Tax the Rich
There is enough to go around
Many years ago, at my first job out of grad school, someone gave me a Tax the Rich sticker. I had it up in my office until someone else told me it was naive and impractical.
I’ve been in enough rooms with tall guys in suits telling me that something I believe in isn’t practical. It’s amazing how, after enough times of being told that, you learn to shrink a little. Hold back a bit. Try to appeal to both sides, be a peacemaker, don’t be controversial.
It’s a trap, though. It’s the worst guy in your political science class, smirking with some “gotcha” question or hypothetical, claiming he’s just playing devil’s advocate.
It’s a trap, because while the details and implementation are so important, we can’t lose sight of our North Star. We can’t forget our people. There are some things we can’t compromise on, even if the bros call us idealistic or naive. We can - and should - debate the details, carefully craft policy and measure outcomes. But we can’t get stuck there. We can’t listen to everyone who tells us that it can’t be done. That we can’t create a better world where there is enough for everyone.
New York is home to 135 billionaires.
(Here is where I like to remind you that a billion dollars is 1,000 millions. That if you earn $100k a year, it would take 10 years to earn $1 million but it would take 10,000 years to reach $1 BILLION.)
We also have over 500,000 millionaires in the state.
And yet something like 2.7 million New Yorkers live below the poverty line, with many millions more struggling to pay rent, afford groceries and access healthcare.
So yeah, we’ve got a problem. Most of us recognize this. In a country and state with such extreme wealth disparities, there’s a solution. We need the ultra wealthy to pay their fair share. We need to tax the rich.
If you think I’m talking about you, I’m probably not. Whether you earn $30k or $200k or, man, even $500k a year — guess what? You’re not the ultra rich. The wealthiest guy I personally know has millions, but he is closer to me in economic class than he is to a billionaire. Because remember, he could have $50 or $100 million in the bank and still need $900 million MORE to be a billionaire.
They want those of us making $16/hour to think the people making $30 or $50/hour are our enemies. They want us to think that immigrants or trans people are our enemies. But no, we won’t be divided like that. We know that there is a way to ensure that everyone has enough to live and thrive. There is wealth beyond measure, surely enough so that no kid goes to bed hungry, so that no vet sleeps on the street, so that no one is left to live and die in despair. We’ve gotta tax the rich.
This week, thousands of New Yorkers rallied, marched, flyered and advocated our electeds in Albany to tax the rich and invest in New York. Child care providers, taxi drivers, union members, nurses and health aides, teachers, tenant organizers and more everyday New Yorkers understand that there is enough to go around. We just have to build a world where it’s possible.
Sign up for NY Working Families Guarantee Phone Banks! Or join me at one of WFP’s Wednesday Call Parties to help build the multiracial, working class party we deserve. Extra credit, take the DIALED IN pledge to commit to joining five phone banks this spring.
Elsewhere
Advocacy season is upon us! Habitat advocates from across New York State were at the state capitol last week to meet with legislators about our housing affordability agenda. Because there is enough to go around and to build homes we can all afford.