Throwing eggs at superyacht Jeff Bezos

In reply to flat4_5spd :

In terms of skyrocketing executive compensation, I agree with you...I think having a big, healthy middle class would get society better aligned on objectives and put resources / creativity that are currently sidelined to use.  However, I don't know how to accomplish that without discouraging the most productive amongst us and redistribution of wealth foments the moral hazard of teaching people to not be self-reliant.  Basically, I think you and I agree at a theoretical level but pragmatically, I have less confidence in our ability to execute without causing more harm than good.

In terms 91% tax bracket, as Aircooled pointed out, almost nobody paid anywhere near that and if they did, it was for a very short period of time.

In terms of taxing less for long term capital gains than ordinary income...beyond what has already been said about incentivizing the provision of venture capital and incentivizing wealth creation rather than wild speculation...I'm an inherently risk adverse person and I've spent my 57 years working hard, living below my means, and investing carefully.  It would be vulgar for me to mention what my net worth is so I'll just say that only a few percent of American's retire having as much as I already have.

I've already paid my initial income tax, why should I be penalized for investing rather than spending?  Why should a life of hard work and frugality result in my having to transfer wealth to those that produced less and consumed more?

For context, I'm 2 years older than my brother was when he died suddenly and I'm 22 years younger than my mother was when she died suddenly.  I want to hit it hard and get out early...why do I have to pay a premium for that?

From my prospective, the question isn't why do we tax long term capital gains less, the question is, why do we tax them at all...savers are good for society, not only do they provide venture capital, they're unlikely to ever be a debt on society (government assistance).

In reply to RX Reven' :

To answer your last question, because the Bezos of the world aren't the greedy ones. 

I used to work for a fairly wealthy man in retail. He didn't have much education, but he had drive. He had a saying. "If enough people come in here and ask for dog E36 M3, we will start stocking dog E36 M3." It wasn't about greed, it was about serving the customer. It was about staying in business in a cutthroat world. 

I would bet that Bezos has the same attitude only more so. He couldn't turn it off if he had to. Every wealthy businessman I have ever met has a similar attitude. It is why they are where they are. 

red_stapler said:

I feel like people don't quite have the perspective of how much a billion dollars actually is relative to hard work.  If you worked continuously 24/7 for a fabulous $208/hour; from the time Columbus sailed to America, to the time you are reading this post, you would still not be a billionaire.

I think of it like this. If I hand you one dollar bill per second, you will have a million dollars in eleven days. To get to a billion it will take 33 years.

gearheadmb said:

red_stapler said:

I feel like people don't quite have the perspective of how much a billion dollars actually is relative to hard work.  If you worked continuously 24/7 for a fabulous $208/hour; from the time Columbus sailed to America, to the time you are reading this post, you would still not be a billionaire.

I think of it like this. If I hand you one dollar bill per second, you will have a million dollars in eleven days. To get to a billion it will take 33 years.

That is 100% true. What does it prove other than it's a huge amount?

Bezos had no money in 2000. He has a huge amount in 2022. What part of that has affected your income? What part of that did he take from you that made your life worse?

In reply to Steve_Jones :

Nothing. The stapler was trying to put a billion dollars into perspective. I thought my little anecdote helped do that. You ok, man?

In reply to gearheadmb :

I'm fine, thanks for asking. I just don't worry about what other people have and think it's somehow a slight on me. 

In reply to Steve_Jones :

Like I said earlier, I dont begrudge him for getting that money. But I make five figures and pay more income tax than him, that pisses me off. I dont care that it's legal, it's not right.

gearheadmb said:

In reply to Steve_Jones :

Like I said earlier, I dont begrudge him for getting that money. But I make five figures and pay more income tax than him, that pisses me off. I dont care that it's legal, it's not right.

He paid $973 Million in income tax last year. You paid more than that? Wow :)

Amazon announces (sub)Prime prices going up. LOL.  Gotta pay for that bridge somehow.

Another thing is, Amazon produces a crazy amount of jobs and tax revenue for local areas and the govt. As well as a needed service that we clearly enjoy in America. 

None of us on this forum has paid more in taxes than him.

But, but, but. The percentage he pays is lower!

(his situation exposes him to more deduction opportunities)

It's funny how some threads get locked while there is still actual legal information about laws being shared, and some are "warned" yet others are allowed to go on and on. 
just laughing to myself. 

Well, I think it is nice we can at least get close to discussing such things reasonably.  It is VERY much needed these days.  The variety of opinions / information is also super useful.

But I also agree, I believe the thread you are talking about was started by me and yes there where definitely still things to discuss (but it did get a bit sidetracked). To take the chance to follow on a bit on that:

I checked the eye line.  No way that guy could see the drone where it was.

Whomever posted there are no altitude restrictions for drones, is correct.  There was a law passed in CA setting a 300ft limit over residential, but the governor vetoed it. So no actual restrictions. Some cities do have restrictions though. To be realistic, I cannot imagine it's legal to fly a drone over someone's backyard videotaping (especially under 100 ft).  

Generally, it's illegal to videotape someone when they have a reasonable expectation of privacy.  Being in your backyard surrounded by walls / trees seems very much like a reasonable expectation.  Also of note, the guy who shot the drone out of the sky over his backyard was never prosecuted (maybe for the reason I stated above?)

Sorry about side tracking, but it is useful info (I think?)

So, it's OK to drop eggs from a drone so long as you're between 100' and 300' AGL and you're not paying too much in long term capital gains - thnx

If I get banned for having a conversation with someone, so be it.

In reply to aircooled : "Generally, it's illegal to videotape someone when they have a reasonable expectation of privacy.  Being in your backyard surrounded by walls / trees seems very much like a reasonable expectation.  Also of note, the guy who shot the drone out of the sky over his backyard was never prosecuted (maybe for the reason I stated above?)"

There's the problem. It's not illegal but there clearly needs to be some laws in place. I think there will be. Cities, counties, and states try to outlaw drones to give some of that expected privacy back. Then the FAA tells them they can't regulate the airspace, and we're right back to where we started. 
And I'm not sure of this (of course) but I've heard rumblings that (I think) the drone being shot down that you speak of was out west somewhere. That incident was kind of a special case. The drone pilot had been harassing the land owner for some time. I think the judge figured 'you get what you deserve' and let the land owner walk. I agree with the judge. 
 

I'll chime in the the egg throwing thing. I understand people are venting their frustration, but it won't even be a blip on Bezo's radar. If they want to do something, start shopping local. Support your mom and pop places (not Target or Walmart). The only thing Bezo's and his ilk know is money. Like others have said, to clean that ship will costs him a few minutes worth of his financial earnings on any given day. It would be like someone taking a nail file to one of the tread blocks on one of my tires. The impact won't be felt by me. 

The amazing part is that they chose to throw eggs at a boat, instead of choosing to boycott buying things from Amazon. 
 

Wow. 

DrBoost said:

It's funny how some threads get locked while there is still actual legal information about laws being shared, and some are "warned" yet others are allowed to go on and on. 
just laughing to myself. 

There's a current thread where toyman is calling people "border jumpers" and z31maniac is defending it. Somehow I'm the shiny happy person for having an issue with it. 

I still don't get why you all think his wealth is such a problem. He has stock in a company he created. If you don't like that you need to decide at what point between him working long days at that table in the earlier photo and now is the point you want to tell him to stop. And anyway, he is only the latest in a long line of wealthy American entrepreneurs. Carnegie, Henry Ford and Vanderbilt were all wealthier. 

In reply to DrBoost :

I am happy if this is locked. I posted something I thought was amusing without seeing the ramifications, and now people are fighting about really pointless things. 

Why does it seem like these types of threads always pop up on the weekend? I'd rather be working on my Z car than telling everybody to get along....

I'm going to lock this and go back in the garage.