The Panama Papers: Hackers Reveal Law Firm's Many Tax Haven Clients

[Lexicus]

Not at all. All I'm saying is people have to get it out of their heads that the system is working for them. It never has, and it never will so why waste time getting upset over it? The best you can do is try to do whatever you can to become one of the elite.

I am hoping this is sarcasm?
As long as the system is taken for granted nothing will change.

 

[Takhisis]

Not at all. All I'm saying is people have to get it out of their heads that the system is working for them. It never has, and it never will so why waste time getting upset over it? The best you can do is try to do whatever you can to become one of the elite.

So, as I said before, let's hand over the planet to the Sinaloa cartel and make sure we get enough money off them to terraform Mars.

 

[Takhisis]

So what happens to all that money once the politicians resign? They get a luxurious retirement spending it?

You jail as many of them as possible and make a second set of lawsuits in a civil court for as many torts as you can, recover as much money as possible and impose damages on them as well.

 

[Commodore]

I am hoping this is sarcasm?
As long as the system is taken for granted nothing will change.

Humans have been considered "civilized" for what, roughly 6000 years now? What we are seeing now has been going on for the entirety of that 6000 years. What makes you think things are all of a sudden going to change now that some documents were leaked? I mean, this isn't even a unique situation. Stuff like this has been leaked before and it didn't do a lick of good. Things still continued on as usual with the only thing that changed were the faces and names of those who are screwing us for their own gain.

I have yet to see a realistic plan presented to stop this from ever happening again, and there's a reason no one has presented that plan. It simply doesn't exist. There is no way to stop it because, as I said earlier, once you put people in a position of power, it is only a matter of time before they start using that power for their own gain. So it's not people taking the system for granted that prevents change, it's that change is truly impossible and we have 6000 years of history to prove it.

 

[sophie]

Agreed. It seems as though there are some people who think this will allow us to take a shower that will prevent us from getting dirty ever again.

Which people?

 

[CavLancer]

Change? The only good has been civil rights and the demise of the Soviet Union. All else has been downhill. Culture, manufacturing, freedoms, opportunity. Down the tubes, off to China, traded for security, and only for the rich.

Change is not your friend.

 

[CavLancer]

You jail as many of them as possible and make a second set of lawsuits in a civil court for as many torts as you can, recover as much money as possible and impose damages on them as well.

Sounds good to me.

 

[Commodore]

Which people?

Anyone who thinks this leak is going to be the catalyst for any kind of real change.

 

[Lexicus]

So it's not people taking the system for granted that prevents change, it's that change is truly impossible and we have 6000 years of history to prove it.

Hmm, I was thinking about that just the other day while paying a tribute of grain and cattle to the King and sacrificing a couple of goats to hopefully get a better harvest.

 

[Zelig]

Change? The only good has been civil rights and the demise of the Soviet Union. All else has been downhill. Culture, manufacturing, freedoms, opportunity. Down the tubes, off to China, traded for security, and only for the rich.

Change is not your friend.

You're wrong on pretty much every count.

Culture - Still have all the culture of the past, plus more. We now have the technology to indefinitely store culture.
Manufacturing - Manufacturing jobs are crap, better off automating them away.
Freedoms - Civil rights.
Opportunity - The internet.

 

[gay_Aleks]

change is scary

 

[hobbsyoyo]

He did though, he didn't disclose that he owned this account, which I believe he was required to do by Icelandic law.

From what I can tell though, he is claiming that the way he went through the process of not disclosing was a legal loophole.

Time will tell if he is lying, given bad legal counsel or telling the truth.

I'm betting on the latter. This doesn't make him any less of a scumbag; it just means the world has to get serious about not making it so bloody easy for the rich to bilk the rest of us legally.

 

[Hygro]

If I was the PM of Iceland I wouldn't resign. I'd work extra hard for my people, defiantly.

 

[gay_Aleks]

I feel like the PM of Iceland would have to resign on his own or be put under the bus by his party.

 

[civvver]

I'm curious, what legitimate reasons would one have to own an off shore account like this?

Seems that for the most part the main reason is that you can then do shady things and hide money from the tax man. But what else do people use them for? Hide money from their wife? Grandmother? Business partner? Other reasons?

here read this, there are a lot of legit reasons

http://www.vox.com/2016/4/3/11356326/panama-papers

Mostly privacy, if you want to buy property without having your name on the public records like if you're a celebrity or have stalkers, or if you're a corporation and don't want your rivals to know you're developing a new product.

Plus tax avoidance where it's legal is a ton different from refusing to pay taxes. Look at how like half of US corporations are incorporated in Delaware.

 

[Commodore]

Hmm, I was thinking about that just the other day while paying a tribute of grain and cattle to the King and sacrificing a couple of goats to hopefully get a better harvest.

You know what I mean. Although the methods may have changed, the basic dynamic of the elite being able to do whatever they want, while the common man's freedom remains extremely limited has always remained the same.

 

[Takhisis]

Your argument seems to be that since we can't do everything then we shouldn't do anything.

 

[Commodore]

Your argument seems to be that since we can't do everything then we shouldn't do anything.

On the contrary, I'm trying to spur thought on what real solutions might be aside from the same old crap (voting, arresting people, revolution, etc.) that's been done before and hasn't worked.

 

[Takhisis]

Aside from, or as well as?

 

[Commodore]

Aside from, or as well as?

I would say aside from. All previous methods to enact change have failed because they treat symptoms, not the actual problem itself. Hell, I would even go so far as to say some methods tried in the past are actually part of the problem (looking at you, revolutions).