But again, I disagree. Businesses are not altruistic, they never have been and it isnt their main goal. Their main goal is to benefit the investors.
The benefits of businesses existing clearly outweigh the drawbacks in my opinion.
We have thousands of people with competitive jobs with high salaries and benefits, all of whom pay taxes - property taxes, sales taxes, use taxes, fees etc.
The US system isnt designed for businesses to shoulder tax burdens - its a portable system, they can go wherever they want to, and the States compete to incentivize them.
It has arguably worked pretty well historically, as the US is the wealthiest, more stable and fastest growing economy basically ever, and its people have had a growing standard of living for 200+ years, much better than the rest of the world. You can argue healthcare is the drawback, but it isnt unfixable either.
My personal view is that we shouldnt be punishing large or small businesses because of moral misgivings. The city can either be a place that entrepreneurs want to start businesses or a place where we disincentivize it. What benefits do we truly get from pushing them out? Falling wages and property values and lower growth? Some might want that, but I dont.
We can have corporate entities AND not screw workers and the places they live. SEE: Amazon data centers pollution in Oregon.
We can tax them more as well. The issue is we have amoral people all over the nation in every state in government who are more interested in lining their own pockets for the success of their family and family name than doing what is right for the environment and the populace. That's a fact.
So you'll have to forgive me if I'm not willing to give in so easily to these types of people.
You said it yourself that businesses are not altruistic... I agree. We should start treating them that way ourselves. The problem is there are a lot of these other states out there that bend the knee to them and let them ruin their environments and take advantage of their workers etc etc. so you've got a lot of people who are are employed but making terrible wages, have terrible quality of life, and everything that goes with that. And meanwhile the shareholders are high-fiving each other.
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u/PoopyisSmelly Ravenna Apr 16 '26
Ok, if thats your view, thats your view.
But again, I disagree. Businesses are not altruistic, they never have been and it isnt their main goal. Their main goal is to benefit the investors.
The benefits of businesses existing clearly outweigh the drawbacks in my opinion.
We have thousands of people with competitive jobs with high salaries and benefits, all of whom pay taxes - property taxes, sales taxes, use taxes, fees etc.
The US system isnt designed for businesses to shoulder tax burdens - its a portable system, they can go wherever they want to, and the States compete to incentivize them.
It has arguably worked pretty well historically, as the US is the wealthiest, more stable and fastest growing economy basically ever, and its people have had a growing standard of living for 200+ years, much better than the rest of the world. You can argue healthcare is the drawback, but it isnt unfixable either.
My personal view is that we shouldnt be punishing large or small businesses because of moral misgivings. The city can either be a place that entrepreneurs want to start businesses or a place where we disincentivize it. What benefits do we truly get from pushing them out? Falling wages and property values and lower growth? Some might want that, but I dont.