country, say, $4K/mo and then taxing
the heck out of any income over $48K might work. Particularly as
people lose interest in working and robots take over their jobs. It
could even use a single rate, applicable to all, since those not
making very much would be making their $48K ($96K for married couples,
of course, plus $48K for each dependent). At last! A single-rate
proposal that everyone can support!

>
Sounds like Huey Long's old proposal (smaller numbers of course given
it was the 1930s - and over a certain amount he wanted to tax 100%)

>
I have sometimes toyed with the idea that, given such a scheme, the
tax rate should be set at /what is needed to balance the budget/ plus
pay 10% of the National Debt off. But there are obvious problems:
>
1. Actually paying the National Debt off might not be that good an
idea. But paying it down to a reasonable goal might be.
2. Republicans would squeal like stuck pigs. OK, /that's/ nothing new,
but the National Debt is their only weapon to destroy Social Security
with, and actually reducing it is something they would never tolerate.
3. Democrats wouldn't use the extra to pay off the National Debt;
they'd just spend it. Eventually, the rate needed would exceed 100%,
which is clearly a non-starter.
>
So, while what I proposed above might help with some things, it won't
help with others. OTOH, in 100 years, say, when 99% of current jobs
are held by machines, /some/ method of keeping the Rest of Us alive
and distributing the goods will be needed.

>
But will the people owning the machines doing 99% of the work agree?

 This is going to be a serious challenge, and its not the people *owning*
the machines, as it is the people *controlling* them.
 How long before the Morlocks decide they don't need so many Eloi,
even if they're the stockholders, and can't be eaten?
 [Yes, I know this plays into conspiretard theories about Population
Reduction.]
 

One suspects that the biggest problem with such theories is that they involve the conspirators actively pursuing a reduction rather then just not caring to stop it from happening over time by neglect.
--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky dirty old man.