Bernie Sanders: "top 1% owns more wealth than the bottom 95%"

[Taylor]

It's time to tax billionaires into extinction. Redistribute all their wealth to the people. Enough is enough.

Are you going to kill them, first - like all of the other leftist revolutions?

Then you can live in misery for half a century before you learn to embrace capitalism again.

 

[Phys251]

That is factually incorrect. The few unions that were around during the gilded age were very weak. The wagner act (which gave unions the power they have today) didn't come until 1935.

I said "any," something you obviously missed. You think laborers working for pennies on the dollars in dangerous factories had good standards of living?

 

[aociswundumho]

And minimum wage in many states is up to twice now what it was a handful of years ago, what's your point?

That the increase in living standards didn't come from unions or the creation of child labor laws.

Yeah, we can build more plants and factories but how is that going to take us from 0 to 60 like poor transportation:less mass production meaning fewer jobs needed to be filled & wages could stay tiny to amazing new form of transportation:now there was mass production that needed a gazillion workers did? Considering the fact that actually, we already have factories and plants here...

I have no idea what you are saying here.

FWIW, only 11% of Americans today live in poverty compared to the 40% of the first Guilded Age and 80% of Americans own at least one asset. Just sayin'.

Yes, America was a lot poorer 140 years ago.

You also seem to have left out the part

Dood, I don't need any other part. The fact is, living standards rose very fast during the gilded age, when capitalism was "unfettered", to use the left's favorite word. General living standards are what matter, I don't give two shits about "inequality".

It's just like what Thatcher said 30 years ago: "He would rather that the poor were poorer, provided that the rich were less rich."

 

[aociswundumho]

You think laborers working for pennies on the dollars in dangerous factories had good standards of living?

The alternative was subsistence farming, which was much worse.

 

[Phys251]

The alternative was subsistence farming, which was much worse.

Great choices you're offering.

 

[Moderate Right]

It's time to tax billionaires into extinction. Redistribute all their wealth to the people. Enough is enough!!

“We shouldn’t have billionaires”—Bernie Sanders says it’s time to tax them into extinction

Senator Bernie Sanders has reignited his call for wealth redistribution by asserting that poverty could be entirely eliminated if billionaires were taxed more

sinhalaguide.com

pure jealousy

 

[aociswundumho]

Great choices you're offering.

Those were the choices they had.

 

[Phys251]

Those were the choices they had.

Under the power of the big corporations, which you love.

 

[aociswundumho]

Under the power of the big corporations, which you love.

Corporations are a product of the state, which you love. They wouldn't exist in a free market.

 

[Phys251]

Corporations are a product of the state, which you love.

Says the person who wants nations ruled by corporations.

They wouldn't exist in a free market.

 

[Bullseye]

It's time to tax billionaires into extinction. Redistribute all their wealth to the people. Enough is enough!!

“We shouldn’t have billionaires”—Bernie Sanders says it’s time to tax them into extinction

Senator Bernie Sanders has reignited his call for wealth redistribution by asserting that poverty could be entirely eliminated if billionaires were taxed more

sinhalaguide.com

Or maybe it's time to educate and train people so they have na opportunity and skill to succeed on their own rather than broadcasting the Dem mantra "you'll never succeed without us.

 

[Bullseye]

Corporations are a product of the state, which you love. They wouldn't exist in a free market.

Of course they would. Corporations are nothing more than people joining together the build a business.

 

[Artymoon]

I honestly don't think the young are interested in Bernie.

Maybe, but those are generally the ones most enchanted with this sort of talk. Older folks gain experience and figure out quickly that this stuff isn't viable.

 

[markdc]

This type of talk by Sanders plays to smaller group of young people who are impressionable. You could eradicate all millionaires and billionaires and the political elite class would continue to thrive and accumulate. Why some voters don't realize this kind of talk is just class warfare being used as a political wedge is beyond me.

True.
Regardless of what form of government you have, including Socialist or Communist, there will ALWAYS be a wealthy ruling elite.

Mark

 

[EnchantedMuggle]

Maybe, but those are generally the ones most enchanted with this sort of talk. Older folks gain experience and figure out quickly that this stuff isn't viable.

Eh, young people seem to be equally enchanted with MAGA talk.

Young people are young people.

 

[JMB1911A1]

True.
Regardless of what form of government you have, including Socialist or Communist, there will ALWAYS be a wealthy ruling elite.

Mark

And Bernie is part of the Democrat nomenklatura. If this was the Soviet Union (which Bernie adored), he would probably have a dacha on the Volga.

 

[markdc]

Eh, young people seem to be equally enchanted with MAGA talk.

Young people are young people.

Young people have always been susceptible to political extremist, Right and Left.

Mark

 

[EnchantedMuggle]

Dood, I don't need any other part. The fact is, living standards rose very fast during the gilded age, when capitalism was "unfettered", to use the left's favorite word. General living standards are what matter, I don't give two shits about "inequality".

And I told you why they did, but you don't want to hear it.

I mean if we're going to have the perfect storm (in a good way) of a brand-new transporatation device and a diametric switch from making things ourselves to having everything mass-produced, requiring many more workers plus the need for the first time to court them with better wages and with allowing unions, then fine. This Golden Age will be just like the Gilded Age.

But um...that doesn't appear to be the case.

It's just like what Thatcher said 30 years ago: "He would rather that the poor were poorer, provided that the rich were less rich."

Well, whomever she was talking about, that person was wrong, IMO, and in the opinion of really most if not all Democrats I know, so the whole "!!!you're Marxist!!!" thing is just a bust, I'm afraid. Literally nobody wants an entire lack of wealth across the nation...and THAT'S the Marx way...you seem to not quite understand that.

 

[markdc]

And Bernie is part of the Democrat nomenklatura. If this was the Soviet Union (which Bernie adored), he would probably have a dacha on the Volga.

Bernie comes from the type of radical Leftist Jewish Socialist/Communist environment that was prevalent in New York City in pre- and post-World War II years. Many of these Jews, like Bernie, followed in their parents’ footsteps and became radical Leftists themselves. Others, such as Murray Rothbard and Walter Block, migrated to the Right and became Libertarians and Anarcho-Capitalists. The recently deceased David Horowitz is an interesting case. He was born to and raised by Jewish Communist parents in NYC, was a member of the New Left as a young man and ran with the Black Panthers and protested the Vietnam War. Then he became a NeoConservative and cheered on George W. Bush and the Iraq War. Then he became a MAGA Conservative and ended his life as a hardcore Trump supporter. So he ran the gamut from radical Left to radical Right.

Mark

 

[aociswundumho]

Of course they would. Corporations are nothing more than people joining together the build a business.

Corporations exist because the state grants them legal protections that wouldn’t arise naturally in a free market. They were created to shield wealthy investors from liability, not to serve the public.

 

[ataraxia]

There were no child labor laws during the guilded age, and the few unions that existed were very weak.



No, the guilded age was before that, and living standards rose dramatically. You simply don't know what you're talking about:

Gilded Age - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

What's True:​

1. Real Wage Growth Did Occur:
   
   • Real wages for many industrial workers did rise during the Gilded Age.
   • Industrialization increased productivity, and many consumer goods became cheaper.
   • Urban infrastructure and innovation (e.g., electricity, railroads) improved material life for some.

---

​

1. Income Inequality Was Extreme:
   
   • The top 1% controlled a disproportionate share of wealth.
   • Many lived in slums or worked in sweatshops while a few industrialists (Carnegie, Rockefeller) amassed massive fortunes.
   • Real wage averages hide the vast disparities between unskilled laborers, children, and the elite.
2. Working Conditions Were Often Brutal:
   
   • No minimum wage, no 40-hour workweek, no workplace safety standards.
   • Child labor was rampant.
   • Labor unions were violently suppressed (e.g., Haymarket Affair, Pullman Strike).
3. No Social Safety Net:
   
   • No unemployment insurance, no Social Security, no workers’ compensation.
   • Economic downturns (like the Panic of 1893) devastated families without support.
4. The Numbers Themselves Are Selective:
   
   • The data point cited (wages from 1880 to 1890) omits broader economic volatility.
   • These figures don't account for cost-of-living differences, housing crowding, or health conditions.
   • Many "average" wages included child labor, masking adult underemployment.

---

​

The abuses of the Gilded Age led directly to the rise of the Progressive Era, where reforms (antitrust laws, food safety standards, labor protections) became necessary because unregulated capitalism had produced both extraordinary wealth and extreme social dysfunction.

---

​

Yes, the Gilded Age saw industrial growth and wage gains for some—but it also featured exploitation, inequality, and boom-bust cycles that hurt millions. Regulation arose because of those conditions—not in spite of them. Using that era to argue against regulation ignores the very reasons reforms were enacted in the first place.
(See next post)

 

[ataraxia]

Regulations during and after the Gilded Age weren’t arbitrary limits on capitalism—they were responses to real abuses, instability, and suffering. They aimed to correct market failures, protect the vulnerable, and ensure that capitalism remained sustainable over time. Here's why and how the regulations helped:

---

WHY REGULATIONS HELPED​

1.​

Unregulated markets allowed employers to:

• Pay poverty wages.
• Use child labor.
• Demand 12–16 hour days in dangerous conditions.
  Result: High injury rates, premature deaths, and widespread misery.

Regulations like labor laws, child labor bans, and workplace safety rules (e.g., after the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in 1911) protected basic human rights and safety.

---

2.​

Monopolies (Standard Oil, U.S. Steel, railroads) crushed competition through:

• Predatory pricing.
• Collusion.
• Buying political influence.

Antitrust laws like the Sherman Act (1890) and later the Clayton Act (1914) prevented dominant firms from rigging the market.

Result: Small businesses had a chance to compete, and consumers had more choices.

---

3.​

Unregulated finance led to repeated panics (e.g., 1873, 1893, 1907).

• Banks failed, wiping out people’s savings.
• There was no deposit insurance or central stabilizing mechanism.

Reforms like the Federal Reserve Act (1913) and FDIC (1933) introduced monetary stability and insured bank deposits.

Result: Fewer catastrophic collapses, and more public trust in banks.

---

4.​

Unsanitary meatpacking plants and fraudulent medications were common (famously documented in Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle).

Regulations like the Pure Food and Drug Act (1906) and creation of the FDA ensured that:

• Food and drugs were inspected.
• Dangerous products were removed from the market.

Result: Public health improved, and consumer confidence grew.

---

5.​

In unregulated markets, if you lost your job, got injured, or grew old, you were on your own.

New Deal-era reforms (1930s) introduced:

• Social Security.
• Unemployment insurance.
• Minimum wage laws.

Result: Reduced extreme poverty and made capitalism more humane and resilient during downturns.

---

HOW THESE REGULATIONS​

Contrary to libertarian fears, these reforms didn’t destroy capitalism—they stabilized it:

• Workers became healthier and more productive.
• Markets became fairer, encouraging innovation and competition.
• Consumers trusted businesses more.
• The middle class grew, boosting demand and economic dynamism.

---

Summary​

Regulations were not about rejecting capitalism—they were about saving it from its own excesses. Just as rules in a game make it playable and fair, regulations make markets more stable, just, and prosperous over time.

Unregulated capitalism may grow quickly in the short term—but without regulation, it eats itself.

 

[Craig234]

Wealth inequality is still pretty outrageous, but I'm sorry to disagree with you, it was worse during the Gilded Age.

I might have been slightly wrong, you right - a quick Google suggests the top 10% owned 75% of wealth in the gilded age, and perhaps 67% now.

But inequality plummeted in the FDR era until Reagan, and has skyrocketed back since. A couple charts:

 

[Craig234]

Young people have always been susceptible to political extremist, Right and Left.

Not just young people, as we see now with trump.

 

[Mithrae]

Bernie is in the top 1%.

pure jealousy

It's illuminating and kind of funny when even the shallowest of naysayers can't get on the same page. Rather than actually engaging with the substance of the issue, criticism for any level of extreme in concentration of wealth is simply dismissed based on the supposed character of the critic or, more correctly and even more pathetically, the wealth of the critic: They are either too poor to hold a valid opinion ("jealousy") or else they are too rich to hold a valid opinion ("hypocrisy").

It's difficult imagine any more braindead level of discussion (or at least would be if I hadn't seen people saying "TDS," "Russia collusion" and "Hunter's laptop").