Jon Stokes

I've probably infuriated more people with replies about economics than any other topic. It's ALWAYS about left or right, and the other side is the bad guys. Actual economic isn't about left or right, though. You can learn it WITHOUT political ideology. oldmanjon.substack.com/p/hello-world

@TrumpDailyPosts The U.S. government, and it's not even close.

What is the greatest threat to liberty in America?

@edwin_mccallum @WillCJohns It's not taxed because he hasn't made it yet. And the meaninglessly vague "billionaires often use tax-avoidance strategies" doesn't change economic and financial reality.

@JDStokes79 @WillCJohns a lot of that ~$200B that Zuckerberg made was not already taxed, not assets bought with that income and not future income since billionaires often use tax-avoidance strategies

Whenever I see Zucman post about what the rich “really pay” I know I can learn the latest in how to absolutely torture data to make your desired political point

@Meiscool7067 @BrianMcWilliams @LPNH Is this "influencing" compatible with the mission of the LP organization as a whole?

@JDStokes79 @BrianMcWilliams @LPNH effective in influencing New Hampshire's policymaking, even if it is through questionable rhetoric

I, personally (my comments do not represent the Libertarian National Party or the National Committee), think the disaffiliation of @LPNH is a mistake. To be clear: as the Comms Director for the party, LPNH caused no shortage of issues. I had many calls with them, and LNC leadership, about curtailing messaging that seemed purely inflammatory without context or meaning. LPNH was highly effective in garnering "negative" media coverage - which is clearly bad for our National Party. However... the reasons I strongly oppose the actions taken earlier to disaffiliate LPNH are: - LPNH does have a distinct strategy to their messaging, even though it is highly offensive to many, which is designed to be bait for leftwing media and online commenters. And it is very effective in garnering media coverage, and per LPNH's own members to "drive away leftists from coming to the state." This is a strategy. A strategy is not a reason to disaffiliate, even if it is damaging to the LNC, and LP candidates. Many LP candidates and affiliates fail with their strategies, but they aren't removed from the party. - LPNH represents the largest per capita group of Libertarians in the nation, which now have been disenfranchised. - The Libertarian Party is an organization and movement that puts free speech as one of our highest values, yet have disaffiliated one of our chapters (at least in part) for engaging in free speech - even if it is unpalatable to some - and taking a different tact. We are not a dictatorship, and this sends the message to affiliates that if you step out of the prescribed lines you will be punished. I am not here to defend what LPNH says or does. But I will defend the principles behind what they do.

@edwin_mccallum @WillCJohns That's...pretty much what I said. You're starting with the taking, not the using. Do you understand what wealth is? Do you understand where it comes from? It's mostly 1) income that was already taxed, 2) assets bought with that income, or 3) theoretical future income.

@JDStokes79 @WillCJohns no. I suggest that government taxes should come from where the money actually is, and that money is mostly in wealth. Also, income taxes discourage work so are less efficient than wealth taxes where you are still incentivized to work

@AndroidNeera @UkeCreature How about what? That's a screenshot of a clickbait headline of an article about a different topic.

@JDStokes79 @UkeCreature How about this

Here's a cool chart

@Mikes_NotSure @AndroidNeera "Anything that conflicts with what I want to believe is ipso facto not in good faith."

@AndroidNeera I don’t think I’ve ever seen a conservative use a chart or data to prove their point in good faith

@vesperNightfall @AndroidNeera "People who actually understand this and draw conclusions from actual data are wrong and dumb or lying and MY conclusions, which are based on feelings and my social media echo chamber, are right because I say so."

@AndroidNeera Stupid shitty neoliberal wonks with useless econ degrees they clearly learned nothing from trying to polish this turd of a economy and tell people it's not so bad. Under Trump. Who they probably oppose. Why do they do this?

@UkeCreature @AndroidNeera If the EPI wasn't a propaganda mill known for playing fast and loose with the facts, that graph might be worth discussing.

@AndroidNeera “i just don’t understand why people find this economy alienating”

@anthonyzenkus If you're an "adjunct faculty member in the Graduate School of Social Work," you're OBVIOUSLY qualified to speak on economics, right?

@anthonyzenkus "Keynes was a propagandist for economic authoritarianism, so citing him as an authority tells you far more about the person citing him than it does about reality." - me

Capitalism is the belief that the wickedest of men will do the wickedest of things for the greater good of everyone. - John Maynard Keynes

@captgouda24 The problem with the phrase "Epstein class" is that it conflates political power and economic success. And, ironically, is used in that way to justify transferring power from the kind of people who would have nothing to do with Epstein to the kind of people he was closest to.

I strongly dislike the phrase “Epstein class”, largely because it is genocidal rhetoric. A genocidal culture needs to tell lies about the depravity of their enemies to justify their actions. Democrats should have nothing to do with it.

@comradetrend @captgouda24 Have you ever learned about the liquidation of the kulaks? It always STARTS with the super wealthy, the ones who have so much that they MUST have oppressed everyone else. When getting rid of them doesn't fix everything, the bar for "super wealthy" moves down and it starts over.

@captgouda24 Genocidal rhetoric? Come the fuck on… Are you really trying to protect pedophiles?

@bigdumbbuffoon @CFCNoah1 @dog_domain @STLD98 (Narrator: "he was not an economist, and anyone who trusted his judgement would be terribly misinformed as a result.")

@CFCNoah1 @dog_domain @STLD98 I'm an economist and trust my judgment on this. I don't care if you think it's interesting or not, you're wrong. If you want something interesting, maybe think about why 2/3 of people being uncomfortable with their financial well-being is spun as a good thing.

An extremely basic thing to understand on the quantitative side of econ is it's a simplification of the qualitative side. If people have been telling you the economy sucks for 5 years, and your reaction is "actually they're wrong b/c X data", you're out of your depth.

@bigdumbbuffoon @RazzberryYams "I'm an economist" As someone who actually passed several semesters of economics, I choked on my drink when I read this. You're an economic illiterate whose ignorance is only matched by the strength of your delusions of cleverness.

@RazzberryYams I'm an economist that likes messing around with proxies, I don't give a fuck what you think I have or haven't done

@gabriel_zucman "They pay a pittance in tax to the state that made them rich." Two blatant lies for the price of one. You're a good little Goebbels clone, aren't you?

California’s super-billionaires pay only 0.07% of their wealth in California income tax each year, a mere 0.2% of total California income tax revenue. They pay a pittance in tax to the state that made them rich. It’s as if they lived in a parallel society.

New research: we have studied the wealth of the 200 Californian billionaires and what they effectively pay in tax. From Mark Zuckerberg (Meta) to Sergei Brin and Larry Page (Alphabet), the results are edifying. 🧵 nytimes.com/interactive/20…

@edwin_mccallum @WillCJohns "You have to tax the money where it is to pay for public goods." But you're not starting with "public goods" and basing tax policy on how to pay for them. You're starting with the assumption that the government deserves a piece of any increase in wealth.

@WillCJohns its weird that you think this is thinking backwards. You have to tax the money where it is to pay for public goods. It's pretty simple to see that someone's wealth went up almost $200B and then look at how much taxes they actually paid

@KlLM13 @gabriel_zucman Classic authoritarian intellectual dishonesty. If you convince yourself that the people you've been trained to hate are the Bad Guys, then ANYTHING you fantasize about doing to them, either directly or via the government, is justified.

@ToddAlanKraft @gabriel_zucman It's not economic illiteracy, it's deliberate dishonesty. He's a propagandist for economic authoritarianism.

@gabriel_zucman Are you demonstrate is economic illiteracy? Keep posting….

@cjt_thome @LPNational Edgelording on social media and supporting other parties' candidates is not "Liberty."

I can’t help but be inclined to think the @LPNational is putting its trademark first before Liberty and country!

@csawordsmith @patrickjbradley "Why not argue the substance" Because you didn't have any, just whining that disaffiliation is "leftist thought policing trash." And there's no substance to anything else from you. Just cheap word games and childish "nuh-uh, YOU." Wasting my time. Bye.

@JDStokes79 @patrickjbradley Again, more attacks. What have I said about you as a person? Why not argue the substance. You don’t know me and I don’t know you, so why be emotional about a person instead of staying on topic?

I tried to give the new LP regime the benefit of the doubt and no sooner than I made the post I was shown that they are nothing but leftist thought policing trash. The national party needs to be dissolved.