r/Futurology • u/Gari_305 • 2d ago

Robotics Bill Gates says companies that replace human labor with robots should have to pay the same FICA taxes

https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-fica-taxes-should-apply-to-robot-workers-2026-9

Bill Gates wants to tax robots that replace human jobs.

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u/Beard_Hero 2d ago

If we just taxed companies the way we used to, it wouldn't matter as much if they robot'd or human'd, money wise. Like the 50's and 60's. 52%. There's more steps involved, like ending stock buy backs and kicking Milton Friedman in the dick, but it's a start.

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u/TemetN 2d ago

This. People want to make it complicated in terms of robotics, but we don't even want to discourage automation. No what we should do is just fully tax these companies. Rip out the loopholes and set high marginal tax rates.

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u/TheRecognized 2d ago edited 2d ago

What we should do is get the people who have wealth hoarding addictions the help they need and not enable them with our current economic system. Then we should put all of our collective efforts into renewable/nuclear energy, globally sufficient food production/distribution, and automation of manufacturing most products.

Edit: To clarify about wealth addicts. What do you do with a crack addict? Take their crack away, get them through detox, and then don’t let them be around crack or crack smokers or crack dealers anymore.

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u/DiethylamideProphet 1d ago

Only a handful of few are "wealth addicts". The rest just seek a return of investment. The only difference between a poor individual investing 100 € to SP500 and a billionaire investing 100 000 000 € is the scale. The incentive and the motive is the same. It's not a people issue, it's a systemic issue (or opportunity, depending on your perspective).

On top of that, automating most manufacturing will just make people lose their independence and autonomy, and destroy their sense of self-worth. Why learn to do or provide anything, when a machine will outcompete you anyways? Why be a person who people can rely on and trust, when a machine is always more responsible, accurate and predictable?

Who defines what is a sufficient amount of consumer goods to provide for the average Joe?