When asked why he robbed banks, Sutton simply replied, “Because that's where the money is.”
Willie Sutton was a bank robber and although he may not have realized it, he was also an economics genius. If it please the Court of Public Opinion, and assuming taxation is a form of consensual robbery (at best) there would be no better monetary policy to follow than taxing those who have the funds to pay their taxes, often in large amounts.
In this manner, money in its most basic form, dollars and cents is returned into the economy for circulation and use production of goods, the raising of salaries, inflation be damned and to produce noticeable improvement in the lives of everyday Americans as opposed to the few who may or may not be deserving of a windfall by their “hard work.”
Therefore, by utilizing what I have come to call the “Willie Sutton Economic Model” those who have benefited and can pay taxes, do pay and by doing so, reimburse the public for the raw materials that at this moment in time are slave wages that have worked their magic by which, and I do mean by hook or crook, feathered what was already a well-feathered offshore nest or two.
Recently, it was suggested to me that using every loophole lobbied for, whether reasonable or not and regardless of the detrimental effects such carve-outs for rich folk that in most instances are nothing less than corporate welfare, or, wait for it socialism at its finest, is an act of patriotism.
That may be true if you are an old and delusional Mitt Romney me first and last when none but me and my money monkey matter era capitalist, but for all others it is an act of arrogance and selfishness, that while it does create jobs for clever accountants, has a negative effect on the ability of our government to function in the best interests of not some, but all Americans.
Another overlooked but wholly realistic aspect of the American economy is the ongoing inability for most persons to understand that in a supposedly capitalist society the consumer is as important, if not more so than the manufacturers. This is why coal and fossil fuels are doomed to extinction. There simply is no market demand to fill.
Therefore, no matter how many subsidies We, the People continue to hand out, it cannot and will not produce a need for dirty and inefficient coal and other dinosaur goop mixed with paraffin wax products often referred to as fossil fuels leading to the inevitable downfall of an old, perhaps venerated industry that bottom line, has simply outlived its usefulness.
For one day and I mean one day soon, it will no longer matter how many lobbyists continue trying to gain legislative favors by pouring bribes into the hats and hands of the Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinemas of the world for if we had allowed the marketplace to correct itself we would, if not all but mostly all be driving non-polluting electric, hydrogen, or perhaps even water as fuel based vehicles as we continue to move toward replacing oil and natural gas with renewable, carbon neutral and sustainable forms of fuel and hence energy production.
Ask yourself what would happen if our tax dollars now being spent as a dying industry can remain not viable, but profitable, before it becomes obsolete, went to fostering innovations in efficiency and lowering the basic price of production and distribution went into green technologies?
Think of the dilemma we find ourselves in. The basic price of production, of producing any good is influenced by the cost of the fuel necessary to generate sufficient amounts of energy necessary to design, manufacture and promote new and exciting products that have lower fuel costs to include in the race to find acceptance and profitability in the market place.
This is capitalism at its finest. Why, any good consumer knows the mantra of finding the best products for free is the goal of a true consumer based economy in which well, to state another trope “the customer is always right”. Or, we can keep on going as we are, creating pollution without a solution, and a doomsday scenario of changing climate that is quickly turning into a self-imposed genocide for nothing more than if not growing, then at least preserving the profit margins and lining the pockets of what are already well lined pockets.
The choice is elementary in nature. Tax the ones with the extra moolah lying around so this current bunch, the so-called “Titans of Industry” who for the most part produce nothing of any value (think about it) so they are forced to re-invest their profits in their businesses, rather than allow for the continued and evil practices of allowing capital to bleed out of their business and out of circulation in larger dividends, stock options, bonuses, and golden parachutes for the few in a manner far beyond any reasonable level of compensation for the services rendered.
So, what do we do first? Well, we rob a bank or two. In this case, the Banks of the “Three Modern Day Robber Barons”, also known as the “why do we allow the likes of Bezos, Musk and Branson to avoid taxes for what it would seem to be nothing more than shooting phallus shaped rockets, some with and some without former members of Star Trek” into lower orbit that suddenly masquerades as science fiction level “outer space”?
On the issue of space travel changing one’s life in the most profound way, I’m not going to argue, but if you are unfortunately like me, the first time you sit in a cancer ward and see everyone including yourself hooked up to any number of chemical compounds all seeping life into the veins of those who have done nothing other than contract a terrible disease, cancer, to see the diversity of persons in size, shape, ethnicity and gender, all wanting nothing more than to live at least a bit longer, well, Captain, let me assure you, that’s as far into the atmosphere as you need to change your life in a most profound, humanity centric and caring way.
For our future lies not in space travel, but in finding value in everyday acts of human kindness, compassion, putting a premium price tag on empathy and the human spirit as our top priority.
But first, we must put our shared financial house in order and if we need to rob a few banks of the rich and famous, then so be it. Who is with me?
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