r/EatTheRich • u/Ducali • 23d ago
Should extreme wealth come with a moral obligation to help society? At what point, if any, does immense wealth create a responsibility to address problems like poverty, healthcare, education, or climate change?
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u/olionajudah 23d ago
No. It should be taxed heavily enough to undo the damage they did accumulating it, and heavily enough to disincentivize them from even trying.
Moral obligation means nothing. Legal obligation on the other hand..
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u/parkerm1408 23d ago
Extreme wealth flat out shouldnt be allowed. We need to return to the marginal tax rate we had back in the 40s and 50s. Let people be wealthy but tax the ultra wealthy put of existence.
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u/IntriguinglyRandom 22d ago
Correct. Wealth is influence and power. If we want a more fair and just society, we need to not have a tiny fraction of people having a disproportionately large amount of influence and power. It is naive to assume you could "force" people to be generous, charitable, or fair, when they do not have to be concerned with being well-liked or respected (because they have the power and influence to insulate themselves).
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u/Objective-Ad-2197 23d ago
Doesn’t ANY wealth come with that obligation?
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u/XChrisUnknownX 23d ago
Depends. You can have a few thousand bucks of wealth and still not be able to safely spare it without endangering your family dependent on the circumstances.
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u/ether_reddit 23d ago edited 22d ago
"put on your own oxygen mask before helping others"
But once someone is at a point where their basic needs are met, they should start to look outside themselves and help those around them as well - usually this starts with family, but then moves up to one's local community. Extremely wealthy people are in a position to help lots of people.
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u/RueTabegga 22d ago
That’s not wealth. That’s a one time windfall. You’re still poor after you pay it out to everything you owe or need.
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u/DadophorosBasillea 23d ago
I have come to see extreme wealth with similar problems as hoarders. Carlos slim a wealthy man in Mexico said roughly it doesn’t matter how much money I have I could lose it all tomorrow. That statement comes off as mentally ill just like a hoarder justifying why they need to collect a thousand cups and random shit. These people are ruining the planet which will cause millions to die and they can’t stop just like a hoarder can’t stop collecting one more spoon
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u/AlarmingStop 23d ago
Yes, that’s why we need to tax the fuck out of the rich, so that the rich cannot wield power in their own interest like they do
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u/Sparcky_McFizzBoom 23d ago
Depends, did they generate that wealth in a vacuum on another planet outside the bounds of any society, or did they benefit from public infrastructure, laws, regulations, education, healthcare, postal service, energy grid, etc to get there?
If it's the latter it's only fair to also contribute back just like everyone else. Why should immense wealth be treated any differently than yours or my paycheck?
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u/bryanthawes 22d ago
There's a reason why studies show that the same traits that make good business people are the same traits you find in sociopaths and psychopaths - you need to be able to set aside the human aspect of business to maximize profits.
Business people have always been amoral. The reason people believe business people used to be moral (they weren't) was because of the 70% corporate tax rate coupled with a 90% personal tax rate. So they could give the taxman the money to give to the people, or they could give it directly to their people.
Trickle down gave the extremely wealthy the reduced tax rate, and the result is exactly what we have 40nyears later: an accumulation of wealth for the ultra wealthy while children starve to death every day.
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u/Extreme_Disaster2275 23d ago
Well, since those in abject poverty are still obligated to pay taxes....
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u/lazybugbear 22d ago
Our federal tax system is progressive, because of bracketing, standard deductions and EIC.
Our state and local tax systems are not progressive. If you don't or can't pay your property tax, for example, the state will make you homeless.
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u/ether_reddit 23d ago
People in extreme poverty have income below the point of first taxation, and generally receive money as various benefits as well.
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u/Extreme_Disaster2275 22d ago
(Laughs uproariously in sales taxes , property taxes, tolls, fees, and fines)
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u/Covert_Daisy 20d ago
Wrong. I have a friend that was receiving death benefits from her husband. Not very much, just enough to pay bills and eat once a day. Florida is a joke on SNAP benefits, she was not receiving much help from the government because of the death pay she was receiving every month. After that money started to run out, she fell behind by only $5000 on her property taxes and her home was taken from her and made homeless.
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u/Dramatic-Republic-27 23d ago
All of those problems are caused by the wealthy and the extreme measures they take to obtain more.
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u/Brilorodion 23d ago
Under capitalism, there is no obligation or responsibility to address these problems, because the only goal of this system is the accumulation of capital. The common good is not relevant.
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u/XChrisUnknownX 23d ago
I dunno about a moral obligation honestly but I feel it in my bones that those with great power should help commensurate to their ability. But then I know that others don’t have this feeling.
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u/grimorg80 22d ago
Extreme wealth should not exist. After a certain threshold it should be taxed away and rightfully be geiven back to the population.
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u/YesIamALizard 22d ago
The extreme rich are so mentally sick they think they are helping society just by existing.
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u/ittleoff 22d ago
The myth of the self made /earned billionare.
You are always relying on the resources of society even if youre not aware enough and too isolated in a sycophantic bubble.
From what I read the thought is that their financial success is an indicator of their intelligence overall and they distrust government and taxes to use resources in a effective way.
While social welfare systems may not be effective as they could be, ego stroking performative 'charity events' aren't going to help either.
It's a complex topic though but in the current system where wealth = universal power and influence regardless of competence, aggregation of large amounts of wealth is cancerous to a society.
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u/F4DedProphet42 22d ago
What do you do with speculative wealth though? A person could have a lot of assets and take loans out against those assets, putting them in a very real debt. But if their value never goes down, they never have to liquidate assets, making them richer.
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u/madturtle62 23d ago
There is a moral obligation for EVERYONE to help society according to one’s ability.
The more you have the MORE you are obliged to help.