From: atropos@mac.com   
      
   Since Gen-Z almost universally doesn't seem to grasp this concept and why it's   
   an abomination, here's an explainer of California's proposed wealth tax.   
      
   You buy a Pokémon card for $50.   
      
   Someone offers you $500 for it. You say no. You love that card. It makes your   
   collection complete. You're keeping it.   
      
   The government says: "Cool, but that card is worth $500 now. You owe us $100   
   in taxes."   
      
   YOU: "But... I didn't sell it."   
      
   GOVERNMENT: "Don't care. Pay up."   
      
   You don't have $100 lying around so you're forced to sell the card you love   
   just to pay a tax on money you never received. Next month? The value of that   
   card drops back to $50. That's all they will sell for on eBay. Your card is   
   gone. Your money is gone. And the government shrugs.   
      
   That's a wealth tax on unrealized gains. They don't pay you back the tax when   
   the thing you had to sell to pay the tax is no longer worth what they said it   
   was.   
      
   Now picture this:   
      
   Your mom calls you crying. She has to sell the house she raised you in. Not   
   because she can't afford it. She's lived there 30 years. It's paid off. But   
   some website says it's worth more now and the government says she owes $15,000   
   she doesn't have. So she sells your childhood home. The kitchen where she made   
   you breakfast. The doorframe where she marked your height every birthday.   
      
   Gone.   
      
   To pay a tax on money that was never real.   
      
   Now picture the opposite:   
      
   Your dad put everything into his small business. For 20 years he built it from   
   nothing. The government tells him his business is "valued" at $2 million on   
   paper. He now owes a massive tax bill. He empties his savings. Sells his   
   truck. Borrows money. But he manages to pay it.   
      
   Next year the market crashes. His business is now only "valued" at $200,000.   
   He lost everything to pay a tax on a made-up number that doesn't even exist   
   anymore.   
      
   Does the government give him his money back? No.   
      
   Does the government give him his truck back? No.   
      
   Does the government care? No.   
      
   They're selling this idea as "taxing billionaires" but billionaires have   
   armies of lawyers, offshore accounts, and trusts. And when all else fails,   
   they have the flexibility to just leave the state and move somewhere else.   
   They'll be fine and they won't be paying this tax even if it passes.   
      
   You know who won't be fine? Your mom. Your dad. Your neighbor with a small   
   business. The farmer down the road who's had the same land for four   
   generations and now has to sell it because the government said dirt got   
   expensive.   
      
   They're not taxing wealth. They're taxing people for owning things. It's like   
   getting a parking ticket for a car you might drive somewhere someday. They   
   want you to own nothing and be happy. And they're doing it to fund the fraud,   
   waste and abuse of the welfare state they created.   
      
   The reptiles in Sacramento say we shouldn't care about this because (1) it's a   
   one-time tax, and (2) it's only for people with a net worth of a billion   
   dollars or more so it won't affect us. Well, when the federal income tax was   
   passed in 1861, it was sold as a temporary tax to help fund the Civil War and   
   only applied to millionaires. And now look where we are. As Reagan said,   
   there's nothing more permanent than a temporary government program and taxes   
   on the rich will inevitably turn into taxes on everyone.   
      
   They have enough money already. More tax isn't needed. It's all a lie. But   
   they're gaslighting people into believing it's a rich vs poor debate.   
      
   I hope everyone understands what's at stake.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)