ENVY the Rights scream at any challenge of their rigged capitalism.
Bernard Hickey has argued, “We could have gotten $200 billion in extra tax revenues if only there had been a fair tax system which meant that capital gains were taxed at the same rate as every other type of income.”
Envy? Oh no my dear wealth pimps, incandescent mother fucking rage is more where we are all at rather than basic bitch envy.
In a liberal progressive democracy, it doesn’t matter what role you play in the complex super structure of our society and economy.
It doesn’t matter of you are a garbage collector, a dr, a nurse, a drain layer, teacher or tradie – if you all stopped doing your jobs the system can’t work.
Everyone deserves to share the collective harvest of civil society with public services and policies focused on the public good enshrined in the intrinsic civil liberties each individual has.
Wealthy individuals who become mega rich thanks to the landscape generated by those values are required to pay more back into the system they have benefited from beyond the bare necessity of ruthless accountancy practices.
These rich pricks have designed the system for themselves, ‘you can’t tax unrealised capital gains’ the Right scream, like bullshit we can’t!
If it means the mega rich have to sell a mansion or two to pay the tax bill, so fucking be it!
There are 14 Billionaires in NZ + 3118 ultra-high net worth individuals, let’s start with them, then move onto the Banks, then the Property Speculators, the Climate Change polluters and big industry.
You should be angry, NZ Capitalism is a rigged trick for the rich and powerful. The real demarcation line of power in a western democracy is the 1% + their 9% enablers vs the 90% rest of us!
Unfortunately woke middle class identity politics is too busy cancelling people for misusing pronouns to offer a challenge up to neoliberal hegemony.
Put aside their alienating bullshit and a united front of citizens demanding the mega rich pay their fair share to the very society that built them their wealth is not socialism, it’s basic regulated capitalism!
Do not allow their smears of ‘Envy’ dilute the righteous rage you should all be feeling!
There’s no point making workers pay more to rebuild our resilience, tax the rich!
-Sugar Tax
-Inheritance Tax
-Wealth Tax
-Financial Transactions Tax
-New top tax rate on people earning over $300 000 per year.
-Capital Gains Tax
-Windfall profit taxes
-First $10 000 tax free
Lift the tax yoke from the workers and the people and place it on the mega wealthy and have them pay their fair share for once!
The true demarcation off power in a liberal progressive democracy is the 1% wealthy + their 9% enablers vs the 90% rest of us.
Stand. Stand now and demand more from this rigged capitalism.
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The wealthy in this country have had it too good for too long. They have lived the high life, while the rest of us, have been socked with benefit cuts, high rents, wage freezes, and run down public services.
The wealthy have had their tax cuts reduced by over 60% since 1988, while the rest of us have had our public services gutted.
For examples, scores of hospitals have been closed down, to pay for tax cuts in the 1990’s.
“The wealthy in this country have had it too good for too long”.
Defining “wealthy” is a sticking point. Yes, as MB says we can start with the low lying fruit, the 14 billionaires + 3118 ultra-high net worth individuals, then add property speculators, CEOs, GPs, surgeons, engineers … but where do we stop? A young exec on a $200K salary? Some boomer who has worked all of their lives, often in a modest occupation, now with a freehold house and some capital gain and if they’re lucky some modest investments, lets say half a mil. Whoa … some would say that is “wealthy” in comparison to the many who are renting, or lumbered with a mortgage they can hardly afford, and have no savings except for Kiwi Saver (if they haven’t cashed it in already). Obscenely wealthy in comparison to those on the socio-economic edges. See where I’m going?
I’m with Bernard Hickey though. A fair tax system. But then we start to deliberate over what is fair.
The wealthy are those earning over $70k, homeowners or those able to afford cheese.
Bozo I notice Millsy didn’t acknowledge your reply one way or another but just went ahead lashing out at anyone with more than him. Millsy must have been treated badly by all his employers.
I’m sorry, but our public services are more important. The only way we get get decent schools, free healthcare, and maybe dental is start taxing the shit out of the rich.
Plus we need to get rid of Fringe Benefit Tax, which ensures that employers deliberately withhold things like company car use and other perks which would have benefited workers.
Dear oh dear millsy my heart bleeds for you.
No. But NZ’s front-of-the-pack extremist version of neoliberalism will lead to atomisation through excess pluralism, mass inequality, and therefore civil conflict.
Otherwise you will have true feudalisme OR Anarchy within a couple of generations.
Anarchy would be better than this clusterfuck system – look at how communities have worked together in “anarchic” situations in Hawke Bay and Tairawhiti for an example of how things work when the “system” falls over. I’m all for ditching central government and having a communal anarchy run the place.
Play by all the rules, payback student loan, pay all the taxes, and end up with barely a pot to piss in. Now I shoud not be envious but gratefull? For what?? Fuck off you pack of gaslighting mongrels. Just so sick of the media, politicans wanking on about taxes, housing and environment and ultimately doing nothing. I am done, I just dont care, you get what you deserve NZ.
Where Bernard Hickey is wrong is in assuming the rich will just sit and take it without responding.
In reality we need the rich more than they need us and any significant attempt at a wealth tax will see them move their money and themselves to somewhere more friendly.
The recent example of Norway implement a wealth tax of 1.5% resulted in a net loss of revenue because they moved away:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/10/super-rich-abandoning-norway-at-record-rate-as-wealth-tax-rises-slightly
But where you are wrong Andrew is that where there is a void someone else will fill it, evolution my dear boy, evolution.
Yes, in New Zealand we create a void by exporting our skilled & educated citizens, then fill it with unskilled dross & con artists from around the world. Plastering over cracks fills the void but doesn’t make for a stronger building.
As long as we can produce a good AB team, who cares.
The rugby union ring-fenced our rugby, so it is all good. Now we play the Springboks in England.
They take their money and the country becomes off limits for fixed investment.
I’ve been here before: My youth was blighted by the UKs Labour governments in the 60s and 70s wealth tax. The money moved away, Britain couldn’t get working capital to invest in new machinery and our manufacturing industries withered and died.
but andrew the norwegians are still above our poverty based society
Thanks to their sovereign wealth fund based on fossil fuels.
Oil and gas exports pay for everything Norway so any other business activity is just jam on top.
Now if we’d made more of our gas reserves…
Unlike a lot in New Zealand, why again is Norway a wealthy country?
You might find that there is a massive difference between Norways top tax rate and ours. Also where are all our ultra rich going to go too? Australia? Again they would be “fleeing” to a higher tax rate. Your fear of our billionaires is completely unfounded.
A rich person invests in a business and makes a rate of return. They can move somewhere else and get a better rate of return at any time. If their tax goes up and the rate of return goes down and they move so what. The business is still here it’s still profitable it will still generate some rate of return and tax can be paid. It will just have some new profit seeking opportunity seeking new rich owner. Unless the government, the community, the current management or a coop buys it.
No, because the Left seen intent on killing the golden goose just so they can eat the feathers. There are no good outcomes for anyone under Labour’s policies.
I think your goose has the runs.
Good comment. Sam spot on.
It certainly will run if it sees Labour coming carrying an axe.
What are you talking about. The Sea Bed and Foreshore act created the greatest boost in property prices since Rogernomics then The Corona Recovery fund again boosted property prices. The Labour Party of New Zealand is responsible for the vast majority of New Zealand wealth then responsibility should fall on the Labour Party to tax what the gains they created in the best interest of their party and the people. Simple.
what fuckin golden goose – all I see are pillows and duvets and soft dick opportunists with foie gras dripping from their fat lazy jowls.
That image will be seared into my mind for life.
Labour’s policies?
What are they?
Martyn – Land Tax needs to be examined….
Already exists. It’s called “rates”.
MickeyBoyle – Nope – Rates are for services provided – rubbish pickup, libraries, community events… Land Tax is seperate
aren’t rates for local services? mickey
Yes tax the shit out of the 14 billionaires and the 3118 ultra rich and it will make all the low income earners feel better, but it doesn’t seem to be enough wealthy people to make a big difference to me. Some of the wealthy will then move their money on and the less bright among us will say good riddance. The general consensus here seems to be the “Pie” is plenty big enough we just need to share better. The pie isn’t big enough imo. We do need to share better and all those who govern us should do a better job, but we are going down the plug hole without growth. and more people. We have the population of Sydney and expect that to sustain a country 1600 km long full of mountains and small rural communities that still want the good services everywhere and we can’t understand why we haven’t got them. On top of that we have an aging population and half of those who could work don’t. Our exporters work their arses off trying to to stay competitive with huge transport costs and this government has done it’s best to make it harder. Yes we need our governments to be more socially minded but we need an attitude change also. People need to ask themselves why is it that immigrants do well here. even if some are on low wages.
There is no left wing political party in New Zealand. Roger Douglas made sure of that. The Maaori party would be the closest. I had high hopes for the Mana Party but ego destroyed that. We have a centre party a right wing party, a hard right party and the Greens, who are idiots. When the right wing think the current Labour party are socialists you know something got farked up in the Overton window.
Bit like the peoples poet Billy Bragg singing “which side are you on boys” then driving back to his 3 million quid mansion.
As he also once sung “is there more to a seat in Parliament than sitting on your arse”. While I applaud the Labour parties covid responce, apart from the last 4 month Auckland lockdown and mandates that farked up all of their good work and good will, they had a far can 51% majority and squandered it as the neo-liberals are still firmly in control of the party.
Until Labour gets rid of its neo-liberal wing, real change to help working people will never happen in Aotearoa.
there’s no left in this country because we’re a fairly egalitarian society of small businesses and enterprises – that we let ourselves get fucked over by capitalist bourgeosie scum from overseas is our own fault – conservatives are just as stupid as progressives in this regard, more so, if you think about it.
It’s actually quite easy to ask for, and get more tax money out of your people, rich or not. It’s all about value, so all you have to do as a govt, is demonstrate that you spend that hard-earned tax money well. Like, really well! Like increasing NZs self-sufficiency by making a bigger refinery, or expand local coal production instead of importing, or setting up a Ministry of Works (Martyn’s idea!) that builds houses and high speed 4-lane motorways for all the electric cars. Or closing down the NZTA PR department. Or even a just world class health system….that sort of thing. And that’s where this whole ‘tax the rich’ debate falls over and turns to shit. Because if there is only ONE thing, ONE SINGLE THING, that defines this 6 year Labour term with Jacinda and now Chippie, it’s wasting our money like never ever before. This govt is fucking diabolical with our money. No fucking clue of it’s value and the responsibility of spending it to best effect. They simply have to go, rich tax or not!
We need more people who create wealth and less people who dislike them.
We just need more people who can create wealth.
It is not a popularity contest.
Wishing for fairness may well end in tears for many.
We must focus our altruism on “care” and use “fairness” to motivate people to invest in and help build New Zealand.
do you work for McDonalds?
Of course the Nacts are going to repeat the Reaganite “politics of envy”. But they are wrong Kiwis are not envious, for the most part they think well of people who do well in sport or art or science or business or farming or helping their community they just don’t believe that doing well entitles anyone to pay less tax. Envy is a smear that works both ways. Envy is a comparison. Those who lose the comparison may be resentful while those who win believe they are Gods gift and entitled to success and look down on anyone dumb enough not to become an fx dealer or landlord.
Warren Buffet, “It’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war – and we’re winning.”
I’m all for dropping tax and having a free for all libertarian paradise like Madagascar. That Top Gear Grand Tour special was one of their best episodes. And we complain about potholes and gangsters here – lol – if the roads are shit, use the bloody helicopter.
Dis-establish all central government and move to a community based anarchy! Hands up! Let’s see who’s really on the right.