Forum Post: Is Redistribution of Wealth Good for Society?
Posted 12 years ago on Nov. 3, 2011, 2:06 p.m. EST by rmmo
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We have seen 30 years of stagnating middle class wages, the replacement of middle class wages with easy credit, and the explosion of corporate profits and executive compensation.
The middle class spends its money on goods and services and the corporations take in the money as profit and they have distributed all of the fruits of the workers' labor to the few at the top.
Is it good for society for the middle class wealth to be paid out in $210 million pay outs to executives who don't produce results? This is what happened with the Home Depot CEO -- he got a $210 million pay out.
What good does it do for society to give that much money to one person? And why? So, he can purchase 500 cars? So he can buy 10 islands?
Would it have been better to spread the $200 of the $210 million among the company's thousands of workers so that they could purchase homes, healthcare, pay for college, pay for their retirement, etc.?
This is what the loss of the high marginal tax and loss of unions has done to this nation. One person hordes $210 million -- more than any of us could spend in 10 lifetimes -- while the workers struggle to get by -- struggle to pay for their healthcare, retirement, kid's college educations, etc.
Which is better for society?
Here is a chart showing the relation of the loss of the high marginal tax and the explosion of executive compensation:
THE RATIO OF AVERAGE CEO COMPENSATION AND WORKER PAY IN THE US 1965-2005: 2005 - 262:1 (Av. CEO-$10,982,000/Av. Worker- $41,861) 2004 - 238:1 2003 - 181:1 2002 - 143:1 2000 - 300:1 1989 - 71:1 1978 - 35:1 1965 - 24:1 Source: Mercer Survey of 350 large industrial and service firms conducted for the Wall Street Journal as reported by Mishel, Bernstein, Allegretto
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/01/business/lets-stop-rewarding-failed-ceos-common-sense.html?_r=1&ref=executivepay http://www.ecgtn.org/events/oxford2005/documents/bebchuk_grinstein.pdf http://www.alternet.org/economy/49631/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,240987,00.html http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/03/news/companies/home_depot/index.htm http://www.pay-without-performance.com/Preface%20and%20Introduction.pdf http://blogs.hbr.org/ashkenas/2010/06/rethinking-the-assumptions-beh.html http://www.law.harvard.edu/faculty/bebchuk/pdfs/BCS-Wages-of-Failure-Nov09.pdf
We know what the problem is, let us fix it and move forward together.
When you look at a republican or democrat, congress or FDA official, Judges and Justice Department you see criminals.
Our corruption dates back decades to when those who in trying to preserve slavery had to find new ways to preserve it and so created an advanced form of slavery.
only two components were required -- the illusion of freedom and choice and the taking away of the freedom to live off the land.
How else would you get a person to submit themselves to mind numbing or degrading work unless you oppress them into it.
our current system is rooted in corruption and every attempt in preserving it involves manipulating human thought and turning people against one another.
In America the population has been transformed in two major voting groups but they only have one choice.
They had been distracted up until now with television and American culture which prospered through the oppression of other nations.
Americans allowed themselves to be fooled into using their military and economic dominance to seize resources of other nations and create expanding markets for American profiteers.
Now that technology, competition and conscience have evolved Americans themselves are realizing that they cannot sustain themselves under their current system of government.
Our government officials have allowed private profits and personal benefits to influence decisions that affect the health and well-being of people all over the planet, not just in America... how much longer will we allow them to rule over us??
Occupy Washington and demand that all government officials resign their posts.
We will setup new online elections with a verification system that will allow us to see our votes after we cast them, put our new officials in office and work toward rebuilding our country and our world.
http://wesower.org