I was reading today that in Finland, 1000 people account for 20% of the capital gains tax, which was placed as an example of wealth concentration - which it is. What is perhaps interesting though, is that this is probably far less concentrated than in many other countries, because it hasn't been in place for that long. Back in the 90s tax reforms in Finland, there was a separation of earned income and capital income, with capital being a lower, flat-rate tax. This has lead to a further widening of the wealth gap of course.
While I would also want to benefit from the conditions, I still find it interesting that income earned passively without doing anything is worth more than income earned from producing something. You'd think it would be the other way around, where the incentive would be to drive people to work to add value through what they do, rather than look for ways so as not to work.
Make your money work for you.
It is a funny saying, isn't it? After all, money can't work at all. Yes, that money can be used to earn on which is what is meant by the phrase, but that can mean that it doesn't matter how that money is earning. For instance, a person who invests doesn't necessarily know what they are investing into with any kind of detail, they are only looking at the return on their investment. This means that their money can be "doing work" in all kinds of areas that aren't necessarily value-adding to society, are dangerous for the environment, are coercive and abusive to employees, and are generally up to no good - but it doesn't matter, because it is the money doing the work.
Talking of money work
The financial services market grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.7%, from $31.1 trillion in 2023 to $33.5 trillion in 2024. The industry is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 7.6% to reach $44.9 trillion in 2028.17 Dec 2024
For anyone counting, the growth of the financial sector is well above the rate of inflation, and the earnings from there attract less tax. Suffice to say, the majority of people are victims of the financial system, not beneficiaries of it. "Money work" is big business and is highly predatory, because it is always looking to expand its profit margins in any ways it can. This has an enormous effect on our daily lives, because we are all pieces of the economic engine that are screwed ever-tighter to bleed more profit.
And, the growing wealth gap is evidence of how while those growth rates and profits keep expanding, fewer and fewer people are actually sharing the benefits. Fewer hands are holding increasingly more, and the more this happens, the harder the thumb screws need to tighten to bleed a bit more value from us.
It is kind of interesting how many people believe that financial wealth will make everything okay, without recognising that in order to keep growing, it has to become increasingly draconian in its push for profit. They also forget that ultimately, there is only so much growth that can happen, because there are only so many cuts to costs that can be made. Money might be working for the wealthy, but it is a nurse who changes their bed pan at the hospital.
The problem with a lot of wealth today though, is that it is generated without having to do anything of value for it. In the past, people needed to produce something to sell, which had to meet needs, and deal with competition and the like. Now - people just invest into investing, playing a shell game without ever having to produce a product.
Isn't it strange?
Imagine if there was a tribe that loved shiny stones so much, that they used all of their resources in pursuit of more shiny stones. No matter how many shiny stones they collected, the tribe would pretty soon starve to death. And this is what we are doing at the global scale, where all parts of society are crumbling because we aren't taking enough care of maintenance and improvement. Yet, the economy keeps growing - more shiny stones are collected.
Value used to be tied to reality for the most part, where what we produced and consumed served a pretty direct purpose in our lives. Yet increasingly, we have moved away from physical value into the domain of perceived value, where something that delivers nothing, can still be highly valued, and even traded. Again, it is kind of strange to think about how we are able to fool ourselves into believing something is real - even when it is not.
I feel the world is coming to a financial head and it is going to be starkly clear to everyone involved that this system is fundamentally broken, because it is so incredibly unbalanced. It highly benefits a few, while crushing the many, even though it is the many who provide for the few. And in many places, people will keep fighting for the few to keep taking advantage of them. The prisoners fight to stay in the cage.
The wealth gap is going to keep widening and it is likely too late to do anything about it, given the current climate. So, the only way out of it is to build an entirely new system, which means - letting this one die a grizzly death.
And grizzly it shall be.
But hey, whatever we need don't worry - the money will do all the work.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
@sanjeevm reminded me of a way we can have our money work for us and help a community. HBD savings helps preserve the stability and value of hive and hbd AND he is working on living on the interest it pays. Now, I would need almost a half million HBD in savings to start to do that and hope the APR would not change but there it is ;)
The thing that frustrates me is that capitalism should turn profits into benefit for the people but they are most often stacked away from the people to make more profit. The goddamn presidential situation in a certain part of the world is slashing and burning ecology for more profit and gutting educational and healthcare benefits for the people who need it the most. Wtf is a government for besides stabilizing with laws and creating benefits for the people that make up the country?
There will be a revolution because these comfy cages get less comfy every day when the blood is being over extracted from the caged.
It is about as healthy as it gets. I wonder how it would scale though? And ultimately of course, it still needs production activity to be valuable :)
A million HBD might be enough.
As long as the APR stays the same.
This is the question everyone should be asking. they are only there to build wellbeing. Yet, they aren't doing their job, so why keep them? I have asked people many times "what is the purpose f the government" and none have been able to answer clearly.
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I am not so sure about the grizzly death of the current system. As they say the more things change the more things stay the same. I think there will be changes to the current system and there are always changes so the system will keep evolving but fundamentally nothing will change. There still will be an extreme concentration of wealth in the hand of very few, just like there have always been.
Most likely, it will go through another round of false improvement, similar to 2008. The death is going to be another revolution, this time at a global scale.
That is hard to imagine another revolution at a global scale. How far in the future do you see it happening and what the triggers might be?
I think each round is getting closer together and more abusive, so perhaps within 15 years. I reckon we are seeing some of the triggers now, with the way Covid was handled, and now how the trade is being handled. It sets up a huge amount of social unrest in a population that is already struggling and unable to manage themselves. It gets violent.
𝗜 𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝘄𝘀 -𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘀- 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝘂𝗺𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹-𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗛𝗼𝘄𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿, 𝗜 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗺𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗮 𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗻) 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘂𝘀 𝘂𝗻𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆. 𝗜𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗮 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗯𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗲𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲. 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲, 𝗰𝗶𝗿𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱, 𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗲𝘁. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝘀.
𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗽𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺, 𝗹𝗲𝘁'𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁. 𝗔 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 ‘𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸’ 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝘄, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗰𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀. 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘀, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲, 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗹𝗹.
𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 -𝗺𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲 𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘁- 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲, 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆.
𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁? 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗺 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 ‘𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘂𝘀’. 𝗜𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀, 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 -𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘁-. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝘄𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘆!
I'd like to be a the point one day where I am pulling in a nice passive income from the money that I made while working earlier in life. I'm not really sure how realistic that is going to be. The system is definitely broken.
I think that passive income is needed for an individual under today's economic conditions. After working for some years, if possible, we should save money and invest in an asset to receive passive income in the future. HIVE might be an option ;(
It is not fair for the minority to rule over the majority. However, it should have been the other way around, the majority should have ruled over the minority. Will a new system be fair to everyone?
How does the minority continue to be wealthy? Because of the inheritance law. There could be regulations on the inheritance law.
Another solution. The rich could be taxed too much.
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Well, I'm trying to get rich so my money can make money. It's better to be in with the haves than the have-nots. I made more money just holding my BTC from 2013 to 2017 than I did working for a salary the first 10 years of my career. Truth be told, I much prefer holding the BTC to working 9-5 for 48 weeks per year.
Don't talk about my Splinterlands collection like that!
The whole money working for you idea feels more like a game of musical chairs, except the music keeps playing for the wealthy while everyone else gets squeezed harder. financial markets keep expanding beyond inflation while real wages stagnate and people are expected to just keep running in place. The wealth gap isn't just a problem, it's a ticking time bomb
Grisly is supposed to be the archaic version of grizzly and yet I find the meaning I was looking for with the archaic version and just find grizzly bears (which were probably grisly to the people who named them) when I look for that XD
is probably why
Plus devil you know blah blah blah.
I think it's pretty clear to a lot of the kids these days with their terrible work ethic and perhaps to some of us old farts who are realising that we are never going to "make it" and in many cases it very definitely was not from lack of trying or too many bad decisions.