Time for a System Change ?

[nobodysfriend]

Time for a system change ...?

We all see where unrestricted capitalism as the dominant economic form , has lead the world to ...

Capitalism gives the individual the possibility to become rich , much richer than needed ... but it creates greed for more and more , and that leads to environmental destruction . To repair this , money is needed , and sometimes money is not enough when the destruction became irreversible already .

Does the world really need individuals like Elon Musk , who has 400 Billion dollars now ? ( 400 thousand millions )

Would it not be better to set a limit on how much somebody can own ? Give the billionaires some privileges , ok , but tax away everything that is over a certain limit . That money could be used for repairing the damage done to the ecosystems ...

To have a good life , nobody needs to be so rich , that it would be impossible to spend all that money anyway ... there would be better use for it .

Communism is no solution either ... a few high ranked leaders become rich and important , while the normal population is not given a real chance to get what they dream of ... personal possibilities to become something or somebody they want are restricted by the system .

Political system should change as well ...

We see with Trump how much power the , once elected , american president gets . All that power to just one person ? that is risky at best . Trump sets up his team of millionaires to govern the people who are indoctrinated that unrestricted capitalism is the best ... it is not .

Anyway , the idea of Nationalities , ethnic differences etc , is all outdated at a time where the survival of a Species is endangered .

This planet needs birth control for it's dominant species , far too many people already .

It needs an immediate reduction of ( plastic ) pollution and all other forms of man made pollution , immediately .

We are drowning in plastic waste , microplastics have even been found in human brains ... it needs to be stopped , but the producers produce even more ... they would profit less ... Sad .

There are alternative lifestyles that are sufficient to make people have a happy life without polluting the environment .

It starts with producing the energy one needs by sustainable sources like solar etc ... enough , everybody knows anyway ...

 

 

[Old Curmudgeon]

6 hours ago, nobodysfriend said:

Time for a system change ...?

 

Good to see someone with the curiosity to ask questions like this, plus the courage to post in public view.

 

I just wish @nobodysfriend had more experience or, perhaps, more education on the topics he posted about above.

 

But as it is, the opening post is just a hash of slogans and phrases from every which where, most inspired by Cultural Marxism.

 

Where to fill in the missing pieces in @nobodysfriend's thinking?

Difficult to answer.

Those slogans and phrases he uses surround us everywhere, in most all media, including social media.

 

But sound ideas are not so easy to find.

Possible, but not easy.

I wish I could refer him to one web site with beginning lessons in clear thinking.

But I don't know one, central, place.

Many scattered ideas all over on web sites, blogs, paper books, videos, etc.

But one place for the good ideas on this topic of "system change"?

Now, that would be a useful change in itself.

[newbee2022]

18 hours ago, Old Curmudgeon said:

 

Good to see someone with the curiosity to ask questions like this, plus the courage to post in public view.

 

I just wish @nobodysfriend had more experience or, perhaps, more education on the topics he posted about above.

 

But as it is, the opening post is just a hash of slogans and phrases from every which where, most inspired by Cultural Marxism.

 

Where to fill in the missing pieces in @nobodysfriend's thinking?

Difficult to answer.

Those slogans and phrases he uses surround us everywhere, in most all media, including social media.

 

But sound ideas are not so easy to find.

Possible, but not easy.

I wish I could refer him to one web site with beginning lessons in clear thinking.

But I don't know one, central, place.

Many scattered ideas all over on web sites, blogs, paper books, videos, etc.

But one place for the good ideas on this topic of "system change"?

Now, that would be a useful change in itself.

Well, your post didn't give us new ideas either.

Govts try to change....bit by bit. Closing down nuclear plants eg,, no plastic bags which will not get rotten in hundred years, going for EV cars, or better mass public transport, new ways to create energy 

However, that's not for free. It costs huge amounts of money and efforts for transition to electric power.

To convince citizens is the biggest task. If people are not convinced they won't follow.

[nobodysfriend]

19 hours ago, Old Curmudgeon said:

Where to fill in the missing pieces in @nobodysfriend's thinking?

Difficult to answer.

 

 Difficult to answer for somebody who seems confused himself ...

If you know what is wrong , why don't you tell ...?

No positive participation from you , only arrogance ...

 

19 hours ago, Old Curmudgeon said:

wish I could refer him to one web site with beginning lessons in clear thinking.

 

My thinking is very clear , I found and analyzed the problems in our present society and I know how to solve them ( theoretically ) .

But , to solve communal problems , it needs the participation of the majority of people , and that looks like an unsolvable problem in the moment ...

There are simply to many who do not realize what is wrong and how to change that ... you are one of them .

[mokwit]

On 12/16/2024 at 12:26 PM, nobodysfriend said:

This planet needs birth control for it's dominant species , far too many people already .

Don't worry, some billionaires are working on that.

 

As for solar, check out the problems German industry is having.

[mokwit]

7 minutes ago, nobodysfriend said:

My thinking is very clear , I found and analyzed the problems in our present society and I know how to solve them

Such solutions are available in any bar in Bangkok any day of the week. Such simple solutions to complex problems that one is at a loss to understand why world leaders aren't implementing them.

[nobodysfriend]

Just now, mokwit said:

Don't worry, some billionaires are working on that.

 

A new , more lethal form of Coronavirus in the making already ....?

 

1 minute ago, mokwit said:

As for solar, check out the problems German industry is having.

 

Germans produce too expensive , nobody buys a german solar panel that is 3 times more expensive than a comparable chinese one .

[nobodysfriend]

3 minutes ago, mokwit said:

Such solutions are available in any bar in Bangkok any day of the week. Such simple solutions to complex problems that one is at a loss to understand why world leaders aren't implementing them.

 What solutions ?

Explain a little , please ...

[mokwit]

3 minutes ago, nobodysfriend said:

 

A new , more lethal form of Coronavirus in the making already ....?

 

 

Germans produce too expensive , nobody buys a german solar panel that is 3 times more expensive than a comparable chinese one .

I'm talking about trying to supply reliable electricity to industry with windmills and solar panels. Germany is dependent on Russan gas.

[mokwit]

3 minutes ago, nobodysfriend said:

What solutions ?

Explain a little , please ...

No one can remember them in the morning.

[nobodysfriend]

1 minute ago, mokwit said:

No one can remember them in the morning.

 

Another one who has no idea ...

[nobodysfriend]

4 minutes ago, mokwit said:

I'm talking about trying to supply reliable electricity to industry with windmills and solar panels. Germany is dependent on Russan gas.

 

AFAIK , Putin does not deliver russian gas any more to Germany ....

[mokwit]

6 minutes ago, nobodysfriend said:

 

AFAIK , Putin does not deliver russian gas any more to Germany ....

Ok you may be right on that and that is why they are so f*cked trying to run their economy on windmills and solar. Merkel nixed nuclear.

[mokwit]

10 minutes ago, nobodysfriend said:

 

Another one who has no idea ...

So funny how you think you know so much. Are you out of your twenties yet? I knew everything in my twenties.

[nobodysfriend]

Just now, mokwit said:

So funny how you think you know so much. Are you out of your twenties yet? I knew everything in my twenties.

 

... but you forgot most of it when becoming older ...?

The clue is in logical , binary thinking ... and if you want to find solutions , you need to ask the right questions .

[mokwit]

4 minutes ago, nobodysfriend said:

 

... but you forgot most of it when becoming older ...?

The clue is in logical , binary thinking ... and if you want to find solutions , you need to ask the right questions .

OK got it.

 

Edit: [sarcasm].

[mokwit]

On 12/16/2024 at 12:26 PM, nobodysfriend said:

Would it not be better to set a limit on how much somebody can own ? Give the billionaires some privileges , ok , but tax away everything that is over a certain limit .

This is pretty much was what tried in the UK in the '70's. the economy went to sh*t because no one would invest their capital to have the profits confiscated as tax. nobody goes for that deal. I grew up in the '70's. I was there. I saw the reality.

[nobodysfriend]

Just now, mokwit said:

This is pretty much was what tried in the UK in the '70's. the economy went to sh*t because no one would invest their capital to have the profits confiscated as tax. nobody goes for that deal. I grew up in the '70's. I was there. I saw the reality.

 

Ok , let's say the limit to maximal personal wealth would be 1 billion ( 1000 millions ) ...

 

Would that take away the motivations ?

[mokwit]

2 minutes ago, nobodysfriend said:

 

Ok , let's say the limit to maximal personal wealth would be 1 billion ( 1000 millions ) ...

 

Would that take away the motivations ?

Most investment is corporate not individual (my bad I used individual as an example). If you tax corporations and they can't make profits, nobody invests. I suggest you check out what actual percentage of their companies billionaires like Musk, Bezos Zuckerberg, the Jobs family Jenwhatever his name is at NVDIA actually own. You could limit the founder to $1bn of stock market value, but then wouldn't he just cash out his billion that won't grow anymore and stop running or expanding the company?

[nobodysfriend]

1 minute ago, mokwit said:

Most investment is corporate not individual (my bad I used individual as an example). If you tax corporations and they can't make profits, nobody invests. I suggest you check out what actual percentage of their companies billionaires like Musk, Bezos Zuckerberg, the Jobs family Jenwhatever his name is at NVDIA actually own. You could limit the founder to $1bn of stock market value, but then wouldn't he just cash out his billion that won't grow anymore and stop running or expanding the company?

 

I wonder what money they use to buy their private airplanes , Yachts , islands ...?

[KhunLA]

25 minutes ago, nobodysfriend said:

 

Ok , let's say the limit to maximal personal wealth would be 1 billion ( 1000 millions ) ...

 

Would that take away the motivations ?

Yes.   You hit your 1B, stop producing, selling, buying, paying employees, taxes (except on interest earned), so now money is only benefiting you.  Add to that, no need or motivation, to even stay in home country, so now that's not even going back into the economy.   

 

What if Musk stopped all, once he hit 1B.  Close Tesla, Space X may have never been, etc etc etc.  Same with Bezos, Gates, and whoever else.  Oil tycoons, OK, got our 1B, stop pumping oil.

 

I was fed up with paying taxes, so when I had enough, I stopped producing, investing, paying taxes, as had enough, and didn't want to continue risking my money, and having govt take 40%.  And, I left, so nothing is returned to the USA economy.

 

I'm no longer paying taxes, RE, school, road, all those taxes that help less fortunate.  Only one person, but times that by 1-10-100 thousand people, half million, 10 million, and that all starts to add up.   Especially if we we're providing jobs, income, to be reinvested into the economy.

 

Now, I'm a blight on the USA taxpayer.  Less so since I live here / TH, but I'm a negative on their balance sheet.  If not for the taxes, I probably would still be in USA, producing, generating income, to the benefit of govt and others.

 

 

Once you go down that road, limiting to 1B, what next, 1/2 B, till you get down to 1M.  Now you're losing you tax base, and as they say ...

 

"Sooner or later, you run out of other people's money"

[nobodysfriend]

6 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Yes.   You hit your 1B, stop producing, selling, buying, paying employees, taxes (except on interest earned), so now money is only benefiting you.  Add to that, no need or motivation, to even stay in home country, so now that's not even going back into the economy. 

 

You misunderstood ... once the 1 billion personal wealth reached , the company does not need to cease to exist , It could go on just as before , only the profits that are made should be diverted to sustainable goals , like setting up solar farms that produce cheap electricity for everybody ...

 

The owners or founders of these companies can get other privileges ...

[Airalee]

There are billions of people who don’t have “enough”.

 

Take Musks stock and sell it all to raise money for them.   But sell it to who?  Other billionaires?  Oh….wait….you want their money too.  But first they must divest their assets….to who?

 

I’m sure there are billions of people who think you have too much.

 

700 million people live on less than $2 a day.   Thai minimum wage is something they can only dream of.  And Thais make more than billions of people.  Should Thais only get $4 a day?

 

how much do you deserve?  I’d be willing to bet that you think you deserve more than them.

 

it reminds me of a girl who worked as a concierge in a Los Angeles apartment I used to live in.  Complete SJW (like yourself).  She was paid $16/hour and would go on and on about how the parking valets deserved $15 a day instead of the $10 they were getting.  They finally got it.  Her wage stayed at $16.   She was furious.  She really didn’t care about the parking attendants but just thought that if they got a raise that she would get a commensurate raise too.

 

You are playing the same economic arbitrage that everybody else on this forum is playing.  Somehow I doubt you’re living on ฿15,000 a month.

 

But it sure feels good to virtue signal, doesn’t it?

[nobodysfriend]

2 minutes ago, Airalee said:

how much do you deserve?  I’d be willing to bet that you think you deserve more than them.

 

2 minutes ago, Airalee said:

You are playing the same economic arbitrage that everybody else on this forum is playing.  Somehow I doubt you’re living on ฿15,000 a month.

 

But it sure feels good to virtue signal, doesn’t it?

 

Well you asked personal questions , so I will give you the answer ...

 

I set myself the goal of having enough to retire comfortably in Thailand .

I reached that goal , but now it is ENOUGH !

I do not need more . I have what I need and wanted .

 

I realized that I want to live a happy life , but the secret for this is ,  is , IMO , to limit what I own to a point that I do not own more than I can personally take care for .

I am getting older now , and I think that I should further reduce what I own , because the time I need to spend to take care for that becomes more precious every day .

I do not own a billion , I would not want that , what I have gives me financial security enough until I face " the final curtain " .

Now , I only do what I enjoy , I have nobody telling me what to do except some blockheads on AN ...

I am a happy man , are you ...?

[Airalee]

3 minutes ago, nobodysfriend said:

 

 

Well you asked personal questions , so I will give you the answer ...

 

I set myself the goal of having enough to retire comfortably in Thailand .

I reached that goal , but now it is ENOUGH !

I do not need more . I have what I need and wanted .

 

I realized that I want to live a happy life , but the secret for this is ,  is , IMO , to limit what I own to a point that I do not own more than I can personally take care for .

I am getting older now , and I think that I should further reduce what I own , because the time I need to spend to take care for that becomes more precious every day .

I do not own a billion , I would not want that , what I have gives me financial security enough until I face " the final curtain " .

Now , I only do what I enjoy , I have nobody telling me what to do except some blockheads on AN ...

I am a happy man , are you ...?

You want to dictate how much other people should be happy with.

 

Many people in this world could only dream of having your lifestyle….or even half of it.  And I’ll bet that they work harder than you ever did with no hopes of having enough money to jet around the world to retire in tropical countries.

 

Your “financial security” is another persons “extravagance”.

 

Check your privilege.

[nobodysfriend]

19 minutes ago, Airalee said:

You want to dictate how much other people should be happy with.

No way I want to " dictate " anything to anybody . I am not a dictator .

Yes , I am privileged , compared to many others , I know that , So what ?

I am not responsible for other people , I help when I see an emergency , I manage to keep my heart open .

But my priority is to help reduce the suffering of animals here on the island .

We rescued 32 dogs by now from a certain , painful death and gave them a new life , to take good care for all of them , I have to spend about 80000 baht a month . I do not care for the money , they give something back to me that is worth more than this . Loyalty , Honesty , Love .

I have a house that is off-grid , powered exclusively by solar . ( I have another house , a conventional one as well ) , but I prefer the small off grid one because it's location near the mangroves and a beautiful lake .

I think , I will sell the big luxury one , because I do not really need it anymore ...

What do you do ...?

[mokwit]

1 hour ago, nobodysfriend said:

It could go on just as before

really, with a completely disinterested founder? he might not be interested in your "other privileges"

 

Have you even worked in a business, let alone run one?

[Lacessit]

IMO the answers could lie in taxation, and consensus.

 

Plastic waste has been found at the bottom of the Marianas Trench. Microplastics are in our bodies.

 

Subsidize and incentivize biodegradable plastics, every step of the way. Tax the daylights out of any plastic which is not biodegradable.

 

The Montreal Protocol of 1987 was agreed on by most nations, to eliminate the use of ozone-depleting chemicals, which were destroying the ozone layer. Its success can be measured by the fact the ozone layer is slowly recovering to pre-1980 levels.

 

Consensus on limiting the use of fossil fuels is a much more difficult task, due to a rearguard action by fossil fuel companies. Like plastics, taxation may be the answer. Nations that drag their heels get left behind.

 

I don't have a problem with people getting rich. When it is at a cost to the environment, it is time to say whoa.

[mokwit]

2 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

 

Consensus on limiting the use of fossil fuels is a much more difficult task, due to a rearguard action by fossil fuel companies.

I think China's non compliance and building new coal fired power stations might be a factor also.

[nobodysfriend]

3 minutes ago, mokwit said:

really, with a completely disinterested founder?

Why should the owner become disinterested in the future of the company he founded ?

He still can manage it , only his personal fortune will not be allowed to grow beyond the 1 billion limit .

No negative outcome for his employees ...