this post was submitted on 15 Jan 2024
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While the vast majority of the EU's population has become steadily poorer recently, its top five richest billionaires have increased their wealth from €244bn in 2020 to €429bn in 2023, an Oxfam report revealed on Monday (15 January).

This represents a 76 percent increase in just three years β€” at a rate of €5.7m per hour.

"This inequality is no accident; the billionaire class is ensuring that corporations deliver more wealth to them at the expense of everyone else," said Amitabh Behar, Oxfam International's interim executive director.

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[–] HowRu68 50 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

We really should tax %% them all: their businesses, the Royal houses; no exceptions, or offshore bla bla. Then we can redistribute their wealth/power more socially.

EU corporate tax rules should only be a beginning.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 5 months ago (2 children)

That would be a great idea, if they didn't hold their respective countries', and EU legislatures by the balls.
Billionaires are never going to voluntarily or willingly give up their power.

There is good reason we say "eat the rich" instead of "tax the rich".

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

What do you mean by "eat the rich"?

[–] HowRu68 0 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

There is good reason we say "eat the rich" instead of "tax the rich".

Billionaires are never going to voluntarily or willingly give up their power.

They won't. But we can change regulations.

Don't know who " we" is nor the slogan tbh. Seems that according to wiki it's a US slogan?

Edit: probably because of The satirical book by Patrick Jake O'Rourke

Contrary to US, this is Europe, and we ( should) have socialist foundations; unfortunately since a decade or so, it's become more and more " capitalistic and right winged" in a bad way. We need to stop that trend.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

I'm not American, and eat the rich isn't either https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eat_the_rich#Origin

As for regulations, if I wasn't clear before - those who make the regulations are either obscenely rich themselves and/or are funded and controlled by the obscenely rich. Changing regulations isn't going to happen unless the obscenely rich approve, and they never will.

As for the suggestion that Europe has socialist foundations - Europeans (previously all feudal) literally created capitalism and enslaved half of humanity to feed it. The countries they pillaged now designated "developing" and still exploited for cheap labour and resources. (edit to add: even Scandinavia, with its socialist veneer is neoliberal at best and heading exactly in the same direction the rest of us are, if a few years behind us) (edit to add more: and while the Soviet Block might have been told they had communism or even just socialism, that wasn't actually the case, just more imperialism and some state capitalism as a treat)

The idea that it's only been a decade of decline to the right is so ignorant I can't do anything other than laugh at the suggestion. Honestly - where to even start??? Maybe with fascism also being a European creation?

You could seriously benefit not only from actually educating yourself on the history of where you're from, and of the systems you live by, as well the current history as well, since you're clearly completely clueless, but also from reducing your confidence in your ignorance. It's not a good look.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

literally created capitalism and enslaved half of humanity to feed it.

That's one side of the equation. On the other there's the EU officially being a social market economy and USians would get an aneuryism reading some parts of the German constitution. Like "Property entails obligations. Its use shall also serve the public good.". Or that, going way beyond eminent domain, means of productions can be socialised without even having to prove social good. Expropriate big landlords? Berlin is currently in the process of doing exactly that.

And that while no doubt Europe is causing a lot of problems elsewhere by its sheer economic weight alone, there's also stuff like the upcoming Supply Chain Act, making anyone importing anything into Europe responsible for checking that human rights were observed. There is no fucking way in hell such a thing would even be considered by the Yanks.

[–] HowRu68 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

You could seriously benefit not only from actually educating yourself on the history of where you're from, and of the systems you live by, as well the current history as well, since you're clearly completely clueless, but also from reducing your confidence in your ignorance. It's not a good look.

Tnx for the explanation, I did read most of Rousseau's work, doesn't mean I remember everything I read.

And just because I dont know this slogan, and you feel like I don't agree with you, there is absolutely no need to be condescending. Not very social are we now?

Also, you like to pinpoint only the worse elements of Europe, and you won't acknowledge Europe's socialist inheritance like here:

"The first modern socialists were early 19th-century Western European social critics. In this period socialism emerged from a diverse array of doctrines and social experiments associated primarily with British and French thinkersβ€”especially Thomas Spence, Charles Fourier, Saint-Simon, Robert Owen. " .

[–] [email protected] 19 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Taxes or guillotines. Pick one.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Most people would even know where to find the billionaires. Hard to put them to the guillotine of you don't know who they are or where they are.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Maybe someone should tell those people that there's a list that could help them find out who their local billionaires are.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

There is a German song in which an orphan gives socialists an article about germanys biggest exporter of weapons. The socialists then hunt down and kill the billionaire. I don't want to call for anything here, I just think the song fits well

[–] [email protected] 18 points 5 months ago

Just tax anything above, say, 500million with a rate of 95%. Nobody needs that kind of money. Making that much is only numbers porn for the sociopaths, it doesn't matter if they get to keep it.

[–] snekerpimp 13 points 5 months ago

Do we grill them or pan seer them?

[–] [email protected] 13 points 5 months ago
[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago

It's gonna trickle down any second now

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago

Sadly not unexpected

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago

i was worried that they would not be able to sustain their life through the recent inflations πŸ‘πŸ˜­ close one, good on them

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago

Eat the rich. It's the best thing you can do: for society, against climate change, everything.

[–] HowRu68 4 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

As anyone ever played Monopoly? You did? So you know how it ends.

[–] quams69 2 points 5 months ago

Guillotines. Run em through until people understand: hoard wealth, lose your head