A better critique is not that billionaires never โearnโ their wealth. Some build products millions of people voluntarily use, take real risks, and create real value at scale.
The right question is more specific: did they create value fairly, or did they rely on market power, lobbying, regulatory capture, or externalizing costs?
That distinction matters.
@PeterSchiff The property needs civil services such as police protection, roads, judicial system, fire fighting, shared community spaces etc ... who is paying for those?
They are still firing ballistic missiles, Saheeds are still flying, Hormuz is closed. The Regime is still in power, there are no protests.
Anything that was destroyed can be rebuilt - and this time they will build it in more fortified locations.
Let's not call it a defeat yet! - We just learnt that military power is not enough.
"The United States is not a member or party to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. The U.S. does not recognize the court's jurisdiction over American citizens and has passed the American Service-Members' Protection Act (ASPA) (2002), which authorizes using all means necessaryโincluding military forceโto release U.S. personnel held by the ICC"
@BernieSanders Have we considered the second-order effects here? If billionaires have to sell large amounts of stock to pay the tax, that heavy selling could pressure the broader market and reduce asset prices. That means net worth would fall in the process, so the projected $4.4 trillion likely would not remain the same in practice.
@elonmusk Just because the president is elected doesnโt mean he is the King for 4 years - democracy needs checks and balances on presidential power - it may make things slow and inefficient but that is how we hedge the risk.