this post was submitted on 02 Jul 2025
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[–] [email protected] 73 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Millionaires with a few million dollars aren't the problem

The biggest problems are the handful of billionaires and the billionaires that are not Canadian but have a strangle hold on companies or corporations that affect Canada.

If the government could just tax the ever loving shit out of billionaires, they'd remove the single root cause of a lot of problems in the country and actually allow some sort of competition in all industries. This would allow the economy to spread the wealth to more Canadians than to a bunch of non-aligned billionaires who could care less what country they are attached to because their wealth is so great, they are basically their own country at this point.

Millionaires aren't the problem .... Billionaires are

[–] [email protected] 34 points 2 days ago (2 children)

They're part of the problem, but you can become a millionaire ethically, not a billionaire.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

I think that oversimplifies the issue.

I have no problem with a millionaire that has a net worth of, say 3 million

I have a problem with someone having a net worth of 30 million

I have a huge problem with someone being worth 300 million

All are millionaires

[–] [email protected] 27 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Being a millionaire these days is pretty normal. Need a lot more than that to retire if you don’t have a pension plan.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

The person with 100 million is closer in wealth to the homeless person you pity than they are to a billionaire.

It’s an unimaginable amount of money

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 day ago

The quote I like is "The difference between a million dollars and a billion dollars is about a billion dollars."

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Now that's putting it into perspective ... holy shit

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

A million seconds is approximately 11.5 days.

A billion seconds is approximately 31.7 years.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

That is another better perspective ..... and also why again do we have a civilization that allows someone to own so much wealth that it is not feasible or even possible for them to enjoy all the money in one lifetime?

Holy shit this perspective is enlightening ... and also very depressing ... thanks

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

Nobody should have a net worth over, say, 10 million.

20 is okay ish, I suppose, but beyond that it's just not fair or normal

You have 100 million dollars?

You didn't get it through hard work, or the McDonald's burger flipper who also cleans houses on the side would have been a billionaire by now

You didn't get it by being intelligent or smart or scientists would all be rich

You did it through playing the system as it currently exists, and you were lucky

Nobody should have the right to have that much money. Not even half of that.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Anyone with either millions or billions is the problem because no single person needs either.

[–] [email protected] 35 points 2 days ago (5 children)

Uh... You do need millions to retire.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 days ago

😮‍💨 doing the math to figure this out is depressing.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago

In the current situation yes. The point is we need to fix it so one doesn't need excessive capital to simply retire, and the rich begging to be taxed more can do a lot on their own to help without the Government.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I feel like a lot of people retire with much much less than "millions". Might not be a super comfortable retirement but, def doable.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 2 days ago

My mom 'retired' with 'much much less than "millions"'. She stopped working at 75.

She lives in a small $2/sqft/mo rental with dodgy power, asbestos in the walls, windows stuck shut, people staggering past the fuse box all night, miner bees in the walls, and shit Internet. It's a coastal town with no access by roads - just ferries - and minimal services. It's a half-day to get there, really, or an hour's flight.

you may need to experience your version of 'doable' before you commit to it.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago

Being a homeowner gets you there in a lot of places, it doesn’t matter because you still need a home so you can’t live off it

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Not if you publicly fund health care.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Need millions to retire even in Canada.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago

We have healthcare figured out for the most part. The issue here is housing.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago

I mean that too, but also cost of living, rent if you don't own a home, etc add up over the two or so decades you'd expect to live after retirement. And if you do own a home, congrats you're a millionaire.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

Almost like the col should be reigned in.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

I know plenty of millionaires ... people who own property, vehicles and wealth that all amount to one or two million ... and they are still just getting by. They aren't that terribly wealthy - they don't live with any more luxury than most people, they just have more things.

Billionaires on the other hand are something else ... it's like comparing someone with a weight problem and calling millionaires slightly pudgy and billionaires are grossly overweight behemoths that can affect the structure of your house.

Here's a visual comparison using grains of rice of what a millionaire and billionaire and the wealth of someone like Jeff Bezos is

Using Rice to Show How Rich Jeff Bezos Is | NowThis

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I understand the extreme difference between millions and billions. My point is neither a millionaire nor a billionaire needs it.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Sure, but we don’t “need” anything above our basic survival cost, let’s go live on the Savannah and hunt our food again.

For me the problem are those who hoard wealth, who don’t earn a salary but sit and live off their massive pile of accumulated wealth. We need a wealth tax now.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

Sure, but we don’t “need” anything above our basic survival cost, let’s go live on the Savannah and hunt our food again.

Straw man detected.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

You need to be a millionaire these days if you want to actually retire. If it only took a million, would have retired a while ago.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 days ago

That’s an excellent point.

We need to shift the conversation from government taxing its citizens to shielding them from international economic forces.