Democrats want us to believe that there is some cohort of “good billionaires” who can be relied upon to fight for political progress. But as the right-wing turn of tech billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk suggests, this is nonsense.
NPOs have CEOs as well and many earn salaries in the millions.
NPOs are the exact right example, though, but not for the reason you are talking about. Non-profit does not inherently mean lower-ranking employees get a bigger share.
The big difference is that NPOs dont have shareholders or owners, which is how billionaires become billionaires, by owning companies worth billions.
But you should know that most NPOs rely almost entirely on government grants and donations. They couldnt even survive a single year on their own revenues.
If you want to establish the NPO concept in the free market, you would need to ban private ownership of ocmpanies. It could work but there is no way it will ever be implemented.
I think you are ignoring his main question though. Are those not legitimately three different options companies have? Do they not have wildly different outcomes on the workers?
No, companies do not actually have the option to simply cut the upper managements salary by 99.8%.
And even if they could, it would simply end in all management leaving the company the next day, the company going bankrupt and all of the empolyees losing their jobs.
Im not trying to defend management salaries in the millions. It is damn unnecessary and should be taxed appropriately. But simply denying that thats how the world works right now is bs.
And even if they could, it would simply end in all management leaving the company the next day, the company going bankrupt and all of the empolyees losing their jobs.
The management would all leave? I wonder how often that actually happens? I’d totally believe never. If you offered the management a lot less money, they could walk, but more likely, only some would walk. And in any case, then you could also promote employees from within the company. I bet there’s a department manager that wouldn’t mind the huge pay increase that comes with a c-level promotion, even if it does come with a million dollar bonus rather than a billion.
If you adjusted salaries slowly, say over the course of 5 years, managers could leave (if they really wanted to) gradually, you’d have time to replace people for a much smoother transition.
Funny how you ignored everything but the non profit bit. The reason they rely on donations and grants is because they’re mostly charities, there’s no reason a private company couldn’t reinvest 100% of its profits and try to adjust its prices to be closer to breaking even. Hell, life insurance for road users works exactly this way around here, prices are adjusted based on how much they need to pay for claims and we’re the place that pays the least for that type of insurance in North America, everything is paid for by car owners and it will covers anyone involved in an accident with a car, may they be in the car or riding a bike or walking on the sidewalk, it’s still cheaper than anywhere else for those who pay for it.
Tell me, from the companies’ perspective what the difference is between the three example I gave? You’re the one who said it’s not realistic to lower prices.
I think you are not familiar with how economy works. No offense, really, Im not an expert either but I dont really have the patience to go over everything in detail. Reinvesting profits is what ALL companies do. What youre suggesting was the opposite, you said profits should be distributed to employees or customers.
The difference between your examples is that 1 is a different company than 2 and 3. They are not different scenarios for the same company.
There are reasons why CEOs earn a lot and you cant change that by telling companies “but why not just give the money to your other employees, it would be better for them”. Thats not how economy works. Im not saying the way things are is good at all, but youre not offering an alternative. What youre suggesting would require that owners and shareholders would give a shit about the wellbeing of their employees and customers.
I dont know what makes you so angry, I think you are getting defensive because you cant accept that your arguments are being invalidated.
I havent defended billionaires in any way and I hate them just as much as anyone, I dont see how understanding the ecomony and financial motivations would be equal to defending billionaires.
As you seem so fixated on this thought experiment, lets do it. Youre suggesting a company cuts the upper managements salaries by 99.8%, thats both scenarios 2 and 3. What will happen is every single one of those people will notice they can make 500 times their salary in any other company and leave. The company will be left without management and go bankrupt within a few months.
Shareholders want to maximize growth. If there was a way to simply cut management salaries to increase profit, they would have done it ages ago.
I know you think you found the easy solution, but reality is not easy. Companies dont have ethics or a conscience. They maximize profits based on numbers. For them to change anything there needs to be an incentive, either financial gain or laws restricting them.
NPOs have CEOs as well and many earn salaries in the millions. NPOs are the exact right example, though, but not for the reason you are talking about. Non-profit does not inherently mean lower-ranking employees get a bigger share.
The big difference is that NPOs dont have shareholders or owners, which is how billionaires become billionaires, by owning companies worth billions.
But you should know that most NPOs rely almost entirely on government grants and donations. They couldnt even survive a single year on their own revenues.
If you want to establish the NPO concept in the free market, you would need to ban private ownership of ocmpanies. It could work but there is no way it will ever be implemented.
I think you are ignoring his main question though. Are those not legitimately three different options companies have? Do they not have wildly different outcomes on the workers?
No, companies do not actually have the option to simply cut the upper managements salary by 99.8%. And even if they could, it would simply end in all management leaving the company the next day, the company going bankrupt and all of the empolyees losing their jobs.
Im not trying to defend management salaries in the millions. It is damn unnecessary and should be taxed appropriately. But simply denying that thats how the world works right now is bs.
The management would all leave? I wonder how often that actually happens? I’d totally believe never. If you offered the management a lot less money, they could walk, but more likely, only some would walk. And in any case, then you could also promote employees from within the company. I bet there’s a department manager that wouldn’t mind the huge pay increase that comes with a c-level promotion, even if it does come with a million dollar bonus rather than a billion.
If you adjusted salaries slowly, say over the course of 5 years, managers could leave (if they really wanted to) gradually, you’d have time to replace people for a much smoother transition.
Funny how you ignored everything but the non profit bit. The reason they rely on donations and grants is because they’re mostly charities, there’s no reason a private company couldn’t reinvest 100% of its profits and try to adjust its prices to be closer to breaking even. Hell, life insurance for road users works exactly this way around here, prices are adjusted based on how much they need to pay for claims and we’re the place that pays the least for that type of insurance in North America, everything is paid for by car owners and it will covers anyone involved in an accident with a car, may they be in the car or riding a bike or walking on the sidewalk, it’s still cheaper than anywhere else for those who pay for it.
Tell me, from the companies’ perspective what the difference is between the three example I gave? You’re the one who said it’s not realistic to lower prices.
I think you are not familiar with how economy works. No offense, really, Im not an expert either but I dont really have the patience to go over everything in detail. Reinvesting profits is what ALL companies do. What youre suggesting was the opposite, you said profits should be distributed to employees or customers.
The difference between your examples is that 1 is a different company than 2 and 3. They are not different scenarios for the same company.
There are reasons why CEOs earn a lot and you cant change that by telling companies “but why not just give the money to your other employees, it would be better for them”. Thats not how economy works. Im not saying the way things are is good at all, but youre not offering an alternative. What youre suggesting would require that owners and shareholders would give a shit about the wellbeing of their employees and customers.
What a nice non answer that also ignores dividends and wealth accumulation and the fact that profits = revenues - spendings including wages :)
“ThEy’Re NoT tHe SaMe CoMpAnY!”
It’s what we call a thought experiment, the end result is the same, the difference is who gets to keep more money.
I’m done with people like you defending billionaires and being unable to think about alternatives, have a good life.
I dont know what makes you so angry, I think you are getting defensive because you cant accept that your arguments are being invalidated.
I havent defended billionaires in any way and I hate them just as much as anyone, I dont see how understanding the ecomony and financial motivations would be equal to defending billionaires.
As you seem so fixated on this thought experiment, lets do it. Youre suggesting a company cuts the upper managements salaries by 99.8%, thats both scenarios 2 and 3. What will happen is every single one of those people will notice they can make 500 times their salary in any other company and leave. The company will be left without management and go bankrupt within a few months. Shareholders want to maximize growth. If there was a way to simply cut management salaries to increase profit, they would have done it ages ago.
I know you think you found the easy solution, but reality is not easy. Companies dont have ethics or a conscience. They maximize profits based on numbers. For them to change anything there needs to be an incentive, either financial gain or laws restricting them.