Winners Take All

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 LeeWood 12 Jun 2020

Winners Take All - is the title of a book by Anand Giridharadas.  Anyone read it ? He comes across as a modern Chomsky - a refreshing change of style.

Q: Billionaires back us into a corner.

They’ve tax-dodged, lobbied, wage-thieved, benefit-cut, monopolized, and rigged society to a place where, in a crisis, people and institutions are hard-up and they have resources.

So they step up to fix what they helped break. And we take it. /Q (twitter)

The following article is a quick sketch of biography and writing: 

https://www.ft.com/content/3729c71e-2419-11e9-8ce6-5db4543da632

Many Youtube vids available - including TED talks

2
 profitofdoom 13 Jun 2020
In reply to LeeWood:

"a modern Chomsky"? You put me off right there

"Billionaires ... They’ve tax-dodged, lobbied, wage-thieved, benefit-cut, monopolized, and rigged society"

OK, but are you pro- or anti-billionaires? I can't tell

Your FT link is behind a paywall, which is no use to me, thanks anyway

4
 Blue Straggler 13 Jun 2020
In reply to profitofdoom:

The OP reads like something that has been automatically generated by a wordbot

 profitofdoom 13 Jun 2020
In reply to Blue Straggler:

> The OP reads like something that has been automatically generated by a wordbot

OK, and thanks for that (I'm not very aware of these things.... I should be)

OP LeeWood 13 Jun 2020
In reply to profitofdoom:

> Your FT link is behind a paywall, which is no use to me, thanks anyway

They let me in to that article but refused another later attempt. Try the Guardian ?

Q: Were I Anand Giridharadas’s publisher, I would broadcast that exchange as an advertisement for his latest book, in which he takes aim at his favourite targets. The elevation of business people to “leaders”, whose views somehow soar above self-interest; the nose-wrinkling dismissal of messy politics; the blimpish disregard for even recent history – all are present and shown as incorrect in Winners Take All.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/feb/14/winners-take-all-by-anand-gir...

Post edited at 07:06
 profitofdoom 13 Jun 2020
In reply to LeeWood:

> They let me in to that article but refused another later attempt. Try the Guardian ?....

Thanks very much for the link to The Guardian article, Lee - an interesting article

OP LeeWood 17 Jun 2020
In reply to profitofdoom:

> Thanks very much for the link to The Guardian article, Lee - an interesting article

Just found this utube interview - between former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich in teleconference with Anand Giridharadas. How does the imbalance of wealth affect us - right now - in the pandemic

11 mins in - Amazon's Besos gives away $100 million to foodbanks - does this right the wrongs of tax avoidance ?

youtube.com/watch?v=olAQDUCSJZk&

1
 profitofdoom 17 Jun 2020
In reply to LeeWood:

> Just found this utube interview - between former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich in teleconference with Anand Giridharadas. How does the imbalance of wealth affect us - right now - in the pandemic

> 11 mins in - Amazon's Besos gives away $100 million to foodbanks - does this right the wrongs of tax avoidance ?

Thanks very much for that, Lee

 Route Adjuster 17 Jun 2020
In reply to LeeWood:

> Just found this utube interview - between former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich in teleconference with Anand Giridharadas. How does the imbalance of wealth affect us - right now - in the pandemic

> 11 mins in - Amazon's Besos gives away $100 million to foodbanks - does this right the wrongs of tax avoidance ?

Interesting question but no - rich people choosing where they want their money to go is not the same as simply paying fair taxes where the elected government choose how the money should be used.  You could argue here that rich people are gaining some degree of benefit from financing charities of their choice, something you don't get when paying tax!  

OP LeeWood 19 Jun 2020
In reply to Route Adjuster:

> Interesting question but no - rich people choosing where they want their money to go is not the same as simply paying fair taxes where the elected government choose how the money should be used.  You could argue here that rich people are gaining some degree of benefit from financing charities of their choice, something you don't get when paying tax!  

Yes, Robert Reich (author of book - The System) posits that $100M is possibly just a days revenue for Bezos - and continues (rough quotes): 

'It seems that he and others get away with injustice due to the double-image - beyond bullshit and hyprocrisy - a concerted attempt to hide what they are doing - that hurts so many average people behind the facade of philanthropy and do-goodness'

'A facade getting thinner and thinner'


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