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Wanted: 1m signatures for EU tax on super-rich (euobserver.com)
submitted 3 years ago by to c/europe@feddit.de
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[–] 4 points 3 years ago* (last edited 3 years ago) (3 children)

In reality, however, inequalities have persistently grown, to the point where today the richest 1% of the world's population own almost half of the global wealth and that same 1% also emit more CO2 than the poorest half of the planet.

Dumb argument for a tax in the EU.
If you earn 45000€ or more per year (post-tax) you are in the 1%. (According to this)
That sure is a nice wage, but it's definitely not rich and employees with a degree are not the people we should be taxing even more.

Also this:

The richest 1% of the planet own nearly half of all wealth. These same ultra-rich emit more CO2 than the poorest half of the planet.

So 45000€ is ultra-rich?

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  • [–] 19 points 3 years ago* (1 child)

    If you earn 45000€ or more per year (post-tax) you are in the 1%. (According to this)

    €45,000/yr is in top 1% globally, but not the top 1% for the EU. Either way, the article is discussing a tax on wealth, not income. Even if €45,000/yr was in the top 1% income for the EU, someone making that salary is extremely unlikely to have accumulated enough assets to place them in the top 1% for wealth.

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  • [–] 6 points 3 years ago

    Yes 45K is the global Top 1%. But in the quoted parts they are talking about the global 1% and frame them as "ultra-rich". Not just the EUs Top 1%.

    The richest 1% of the planet own nearly half of all wealth. These same ultra-rich emit more CO2 than the poorest half of the planet.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    the 1% the petition is talking about is global, as well as the ownership claims, and the CO2 pollution claim.

    it's worded a bit oddly, but they want to tax the "global 1%", not (just) the "EU 1%".

    as you pointed out, there's a pretty big difference between the two.

    since the initiatives goals are largely about climate change, which is obviously a global problem in need of global solutions, this framing makes sense. it could have been written a bit clearer...

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  • [–] 4 points 3 years ago* (1 child)

    No. If you own 40.000€ per year, you are in the top 1% globally. So, β€žtaxing the rich 1%β€œ means not only taxing billionaires, but also average incomes in western countries.

    Edit: Here you can check how rich you actually are: How rich am I?

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago (2 children)

    I couldn't find anywhere what they mean by 1%. If it's as you say, and an annual income of €4500 is enough to be considered as such, then I think it would be quite excessive.

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