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Comment by giggles_giggles | Hacker News Reader

Do the companies that you're starting or investing in with the $10m/yr you earn need that cash? Do you think Uncle Sam can do a better job of investing it than, say, Warren Buffett or Elon Musk?

It's not like rich people just sit around on piles of money like Scrooge McDuck. They put that money to work so that they can earn some interest. The government will happily just spend it, though. So should it be doled out by congresspeople to their friends, or should it be invested by someone shrewd enough to be making $10m/yr in the first place?

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> They put that money to work so that they can earn some interest

They put the money in things that will generate the highest return. The government will (hopefully) put the money in things that will benefit people, even if they don't have an especially high ROI in the short term.

I am not at all confident in the ability of capitalism to save the environment, for example.

For example, how many billionaires have stepped up to fix Flint's water? Elon Musk did offer to send people water filters for their homes, but that doesn't address the root causes or the damage (property and health) already done.

https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-flint-water-plan/

And how many billionaires have filled a city's water with lead?

"Look at this problem a government caused that those nasty rich people haven't fixed!" is not a fantastic argument for making them give more money to the government.

In the latter situation, the government will print the money they need for doling.

Then everyone will be making >$10m/yr as the value of the dollar drops to zero.

You make a false choice between "congresspeople and their friends" and "someone shrewd enough to be making $10m/yr"

Not all congresspeople are corrupt and not all those making $10m/yr are shrewd. These are classic government-bad capitalism-good strawmen.

Personally, I doubt most of the folks capable of spending/investing $10m/yr are actually making that money themselves.

In that case I would prefer the semblance of accountability I get from Uncle Sam instead of the supposed benevolence of random individuals spending money that fell in their laps.

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