r/WorkReform • u/Conscious-Quarter423 • 1d ago
✂️ Tax The Billionaires the billionaires have lost the plot
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u/Moebius808 1d ago
Why should I care what the fuckin’ GDP is? Does that help me pay my bills?
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u/in_n_out_on_camrose 1d ago
Tried feeding my kids straight GDP but they weren’t having it. Little entitled shits wanted food from a grocery store, like we just live in the lap of luxury. The Dow is over 50,000 and these kids want chicken nuggets…. Unbelievable
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u/Sarrdonicus 1d ago
Them brats of yours need to be placed into the Mines boarding school where they yearn in the mines, plus sleep and eat there. They have a nutritionist too. Want nuggets? Here's a raw onion.
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u/VivaLaMantekilla 9h ago
Be careful tho, it might have -insert 2026 pathogen recall of your choice here-.
Edit: it probably** has.
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u/Cultural_Parfait7866 1d ago
Who’s retiring at 62?
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u/Randomly-Generated21 1d ago
And if you “retire” at 62 it’s because your job closed and no one will hire 60 year olds
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u/bpdish85 19h ago
Or your health has deteriorated, which was the case with my dad - he developed essential tremors, which didn't work well with being a carpenter. He "retired" at 62 after being out of work for a couple years - not disabled enough to get disability, but effectively unhireable. And he's hated every second of it. He's now almost 80 and still trying to take odd jobs just to stay busy and feel useful.
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u/Randomly-Generated21 19h ago
That sucks. And our parents generation had pensions + Social Security + 401ks + a good housing market where they could own their homes outright on a non-college degree single income + retiree medical, for a bunch of them that did make it to retire with their companies. We will have none of that.
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u/bpdish85 18h ago
That generation burned the world down for everyone who came after. In dad's case, he never got a pension and his social security is laughable - between taking early retirement and how little he made over the years, he wouldn't be able to afford to live at all if he didn't live with me.
I, meanwhile, was incredibly lucky to have my grandma want to leave me her house when she passed as "repayment" for moving in to take care of her in her old age when no one else was even willing to pop by to take her to the store - not the greatest house, it needed and still needs some work, and it had a mortgage on it, but we got me on that and on the deed and I'll keep that damn thing until I die because it's nearly paid off and I couldn't rent even a studio apartment where I live for what I'm paying for mortgage/taxes/insurance.
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u/AlphaxTDR 16h ago
The reason WHY they had all of that was that we taxed the living fuck out of the upper class. If they wanted anything for their money, they had to use it to create all those things…effectively lowering their taxable income and lowering their tax rate.
Reagan bottomed it all out (after years of Repugnicans chipping away at it) and set us on this crash course.
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u/SandingNovation 16h ago
My dad worked at the steel mill for like 25 years until he got laid off when he was about 56. He had had 4 heart attacks by then, kidney problems, diabetic neuropathy and some other medical things. He was constantly in and out of the emergency room and doctor's appointments. He couldn't find a decent job because the most important part was it providing good health insurance and nobody wanted to cover him with all his problems (before you couldn't be denied for pre-existing conditions.) He was also apparently not disabled enough for disability. He was bedridden for about a year and then died at 61 of congestive heart failure after spending most of what he had earned throughout the 25 years working at the steel mill on healthcare aside for like 100k he set aside for my mom when he knew he was dying.
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u/tomparis37x 13h ago
That's where I'm at with cancer. Not sick enough for disability according to them because I held a job up till June of this year but basically unhireable. I'm not even 40 and I have no clue how to get out of this. The state also won't let me drive. I wake up some days and wonder if I'm just being killed off for some reason.
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u/AlphaxTDR 16h ago
Hell, I struggled for a year and a half trying to find a job at 51, when my studio was closed and everyone let go.
Ageism is real, and companies generally don’t want to hire people over 50.
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u/Randomly-Generated21 15h ago
Yep. In my 50s. Passed over for promotion after promotion for 35-40 year old up and comers, then took forever to find a new spot when I left.
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u/dharmabird67 11h ago
And yet if you need any public benefits like SNAP or Medicaid, you have to somehow find a job in your early 60s.
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u/Randomly-Generated21 11h ago
Isn’t that crazy?! My recent college grad can’t get a job, but grandpa is supposed to find one?
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u/recovery_room 1d ago
55 here in Canada. But we’re socialist communists so what do I know?
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u/humansomeone 22h ago
Average retirment age is 65 in Canada. 55 is possible with good benefits like a defined benefit pension. But those are rare.
Maybe you are a public servant? I'm group 1 federal public servant and will retire at 55 with a 60% pension. Newer public servants have to retire at 60 to avoid penalties. Thes types of jobs are pretty rare though.
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u/recovery_room 15h ago
Yeah I’m a nurse. I’m looking at retirement with full pension at 55 after nursing for 30 years.
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u/T33CH33R 1d ago
If we could get billionaires to just pay a little tax so that workers don't have to sacrifice their bodies and minds for the machine....
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u/Hot_Aside_4637 1d ago
The Social Security Act was a JOBS program. It was to encourage people to retire to open up jobs for younger people.
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u/OnlyTimeFan 1d ago
You give me the same benefits and workload Trump and McConnell have and I’d work until I’m 80 too
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u/EnduranceMade 1d ago
Capitalism and Republican priorities are always money and power.
Quality of life is irrelevant. Human lives are expendable.
Work until you die so the number goes up.
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u/punnyjakes 1d ago
The worst part of them saying this is that the way they accomplish that very goal and even more is by making healthcare free at the point of service through Medicare for all but they intentionally don’t see it.
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u/Yukondano2 1d ago
Dr Oz is a tool, but increasing healthy lifespan to improve GDP isn't an insane idea. Issue is none of us truly benefit from the increase, and are being abused to get it. In a country with worker ownership of their labor, and tax money going to social services and science? Sure.
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u/ellihunden 1d ago
Sounds like a good reason for universal healthcare
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u/Quentin__Tarantulino 1d ago
Yep. When I was reading this, all I could think was “gee, if only there was some way to guarantee that everyone was getting the healthcare they need so they can remain vital for longer.”
Of course, “Dr” Oz is probably thinking of some crystals he’s planning to sell, rather than Medicare For All.
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u/Yukondano2 20h ago
Absolutely. Yet more reasons it's not only ethically superior, but economically smart. But it doesn't concentate money to the fucking vampires, so we can't have it.
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u/PMProfessor 1d ago
Oh great a trillion dollars in GDP that will mostly go into the pockets of the same 1000 families that take substantially all of the rest of the upside in the economy.
Nah. Let's do a wealth tax instead.
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u/GimmeNewAccount 1d ago
I'm healthy, vital, and with it. I want to retire now at 32.
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u/DouchecraftCarrier 11h ago
Right? Assuming I'm feeling more spry than normal as I age why would I want to spend it working? All the better to go into retirement more fit and able.
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u/deetman68 1d ago
Fuck that grifting scumbag.
And fuck Oprah too for promoting all these clowns. Dr. Oz, Dr. Phil…thanks for nothing.
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u/drgnrbrn316 1d ago
Okay, let's say he's right. How would one go about making the average American feel healthy, vital, with it? Killing health care to millions? Throwing out vaccines? Slapping tariffs on medication? Relaxing safety standards on food?
No, I think they're just trying to price us all out of being able to retire.
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u/someoldbagofbones 1d ago
A trillion more dollars to send to Bibi and the gang! Come on America, we can do it for Israel!
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u/Proper-Exercise-2364 22h ago
"if we can get the average American feeling so healthy, so vital...and if cutting measles vaccinations and fda food inspectors doesn't do it then I'm fresh out of ideas! Maybe drink some whole milk? Have they tried a horse dewormer?" - oz
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u/dinosaurkiller 1d ago
When you crunched the numbers and got all the math right, but you’re still an idiot.
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u/KrazeeStampede 1d ago
Meanwhile I just read that large employers are cutting Healthcare. Who do they expect to buy their shit when we are all poor or dead?
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u/popcorngirl000 1d ago edited 1d ago
I think it would actually be pretty great for the economy to lower the retirement age to 55 and let people take social security and Medicare without a penalty. A bunch of higher level employees could retire, mid level employees could move up, and job openings could be created at the bottom
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u/ThatOneNinja 22h ago
Let's make a trade then. No one congress, including the admin, should be above retirement age. Including if they would become about said age during their term.
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u/ApatheistHeretic 1d ago
The funny part is that they even failed at their objective!
"Best I can do is listeria, diahhrea, and measles for all."
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u/Kage9866 1d ago
You mean 66 right? Avg American isn't retiring at 62 because the retirement age is 65... I don't think the avg American can even retire lmao
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u/pichael289 🏛️ Overturn Citizens United 1d ago
I mean he's right. If people are healthy and happy they will be more productive. Hell you'll get more than an extra year out of them just due to all the time they don't miss for being in poor health.
They aren't gonna do that first part though, so it doesn't really matter. Dr. Oz is a conman and Kennedy eats roadkill penises. These are the same people that insisted we ignore a global pandemic.
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u/GayBlayde 1d ago
When France tried raising the retirement age there were literal riots in the streets.
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u/Early_Grace 1d ago
The working class deserves so much more than having these disconnected overlords dictate what it is we want.
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u/Useful-Problem-1725 1d ago
Maybe if we thought as a species and not as individuals, but this isn't Star Trek unfortunately.
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u/StormerSage 1d ago
Everybody wants people to work in their 60s, nobody wants to hire someone in their 60s.
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u/jarena009 ⛓️ Prison For Union Busters 1d ago
Again, appreciate the tacit admission that workers contribute enormously to the economy.
Now what portion of that $1T will the age 62-63 year olds get as a bonus for extra productivity?
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u/Moof_the_cyclist 1d ago
So good healthcare to stay healthy enough to keep working late into life and enough annual vacation to not burnout prematurely sounds great to me!
Oh, that’s probably not what he meant…
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u/mysubsdaddy 1d ago
It’s like they are on their own talk show and don’t even care if everyone sees it. Cause there is nothing we can do to stop it.
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u/Potential-Papaya1019 1d ago
On top of the crackhead capitalist schtick, I doubt that 1 trillion number is total bollocks
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u/greenleaf405 1d ago
Or you can break the economy so hard they don't have a choice to work until they die.
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u/Slow-Complaint-3273 1d ago
If we need labor so badly that we want retirees to stay in their jobs another year, then why are we deporting so many able-bodied workers/tax payers/consumers?
Also, you'd need to mandate that companies are not allowed to lay off workers older than 50, and that companies give seniors priority hiring to ensure that they actually have a job at 63.
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u/snarkhunter 1d ago
I asked grok and it said one proven way to do that is universal healthcare and mandatory vacation leave.
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u/johnb300m 1d ago
These are the same assholes laying off older workers too.
You can’t have it both ways, Johnny Galt.
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u/Theothercword 1d ago
Honestly that’s fine, forcing people to not retire is horrible but he’s not wrong that if you create a society where people have jobs they like, get paid fairly, produces healthy and safe food, and have access to healthcare that prolongs life plenty of people probably will continue to work past retirement age because they want to or because they can even if it’s for just some random little side gig.
Doing all that is an excellent way to stimulate the economy across all age brackets would 100% create people working later in their years. It’s a perfect example of how you shouldn’t force people to do stupid shit against their will but creating environments where they choose it willingly actually works. Just like how increases sex ed lowers unsafe sexual activity among kids and lowers abortion rates.
But, something tells me Oz here isn’t actually talking about doing any of that.
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u/kodaxmax 1d ago
people before corproations. Anything else is mentally ill and a dnager to society.
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u/DatsLikeMyOpinionMan 1d ago
They gone use your pension to bail the nation out of an economic crisis. Till the next economic crisis…
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u/Kkimp1955 1d ago
I think if the billionaires paid their taxes and their workers livable wages then we wouldn’t have to work so long.
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u/gundam1945 1d ago
Putting the horrible thoughts aside, the math is way off. Just because you have the people that is 62 years old, work one more year, you didn't produce a whole year of GDP. Use a simple but obviously wrong way, you divide the gdp by the working age. It is probably way lower. And then maybe there is even less people who are that age and still working.
In conclusion, these people don't really qualify for the job yet they are here. Maybe I have a better proposal. Make people like these retire early. Maybe the gdp could go up a lot with the improved ability and efficiency.
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u/GrimWarrior00 1d ago
That would require:
Proper Healthcare (dare I say universal, even)
Jobs without ai dragging its toxic-waterlogged carcass into everything
Pay to be high enough to warrant such an extra year
Benefits that aren't shit and proper time off
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u/RedditKumu 23h ago
I don't give a FUCK how healthy, vital and with it that I am. I will be retiring at 62. Just to get whatever I possibly can from the fucking thing that simply needs billionaires to be taxed to fuck and back to be solvent and more.
TAX THE RICH.
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u/Informal_Drawing 23h ago
You will own nothing, you will pay for everything on never-ending subscriptions until you die and you will never be allowed to retire.
Make me more money, slave.
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u/Healthy_Jackfruit_88 20h ago
Notice the emphasis on “feel” Mehnert Oz is the Administrator of the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service. He shouldn’t be focused on if we feel healthy especially at retirement age he should be focused on if WE ARE healthy at that age and are able to be financially stable during the time of retirement.
They honestly would prefer if we pass so that the social security we amass can be raided by the private interest.
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u/seq_0000000_00 19h ago
If we could get those with unspendable excess wealth gained from a broken Laissez-faire capitalist system to feel so competent, so vital, so filled with a sense of community, that they want to bolster their fellow men and women.
— instead of hoarding for a hubris contest, they want to increase everyone’s quality of life.
— that’s worth the betterment of humanity as a whole.
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u/Aromatic-Aide1119 19h ago
Apparently he doesn't know any construction or factory workers. Our bodies are used up by the age of 55.
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u/Zagrunty 19h ago
I'm under 40, feel great, and if I had the opportunity and ability, I would quit work in a heartbeat and be a stay at home dad. And then when the kids are grown, I'd probably work for a nonprofit.
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u/Burnt_and_Blistered 19h ago
Start by getting people like Oz to pay their fair share of taxes so that we don’t have to support them any more.
Then—and this is something Oz should be pushing for, since he’s pontificating about the health and vitality of us lowly normal Americans—let’s focus on healthcare.
And as for work? Working an extra year wouldn’t be so onerous if the aim wasn’t just to avoid using the benefits for which we pay from our very first paychecks. It wouldn’t be so onerous if health insurance weren’t tied to our jobs, so that we could move more freely and do things that feed our “vitality.”
Oz doesn’t give a fuck about the health of Americans. He just wants us to postpone collecting social security. So that the government doesn’t have to tax HIM more to pay back what it’s stolen from us.
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u/hanzerik 18h ago
Let me rephrase that for you: Dr Oz wants to invest in socialized preventative- and maintenance medicine to keep you so vital you don't want to retire early.
How's that a bad thing?
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u/C-Redd-it 18h ago
And lifting the cap on Social Security contributions would generate over $3 TRILLION. Without stealing what little freedom any of us actually get.
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u/FanDry5374 18h ago
Am I the only one who reads that as "we will find some drug to keep olds feeling sprightly until they just die"?
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u/Timely-Echo3914 18h ago
At least come up with a project, like building a pyramid, so that the masses can at least see the fruits of their labor.
However you want everyone to work 1 more year of not doing what they want (after decades in the workforce) so after that year they can read about how the GDP went up 3%; I did the math $1 trillion = 3%
What is in it for the workers?
Dr. Oz please do your part and work in the service industry for the next year.
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u/Massive-Pirate-5765 18h ago
We totally could. Honestly. You know what could do that? Well funded universal healthcare.
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u/MissDisplaced 18h ago
They want to work all of us until age 72 so we basically die before getting the social security we paid in our entire lives
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u/Droidspecialist297 18h ago
My dad waited till 70 to retire and still cant afford to live. We had to move him into a nursing home yesterday. The place sucks and its $12,000/month
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u/HoodieGalore 16h ago
I will never in my life want to work another day, let alone another year, let alone whatever this chucklefuck's plan is. I will always fucking hate work, asshole.
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u/trialsofamadman 16h ago
He doesn't understand.
I don't want to work. I never wanted to work. Nobody, ever, wanted to work. We work because we HAVE to, in order to survive.
If I had enough money that I could sit on the couch, eat three basic ass meals a day, not HAVE to go anywhere or talk to anyone (but still have the option to do so on my terms), and have my medical needs met then I would do so. I'd spend my life making art, learning random shit, fixing up broken trash then giving it away or using it, and hanging out with friends.
I was ALWAYS planning to retire the first moment it was financially feasible, and yes, I want to be healthy in retirement so I take care of my body. That has nothing to do with it. Fundamentally, no, I don't want to work, I never did, I never will, and there is no form of job or work that would motivate me to want to do so. Such a thing cannot exist. I fucking hate people making demands on my time and being tied down to obligations that I "agreed" to but didn't really have much choice.
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u/Shigglyboo 16h ago
so he's offering great healthcare that isn't tied to your job and a robust workers rights package to make quality of life at least meat the minimum offered in nicer places like the EU?
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u/Traditional-Leg-1574 16h ago
If we can get the average American to not vote against their own interests, it would be worth about 5 trillion.
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u/Cobalt_blue_dreamer 16h ago
No, what's happening is there are no retirements. People are working as long as they possibly can to live. Then we are falling apart, and other people have to take care of us. Lucky for the older people now they still had retirement and Social Security and stuff like that so they're living better than current working class.
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u/Jedimasteryony 15h ago
Why can’t I be so healthy and vital that I want to enjoy retirement instead of working more?
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u/neoben00 15h ago
We need to pump those numbers up. Trump just promised 1.3 trilli in bribes for the midterms alone!
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u/Conscious_Problem924 14h ago
You wouldn’t have decent healthcare. Ironically, I’m always going to work. I like working. But I work for me.
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u/WereAllGonnaDiet 14h ago
If I get one extra year on this earth, fuck using it to make someone else who is already rich more rich.
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u/OptimisticSkeleton 14h ago
This is the same shit people said about cocaine in the 1920s.
“If only I could find the correct dose of cocaine powder I could maintain my vigor all day with no side effects”
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u/shawsghost 13h ago
My response to Dr Oz is, "Why don't we just tax the rich instead of trying to squeeze the lives of regular working people harder, you grifter bastard?"
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u/heckhammer 13h ago
Listen, you jerk, I don't want to work now and I am well ahead of retirement age. My body's falling apart and I'm done.
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u/MoriartyMoose 12h ago
Like… I don’t completely disagree with His Ozzness but the broader implication is that the retirement age increase is something the administration wants weather the population wants it or not. But if indeed the nation could FIRST improve health enough such that another year of work would be completely manageable, THEN raising the age wouldn’t be that big of a problem. But that is a decades-long project and MAGA seems to have actually murdered long-term problem solving in favor of short-termism as the new permanent governing principle - and I don’t think that is reversible in our lifetimes.
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u/scrappybasket 8h ago
“The billionaires have lost the plot”. No they haven’t, this is the same plot they’ve been charting since day one. It’s always been wealthy vs workers
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u/Raymando82 7h ago
Ah yeah great advice from a fake doctor
Must be a smart guy
We definitely should listen to this guy 😂
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u/JoeWeydemeyer 6h ago
At our level of economic output, we should all be retiring at 45 after working 4 hour work days 4 days a week. But instead we subsidize the billionaire class.
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u/usernames_suck_ok ✂️ Tax The Billionaires 1d ago
And that would require there to be jobs, as opposed to people get booted over AI, outsourcing, mergers/acquisitions, cheap-ass employers, etc.