Totally agree. I have adblockers on my browsers (FireFox - uBlock Origin, Safari - 1blocker) and don't remember the last time I saw an ad (even on YouTube). Been years since I last logged on to any Facebook property. Switched to mostly using Safari after iCloud Private Relay came out.
Thought I was following good privacy hygiene. Covid lockdown freed up some time to focus on health so started consuming strength training/workout content on YouTube and blogs. Logged into Facebook on my Mac a couple weeks ago to view a family video that a relative forwarded. The first ad I see on my feed is for protein powder. Totally blew my mind! There is no escaping Facebook surveillance.
They are being squeezed by Apple. They are used to be the one squeezing others, not the other way around. Even though Apple stands to gain from this, I am glad they are using their weight take on Facebook.
that's doesn't mean it's because that amount of twitter users are fake tho
I'd argue real people rarely click ads
for facebook I read that most of the advertising money is spent on clickfarms, which just click anything to seem real e.g. follow 100 real brands and sell 50 fake follows on that acc.
In the US you only pay capital gains tax on stock when you sell.
So it can look like you made a big profit year after year if the stock you own goes up, and it looks like you didn’t pay any tax. But that money isn’t available to you until you sell, and that’s when the tax comes into effect.
This applies to everyone, and so it can look like a tax dodge, but it’s just the way things are accounted.
Actually, that stock appreciation value IS available to you. You can get a very low interest (sub 1%) loan using your stock as collateral. If you have enough stock (like the very wealthy), you can just keep doing this and paying off the interest with more loans.
Then, when you die, your estate can take advantage of the step up rule. Which means that instead of using the original value of the stock you bought as a basis to calculate your profits, the basis is "stepped up" to the value of your stock on the day you died. After which, your estate can sell the stock and pay no taxes and then pay off the loans you lived off of your whole life.
And that is exactly why companies with founders that own lots of shares are no longer paying out dividends and trying to make a profit. They simply put everything possible back into growing the stock price eternally. Because dividends are taxed. Stock appreciation, if you are rich enough, is not.
> Wow the one with the most money has to pay the most taxes? A wonder. Why is this the first time tho?
Because he didn't have money before; he had paper wealth. Some media pretends that they're the same to keep you clicking. Now he's sold, he pays tax on it, because he gained capital.
