It is not the money, it is what you do with it.

As the US gears up for presidential election in 2020, politicians in the Democratic Party are demanding higher taxes on the rich. "In the 1990s Democratic Party made friends with the rich. The 2008 Democratic Party was eager to bail them out. The 2019 Democratic Party seems ready to declare war," wrote D Matthews. "Rep, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) floated a big increase in top marginal income tax rates in an interview on 60 minutes. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) proposed an annual wealth tax. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) proposed a drastic hike in estate tax." Till 1963, "the top income tax rate was 91 percent". In India, Indira Gandhi raised the top rate of income tax to 98.75% on income above Rs 200,000. Democratic presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson reduced the top rate to 70% and in 1986 a bipartisan Congress cut it down to 28%. Today, the top rate of income tax is 37% in the US. Billionaire investor Warren Buffett claimed to pay a lower rate of tax than his secretary. In the 2012 presidential election, Republican candidate Mitt Romney paid $3 million in taxes on an income of $21.7 million, at an effective rate of 13.9%. But, according to C Kadlec, Romney's tax rate was about 30% because of corporate tax on dividends and capital gains on which Romney had to pay income tax, thus leading to double taxation. Saez and Diamond proposed 73% as the optimal top rate of income tax. Sanders and Warren are known to be socialists. "The standard attack on socialism implies that only one variant exists: state ownership of productive assets with centralised control over resource allocation," wrote C Satterlee. "The standard line on historical experience draws attention to the flagrant human rights abuses that occurred, and still occur, under socialist regimes" but "it implies socialists have learnt nothing over the last 100 years". Have they? Decades of socialism has collapsed the Venezuelan economy but President Nicolas Maduro has ordered his army to shoot to prevent foreign aid from entering his country. In Nicaragua, President Daniel Ortega has ordered police to beat up journalists writing against his third term in office by changing the constitution. Every society in the world is pyramidal in nature. In 2018, there were 618 billionaires in the US in a population of 300 million, 44% of whom paid no federal income tax in 2018. Politicians cannot win without pleasing these voters and these voters will only vote for those who promise subsidies. But is there any guarantee that politicians will use increased revenues from higher taxes on the people instead of on more lethal weapons? Voluntary philanthropy by billionaires targets those suffering genuine hardship. Whether politicians or billionaires, those who are good will do good. And vice versa.