Money

I just came across this article, which has the general theme that punitive taxation of rich people isn't a good thing. It reminded me of an article in this past weekend's Times (I believe) wherein Ben Stein says the same thing. I didn't believe this article, and I never believe Ben, even though he was good in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Dave, and, of course, the Visine eye drops ads. Actually, Ben wasn't talking about punitive taxation of people, but companies. He holds that simply because a company makes a phenomenal amount of money on something doesn't mean that they're making too much. He likes to say that the folks who run Exxon don't take all of that money home; in fact, they own very little of the company, and therefore its profits, which go, in fact, to the schools, hospitals, and regular people who've pooled their milk money to buy a tiny piece of this juggernaut. (He didn't put it quite like that, but that was the thrust of the argument.) So, he asks, which of these fine folks and noble institutions would you like to take the money from?

Its arguments like that which cause me not to buy Visine. Though I'll still watch Ferris when the opportunity presents itself. I wish that I could prove to my satisfaction (I know I can't do it to his) that large corporations making tons of money is bad, probably; certainly, when they're taking advantage of something you can't very well do without. I feel it emotionally; I can't state it numerically. So I'll put it this way:

Soak the rich!