What Does it Cost to Change the World? from WikiLeaks on Vimeo.
What Does it Cost to Change the World? from WikiLeaks on Vimeo.
Via Postal Mail - You can post a donation via good old fashion postal mail to: WikiLeaks (or any suitable name likely to avoid interception in your country), BOX 4080, Australia Post Office - University of Melbourne Branch, Victoria 3052, AustraliaSaturday, December 08, 2007
The Problem with Henry
The problem with Henry is that he is not some common criminal forced to steal to provide food for his children.
Making money in itself is not a bad thing, what is at question here is HOW you EARN it. It seems obvious to me that people like Henry do not EARN money at all, they "invest" money and then reap the interest. Of course, it's not usually their money that gets invested. They borrow money, and buy things that are valuable, like successful companies, and sell off the parts for more than what they borrowed. The employees loose, the customers loose, but Henry gets the difference.
Yet, with Henry there is the added problem, that he doesn't just accumulate interest, he actively leverages influence to buy and sell entire companies, hell entire industries, apparently sacrificing the living standards of the workers in those companies to maximize his profit return. He is reaping the profit from the value of the labor of people who earn it, yet he provides nothing of value in return.
If Henry did something like invent a cure for cancer, or write software that changed the world for the better, or even ended a war, or something equivalent, then one could make the valid argument that he actually EARNED his $450 Million Dollar personal income. You might argue that people like Henry provide more value than they take from their investments, that they act like vultures, cleaning up the dead bodies of industry, but they do not. Usually, what they do is use their financial influence to 'modify' the rules, buy governments, and change the law to allow themselves more freedom, and avoid any responsibilities, they need to gut businesses and reap reward.
Unfortunately, we can not blame the rich. The fact is that we let them do this, that we are culpable, because we accept the low salaries, and work for people like Henry. We allow our governments to become influenced and corrupted by big money. We fight wars that profit these parasites and cannibals.
So, do not blame Henry for the things he does. It is we who allow him to do them. Look in the mirror, and know that you are responsible for your choices to give away your life, you labor, your government, you nation, the laws, the justice system, everything that makes American's free has been sold to people like Henry. And it is YOUR fault.
Perhaps like Bill Gates and others, Henry will eventually realize that he exists in a society, and that any meaning his life has comes from his relationships to other beings, then give his wealth away to humanity (instead of his 'children'). Yea, right. Some will argue that my statement sounds like Marxism or Socialism, but that is not what I'm advocating. Communist theories are based upon ideas of community, and the American ideal is the individual, not the collective. I just want to limit the inequalities caused by money.
1) Let's just take Money out of Politics. - No corporation should be allowed to make ANY contributions to any campaign. Companies are not PEOPLE, Companies do not have rights. PEOPLE have the Right to VOTE, not corporations. Corporations are legal entities that allow PEOPLE to avoid accountability (liability), they influence the laws that regulate them, and we need to end it. Campaign finance laws limit individual contributions to $2300 per campaign, but corporations are allowed to form not-for-profit PACs and then use unlimited funds to advertise, and attack their opposition with propaganda. We should eliminate that, no corporation should be allowed to buy our government.
2) End Inheritance - the rich call it the DEATH TAX, and it used to take the wealth of the super rich and redistribute it upon their demise. Just Fifty Percent of the wealth would be TAXED and taken by our Federal Government. the rest would be left to the children or the beneficiary of their will. Not the wealthy can pass on all of their money to their kids. We should end this. RETURN the tax on INHERITANCE to at least 50%! The rich will continue to find loop-holes to hide their wealth, transfer it overseas, and escape loosing control of their accumulated wealth, as they always have, but we need to set the standard. This is not a country of KINGS.
3) Eliminate foreign ownership of companies that do business in America. - This is the dirty secret behind our corporations, most of the people who own them, and own the largest percentages of their stock, don't pay taxes, because they are not living in the USA, they are not citizens, or hold dual citizenship. They transfer wealth overseas, where they can protect it from IRS scrutiny. Just ask HALIBURTIN why they moved their Headquarters to DUBI?
Henry is just an example of a rich sociopath. The solutions are simple, but the majority of US Citizens would rather be bought off by the owners of these rich compainies, than earn their own way in life. The fact is that most of the people can not support themselves, they lack the ability to survive on their own. So, with everyone owning a vote, they have something valuable to trade for their survival, and the system is set up to pay. With a two party system, the rich only need to buy 1% of the vote to sway any election, and so increase their influence. With real elections, multiple parties, and accountability, we might someday begin to take back control. But with corporations paying various lobbying groups, and financing political action committees, we can't see the forest for the trees.
The people in this video who complain about Henry's wealth, are responsible for their own unjust circumstances. They are sheep, led easily to shear and slaughter. People who live off the labor of others are afraid to shun the powers that control them, they wouldn't know how to live without being controlled.