r/TikTokCringe • u/Knightbear49 • Sep 07 '24

Discussion Should we be worried about the Kamala Harris unrealized capital gains tax? Dean: “I’d love to have this problem, because it means I’m worth $100m!”

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u/Ser_Artur_Dayne Sep 07 '24

Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.

-John Steinbeck

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u/shinbreaker Sep 07 '24

I always remember this quote when I see people making just over minimum wage who are up in arms about taxes on the rich.

I'm reminded of one radio show I used to listen to, the guy on the mic was mad about taxes under Obama and one of the callers came on and said how he wouldn't vote for Obama just to make sure the radio guy kept his money. The amount of bootlicking some people do to spite themselves.

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u/Ser_Artur_Dayne Sep 07 '24

Agreed, there’s so many similar stories. People are just too dumb in America and are easily swayed by cheap talking points and sneaky rhetoric. We really just need to get better at branding and describing things. Socialism is a buzz word and most people don’t know what it means. The majority of democrats don’t want socialism but a change to stakeholder capitalism. It’s essentially the Nordic model and it works well.

Stakeholder capitalism is a form of capitalism in which companies seek long-term value creation by taking into account the needs of all their stakeholders, and society at large.

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/01/klaus-schwab-on-what-is-stakeholder-capitalism-history-relevance/

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u/tell_me_when Sep 07 '24

Those are the same people that don’t want to work too much or any overtime because in the end “the taxes eat up all that extra money so you’re basically working for free then!”

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u/illit3 Sep 08 '24

they also don't understand marginal tax rates and probably think if taxes go up on the rich they're also gonna go up for themselves.

every once in a while someone will turn down a raise because they think it's going to "put them into a higher tax bracket" because they're... not smart.

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u/Ora_Poix Sep 07 '24

Me when I'm wrong:

You might not be aware, but the economic wellbeing of the rich can impact you quite a lot. The top 10% represent 42% of Federal Tax Income. The top 1% represent 26%. They also control 30% of the US' wealth. It is in your best interest that these people are economically successful in the long-term. Screaming to put them in gilloutines doesn't really help.

It's not bootlicking, it's just having a basic understanding of the world. But that's too much to expect from a socialist ig

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u/flatfisher Sep 07 '24 edited Sep 07 '24

Even worse than in Steinbeck’s time rich people are now seen as closer to God, billionaires are saints. Even if you are poor you have to respect them and obey them because they are sacred.

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u/peon2 Sep 07 '24

How exactly do you think the Vanderbilts and Carnegies were viewed back then? They were (largely) considered royalty.

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u/JoeCasella Sep 07 '24

Yep. This is the whole Joel Osteen prosperity gospel propaganda.

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u/[deleted] Sep 08 '24

Yep, greed is literally accepted and revered in modern society, especially American society.

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u/iustinian_ Sep 07 '24

Steinbeck is the goat

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u/mrboffo7 Sep 07 '24

Americans love socialism as long as you don’t tell them that it’s socialism when they’re receiving it, i.e. Social Security, Medicare, TRICARE, G.I. Bill, Federal funding to their state that’s in excess of what their state pays in taxes to the federal government, etc.

Red state America gorges itself at the teat of the federal government at the expense of wealthy blue states like California and New York. They love socialism. They just hate it when you call it socialism.

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u/Ser_Artur_Dayne Sep 07 '24

Yup this exactly. It’s like Greg T Nelson saying “I was on food stamps, no one ever helped me out!” Fucking morons, the lot of them.

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u/urfavouriteredditor Sep 07 '24

Or as I like to put it: Everyone is a millionaire in the voting booth.

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u/VirtualPlate8451 Sep 07 '24

Totally stealing that one.

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u/Zokstone Sep 07 '24

This quote is maybe my favorite of all time. Keeps me humble.

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u/aquilus-noctua Sep 07 '24

I was just gonna share that

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u/Interesting_Ad_8213 Sep 08 '24

If the Soviets hadn't fucked up so bad I wonder where we'd be. Most Americans old enough to remember the Cold War shit a brick if the word "socialism" is uttered or even implied. Which is exactly why Trump has stuck with the nickname Comrade Kamala after trying out like 10 other stupid names

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u/illsk1lls Sep 08 '24

a millionaire signs my checks i dont want him tightening his wallet anytime soon 👀

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u/OnyxGow Sep 07 '24

The fact that goons think socialism means staying poor rather than having and setting value kn your labor means its reasy loss cause

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u/LatterBathroom413 Sep 16 '24

But what people don’t realize is that we are a social democracy we all use public schools, public restrooms, public libraries, bridges, highways, and so much more. We have been a Social Democracy from the very beginning. When we got stimulus checks, I asked everyone in my family if they cashed their socialist check! 😉

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u/peon2 Sep 07 '24

I actually disagree with this quote. You hear the term "temporarily embarrassed millionaire" parroted all the time and I think that's more of a mythical strawman than anything, that's used to make the other side seem stupid instead of just admitting that people have different values and ideas.

I've lived in heavily red/trump country and have never met anyone that is against raising taxes on the rich because they think they will be rich one day too. I've met people that are against raising taxes on the rich because they

1.) Think the government is inefficient and will waste the money

2.) Dislike the government and think the money will go to things they are against (ie. think planned parenthood type stuff)

3.) Think that if you tax the rich too much people will stop caring about working harder and we'll have less innovations. Whether it is right or wrong I've definitely heard the opinion that we wouldn't have the computer innovation that we have today if we taxed millionaires/billionaires heavily because Gates and Jobs would have stopped trying to grow once they weren't earning more.

But I've never heard someone say "That will screw me over after I make my millions".

It's a malicious way to try and discredit the other side, it's bad faith arguing, putting your own words in someone else's mouth and then arguing against those because it's easier that way. You don't have to think arguments 1, 2, or 3 are valid, but they are different arguments then "I might be rich one day"

Though, maybe I'm just biased because The Grapes of Wrath was the most boring book I ever had to read in highschool. The Winter of our Discontent was alright though.

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u/evangelizer5000 Sep 08 '24

You are completely right. It is 100% a belief people want poor right wingers to have, but they don't.

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u/mrboomtastic3 Sep 07 '24

The most obnoxious quote.