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Why did a $154 billion CEO just endorse stripping most Americans of voting rights—and taking us back to the 19th century? | Fortune (fortune.com)

submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by Sunflier@lemmy.world to c/politics@lemmy.world

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Shopify CEO Tobias Lütke, whose company commands a market capitalization near $154 billion, told his social media followers this week that a tax-tiered voting system—one that would strip voting rights from anyone who pays no income tax—would be a “good system.”

That two-word endorsement, dropped into a viral thread, has reignited a debate over wealth, power, and democracy that most Americans thought was settled more than a century ago.

The proposal would invert the founding American principle of “no taxation without representation” into something closer to “no representation without taxation”—and specifically, high taxation. Reactions online split sharply: Some framed it as a provocative thought experiment about aligning fiscal responsibility with political voice, while others called it a naked attempt to legitimize plutocracy by giving billionaires and multimillionaires a formal, multiplied vote over the laws that govern everyone else.

But it also revealed that America is grappling with a political economy debate, as a frozen housing market and an entrenched wealthy baby boomer demographic have many, not just Lütke, arguing that something big needs to change

At this point, their necks practically for the guillotine's blade. They keep reminding us:

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of . . . tyrants.

-Thomas Jefferson in November 13, 1787, letter to William Stephens Smith.

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[-] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 6 points 13 hours ago

When we claw back power, and there are social programs to cover healthcare, college, day care, etc., it will be necessary to harshly punish Sociopathic Oligarchs for their ongoing crimes (they won't be able to stop, they are mentally ill, they can't help themselves), up to, and including full confiscation of their wealth, leaving them penniless, homeless, and naked.

They will not be eligible for those social programs. They can live on the streets, and eat pigeons.

this post was submitted on 28 Jul 2026

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