[alexanderdmitri]

Assuming the figure is well-sourced, and given the time since the spending occurred, I'd be interested to know where this $35 trillion has ended up (not necessarily just who it directly went to, but where it's parked now and how it got there).

I know that's a tall order, but I think governments should be accountable to how they've invested their citizen's money and how those investments are doing.

Also should be pointed out many countries greatly expanded their deficit as part of Covid measures.

[missedthecue]

I got the figure off of Wikipedia. They list every nation's government expenditures and the total sum is at the bottom of the table. $35.6 trillion. You're correct that covid stimulus had ballooned this figure, but even in "normal" years, it is still between $25 and $30 trillion which doesn't materially change the thrust of my argument.

I'm not even saying Bezos is appropriately taxed. I don't really care how high his tax bill is, but my main point is that the existence of world hunger and poverty isn't his fault even though many people online blame him for it, and secondly, taxing him at 100% wouldn't seem to solve the problem.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_governm...

[alexanderdmitri]

I agree w/everything you're saying. I'm questioning the ethics of raising taxes if the extra money gets mismanaged and ends up wasted or doubled back to the wealthiest individuals. The people who would be managing this money are the exact ones whose legislation has created this environment.

Raising the deficit and inflating the currency for blind and reckless cash give-aways (imo), only makes it worse and all the more reprehensible and should have everyone questioning why we're not overthrowing the existing parties by rallying around new ones and collectively agreeing to stop voting Dem or Rep altogether. Because if we traced the government (tax) money spent over the past year to where it is now, I bet we'd see it directly widening the wealth gap no matter the party or rhetoric used while misappropriating it.

Anyway, I think the real solutions (to hunger, education, healthcare, &c) would involve breaking down the issues causing the inequality and really working to solve them one by one in good faith with a common vision. Small groups of people can achieve this. It's unfortunate that the idea of that happening on the scale we're discussing is laughably absurd.