Comment on Founder of 23andMe buys back company out of bankruptcy auction
pebbles@sh.itjust.works 2 days agoDepends, are considering the fact that 90% of stocks are owned by the top 10% of Americans? Also are you considering that being in the top 10% means you likely have rich friends and family that could bail you out? I think black rock is going to be fine.
Most businesses aren’t like my friends parents little Chinese restraunt.
To me using the, “think of the shareholders” line is silly for a reason. The biggest privileges is the privilege to make mistakes without becoming impoverished. Workers have it much harder in that respect.
rigatti@lemmy.world 1 day ago
You make a good point that the shareholder/business owner class is more likely to have better safety nets. So from that standpoint, if the absolute value of their loss is greater, it could have a much less significant impact on their lives.
I think you may be underestimating the amount of small businesses though, at least in the US.
pebbles@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
For most shareholders in most businesses, the risk is that you are no longer as rich as your peers.
Most US households can’t weather a $1000 unexpected expense without going into debt.
To be real, capital gains are the definition of inequality. It is making money by having enough money to own something. There is no other economic force that drives inequality more.
Small business is a decent minority of US employers. It can’t be ignored, but it is the unlikely case when sampling by employee or just by random citizen.
At most an owner can be reimbursed for their costs of starting the business. Past that I don’t see any reason to give them a special share of the profits. Even that feels generous given how unequal we are, and that fact that having the money to start a business means you are likely more privileged than your employees.