You were all played
Re: “Inequality chasm,” (PostBag,
Jan 20).
This letter, if published, will probably break the hearts of many people who adhere to progressive politics. Sadly, the open letter that the writer letter Sad Optimist cited as signed by 205 “super-rich” attendees of the Davos Forum asking for us to tax them (or, as President Biden says, “pay your fair share”) was nothing more than an empty political stunt, and I will explain why.
Prayut Chan-o-cha cannot really tax those who are truly “super-rich” primarily for two reasons which are well-known to most world leaders. First of all, if the prime minister were to actually do that, it’s obvious that many of our “super-rich” would quickly pull up sticks and move; leaving Thailand all the poorer. But, far more importantly, the reason why the prime minister cannot really tax the “super-rich” is because, unlike you and I, the “super-rich” don’t make much of their money on earned income.
The “super-rich” make their money primarily on passive income; very often through the creation of debt which society needs in order to create large tangible assets like Trump Tower, huge social developments, etc, and that kind of income cannot be taxed much. Modern societies and modern economies require people like Donald Trump, Robert Kiyosaki, et al to create those beautiful things which society enjoys and concurrently create many jobs. So, if the prime minister, Mr Biden, etc were really to do that (or really even can), it would immediately bring many of society’s mega-developments and new creations to a screeching halt, leaving only the government left to do those things which governments are never good at.
So, the next time you hear Mr Biden, Hillary Clinton, or those at Davos talk about taxing the rich, they mean people like doctors and lawyers who still work for a living, not the “super-rich”, and everyone at Davos who the writer says signed that letter already knows that… they also know that you probably don’t know that.
The writer just got played.