As I've been writing for at least eight years, that billionaires are a danger to humanity. Even if there are a few well intentioned, more benign billionaires, the nature of being a billionaire is inherently a toxic threat to democracy, justice and freedom. We need to debillionairize the planet, or, for the British, debillionairise.

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I've been writing for at least eight years, that billionaires are a danger to humanity. (See my series: The No Billionaires, De-Billionairize the Planet Crusade)

Even if there are a few well intentioned, more benign billionaires, the nature of being a billionaire is inherently a toxic threat to democracy, justice and freedom. We need to debillionairize the planet, or, for the British, debillionairise.

I am thrilled that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) has taken up the mantle and brought the idea to the mainstream. Now we need to get into the gritty details and make it happen.

The first step is simple. Create laws that prevent creation of billionaires through inheritance or bequest. That means taxing estates massively. The first step to getting rid of billionaires is to prevent born-on-third-base heirs from becoming unearned billionaires. I call such a tax a dynasty tax, because it would prevent the creation or perpetuation of dynasties.

There is no reason that the children, or scions of the ultrawealthy should be handed the power and influence that goes with the wealth that un-taxed inheritances provide.

If this law had been place it would have taken out some of the biggest billionaires, including the Waltons and the Koch brothers.

A law to prevent billionaires by inheritance is a start but it is not nearly enough, though it is probably the easiest, simplest way to start the process of debillionairization.

Legislation already being discussed to raise taxes to 70% isnot enough. Even a 92% tax like the one existing at the time of the Eisenhower administration is not enough. A 100% tax on money over a pre-set limit must be instituted and it must be applied across the board, no excuses because someone owns a mansion, plantation or ranch worth a fortune. I'd like to see the limit set at $20 million and could live with $50 million maximum, for inheritances.

Mitch McConnell is trying to eliminate the inheritance tax altogether. Bernie Sanders has proposed legislation to implement an annual 2% estate tax on assets over $50 million. That's a good idea too.

And Sanders calls for a tax rate of 77% on estate assets over $1 billion. But I want to see more like 100% tax on inheritances over $20 million. That would force the ultra-wealthy to break down their wealth and distribute it, since they probably wouldn't allow it to just go to taxes. It might even be necessary to capture the wealth, so the wealthy don't use their wills to secure buy power and influence before they die.

Some call this approach immoral and call for its intellectual annihilation. They argue that the wealthy already pay enough taxes. Of course they say that. They would complain if the tax rate was a fraction of what it is today-- after it has been weakened repeatedly over the past 50 years. It's what they do.

While an estate tax is probably the easiest part of the debillionairization process, or as Thom Hartmann calls it, the "No Billionaires" project, it will not be easy. I would expect the ultra-wealthy to fight this tooth and nail, with charm PR campaigns, nasty attacks and eventually, appeals to the Supreme Court. But we must start the process. The sooner the better.

Authors Bio:

Rob Kall is an award winning journalist, inventor, software architect,
connector and visionary. His work and his writing have been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, CNN, ABC, the HuffingtonPost, Success, Discover and other media.

Check out his platform at RobKall.com

He is the author of The Bottom-up Revolution; Mastering the Emerging World of Connectivity

He's given talks and workshops to Fortune
500 execs and national medical and psychological organizations, and pioneered
first-of-their-kind conferences in Positive Psychology, Brain Science and
Story. He hosts some of the world's smartest, most interesting and powerful
people on his Bottom Up Radio Show,
and founded and publishes one of the top Google- ranked progressive news and
opinion sites, OpEdNews.com

more detailed bio:

Rob Kall has spent his adult life as an awakener and empowerer-- first in the field of biofeedback, inventing products, developing software and a music recording label, MuPsych, within the company he founded in 1978-- Futurehealth, and founding, organizing and running 3 conferences: Winter Brain, on Neurofeedback and consciousness, Optimal Functioning and Positive Psychology (a pioneer in the field of Positive Psychology, first presenting workshops on it in 1985) and Storycon Summit Meeting on the Art Science and Application of Story-- each the first of their kind. Then, when he found the process of raising people's consciousness and empowering them to take more control of their lives one person at a time was too slow, he founded Opednews.com-- which has been the top search result on Google for the terms liberal news and progressive opinion for several years. Rob began his Bottom-up Radio show, broadcast on WNJC 1360 AM to Metro Philly, also available on iTunes, covering the transition of our culture, business and world from predominantly Top-down (hierarchical, centralized, authoritarian, patriarchal, big) to bottom-up (egalitarian, local, interdependent, grassroots, archetypal feminine and small.) Recent long-term projects include a book, Bottom-up-- The Connection Revolution, debillionairizing the planet and the Psychopathy Defense and Optimization Project.

Rob Kall Wikipedia Page

Rob Kall's Bottom Up Radio Show: Over 400 podcasts are archived for downloading here, or can be accessed from iTunes. Or check out my Youtube Channel

Rob Kall/OpEdNews Bottom Up YouTube video channel

Rob was published regularly on the Huffingtonpost.com for several years.

Rob is, with Opednews.com the first media winner of the Pillar Award for supporting Whistleblowers and the first amendment.

To learn more about Rob and OpEdNews.com, check out A Voice For Truth - ROB KALL | OM Times Magazine and this article.

For Rob's work in non-political realms mostly before 2000, see his C.V.. and here's an article on the Storycon Summit Meeting he founded and organized for eight years.

Press coverage in the Wall Street Journal: Party's Left Pushes for a Seat at the Table

Talk Nation Radio interview by David Swanson: Rob Kall on Bottom-Up Governance June, 2017

Here is a one hour radio interview where Rob was a guest- on Envision This, and here is the transcript..

To watch Rob having a lively conversation with John Conyers, then Chair of the House Judiciary committee, click here. Watch Rob speaking on Bottom up economics at the Occupy G8 Economic Summit, here.

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Rob's articles express his personal opinion, not the opinion of this website.

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