cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/54152859
Proposition 40, which would impose a one-time 5% tax on California billionaires to help fund healthcare, appeared headed for defeat, though votes were still being counted.
Opponents raised hundreds of millions of dollars to fight the measure, far outspending supporters, who argued the tax could help offset federal healthcare cuts.
The campaign also faced opposition from Gov. Gavin Newsom, teachers, business groups and others, while voters weighed concerns about taxing assets and the possibility that billionaires could leave California.
Can somebody devil’s advocate this for me? It would take months for a billionaire to recover from a 5% tax but the benefits would go on for decades.
My understanding:
That thing about many poor Americans considering themselves “temporarily embarassed billionaires”
Plus
If everyone gets healthcare then people who “dont deserve it” get it too, and it becomes harder to feel “better than” others
Plus
A terrifying amount of people believe advertisements based on saturation alone without critical thought
I refuse to believe the “temporarily embarrassed billionaires” thing. Maybe that would have flown 20 years ago, but these days, very few people seem to hold any kind of belief that they will be wildly successful in the future. It feels more like a convenient excuse to focus on, rather than the more likely reason of billionaires ratfucking our legislative process and pumping ungoldy amounts of money into propaganda through the media which they all own.