Netherlands if I remember correctly currently is doing something in that direction
It’s not. Nothing remotely like that is going on here.
Comment on But how would they be able to live on that?
Emmie@lemm.ee 6 months agoWealth is there to motivate people to do something more than dwell and ruminate. If there was a wealth cap or maximum amount of money you can have no one would have motivation to do all these things we have like companies and such.
trxxruraxvr@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Emmie@lemm.ee 6 months ago
In April 2020, during the first wave of COVID-19, Amsterdam’s city government announced it would recover from the crisis, and avoid future ones, by embracing the theory of “doughnut economics.”
Wrench@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Call it at 20m. That’s a great fucking motivation to me. That’s a couple nice houses,a boat or two, several over the top cars, and pretty much any possession you can think of within reason. You could lead a very comfortable life on 20m net worth.
Humanity does not need private keys, mega yachts, mega mansions, etc.
There would be no personal motivation to siphon every penny away from your employees as you can if you’re at your wealth cap. Employees who should be sharing in the company’s success in meaningful terms.
There would be no motivation for enshitification to reduce costs to the bare minimum for every last penny.
Etc.
The extreme greed that “motivates innovation” is such a crock. Yeah, obscene wealth dues fuel venture capitalism atm, but those investors are also who twist the knife on CEOs to make short term decisions that end up destroying companies at the detriment of employees and customers alike.
CEOs aren’t in it for the long haul. Investors aren’t in it for the long haul. It’s all rape and pillage under the current system.
R2DPru@lemmy.world 6 months ago
If it’s such great motivation, what is stopping you now? The potential to earn that is there for you, right now but from what I gather you’re not doing it. Why would you have MORE motivation to make 20M if it was capped but have no motivation in the current environment?
Wrench@lemmy.world 6 months ago
I think you’re missing the point. I am asserting that 20m cap or capless, people including myself are motivated to try to be monetarily successful. The American dream is everyone is a future million/billionaire.
The current wealth distribution and lobbying only serves to make the rich richer and kick the ladder out from behind them.
A wealth cap changes that. It means there’s little point for the rich to keep clutching to power for more money, because you can’t keep it. But the goal of 20m is still very appetizing to the working class, where they could retire in comfort for the rest of their lives.
Emmie@lemm.ee 6 months ago
But if you cap it there is no reason to improve things, make them more efficient etc. The world runs on greed and it’s very important for progress as long as it can be directed and constrained in a sensible manner.
Wrench@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Ok. Let’s do a little exercise, then.
Assuming you’re a working class person, are you motivated by the hope of becoming a billionaire? Is that what drives you to go to work or take a chance at starting a business of your own?
If that dream was capped at 20m, would that stop you from trying to be successful? Is there anything in the world that you covet that exceeds 20m? Or even 10m.
I won’t wait for your personal answer. I don’t think it’d far fetched to say that for most people, their answer would be that it doesn’t make a difference. Achieving 20m would be a dream and give them a far more comfortable life than they have now.
And if they reached that 20m, they’d either retire and give the next generation a chance at the reins, or keep working but necessarily focus more on their employee/customer happiness, because there’s no reason to be exceedingly greedy except as a ego scoreboard thing.
That doesn’t stop innovation, it just means that more will innovate and thrive because fewer will clutch onto their throne and kick others down.
Emmie@lemm.ee 6 months ago