Davos Billionaires Lose Their Heads

During the Davos meeting of "the rich" there has been a lot of talk about a 70% marginal tax rate on the very rich. Naturally they don't like it. They say it would make the economy inefficient (whatever that is). I have a basic lesson about politics and wealth which they should all know.

1. If you have a well-running economy which benefits everyone pretty well (where more boats are raised by a rising tide), there will be no calls for  the rich to lose their heads (as during the French Revolution), a 70% marginal tax rate or even "free college". The system will handle it naturally.

2. When the system isn't working well the rabble start calling for change and social programs and free stuff and eventually the heads of those they perceive as being their enemies.

So, if the rise of Donald Trump (who promised to shake things up) on the Right and Bernie Sanders on the Left isn't warning enough, the 70% marginal tax rate discussion ought to be some kind of warning that the rabble, the 99%, aren't especially happy. There were some who voted for Barack Obama for president and they still weren't satisfied, even though he created Obamacare to help them afford healthcare insurance. So, they switched to supporting Donald Trump in 2016. It wasn't about the political party or greed, it was about changing the system to make sure they got what they needed. Has that changed? Apparently not. In 2018 the Left won a bunch of House seats with a few new members who are further to the political Left and who want to "shake things up".

Something's gotta give. The system has to be fixed/improved to distribute the new wealth of the country to more people and to pay for the government's requirements.

It may be that the rich no longer trust that government won't waste money (which the rich see as THEIR money), but that's our system. If our system is under assault by foreign powers and that makes the government work less than perfectly, then the rich should support our political system even more strongly. They have the resources to withstand more than the poor people can. They are the ones who should be arguing more strenuously for less gerrymandering. They are the ones who should campaign for more people to participate by voting. We have a Democracy "if we can keep it" and the rich have more resources to fight for it. At least that was the view of the Founders of this nation when they put their fortunes and lives on the line.