How Many Zeroes in “Uber?”
I am not a billionaire. I don’t know any billionaires. I can’t even fathom a billion dollars. So perhaps a discussion of the uber-rich is out of my league. But here goes…
First, what is a billion? Imagine that somebody started saving money for you. No investments. No compound interest. Just $1000 a day in a giant piggy bank. And the savings started the year Jesus Christ was born. One thousand dollars a day since Jesus was born, all saved up in a fireproof piggy bank impervious to weather or theft.
You would still not have a billion dollars. Do the math: 1000 (dollars) times 2021 (years) times 365 (days). Do it! So you’ll believe me!
Now, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I could live mighty comfortably on a thousand dollars a day—and still have plenty of money left over. In fact, I could probably put 20 percent of my daily income into a fund to help support my community and not feel particularly burdened. I don’t understand why anybody would need more than this, but if they have it, why be stingy about paying the taxman?
I always vote for taxes. I want good roads. Enhanced public libraries. Good public schools—even if I don’t have children or grandchildren in attendance. These are things that help communities at large continue to develop. I want my community to have the means to keep moving forward.
I am fine to put a percentage of my money in the communal bucket so everyone will benefit. If my neighbors are supported by what the taxes pay for, that benefits me, too. I’ve heard that “good fences make good neighbors.” Well, I think good roads, libraries and schools make good neighbors, too.
Even Jeff Bezos, founder and executive chairman of Amazon, benefits from children going to public schools and libraries. The better educated they become, the more likely they are to have good-paying jobs and be able to afford Amazon products. Or an electric car from Elon Musk. And surely Bezos and Musk occasionally use public highways. (Or at least the pilot that picks them up at the front door uses a highway to get to and from the helicopter.)
But apparently the superrich sometimes pay no tax at all. They cleverly get around paying taxes—while their net worth grows enormously. They might take only a modest income—or none at all—from their accumulated investments and take out low-interest loans on the strength of their stocks. This borrowed money supports their lavish lifestyles and then the interest on the loans becomes a deduction from whatever “income” they do declare, thereby lowering or eliminating their tax liability.
I can’t use such loopholes. For one thing, I am averse to debt. I pay off anything I owe as quickly as I can just to feel I’m standing on my own two feet. But also, I don’t have giant stocks against which to take out low-interest loans in the first place. I just pony up and pay my fair share of taxes. Every year.
But when I think about a Jeff Bezos or an Elon Musk paying zero taxes, I understand the “middle class” person who opposes taxation. If Bezos and Musk aren’t willing to pay, why should anyone else?
So I’m hoping Congress will get billionaires to do the right thing and pay their fair share of taxes. If Bezos, Musk, and their ilk set a good example, perhaps they’ll encourage us all to support the community of humankind.