S8 Ep772: As the wine flows, we consider a "fairy tale" from the 21st century regarding a new tax on wealthy second homes in New York City. While the proposal to tax penthouses sounds witty to the masses, Germanicus warns it is mere "Kabuki smoke and mirrors"
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 20 April 2026
⏱️ 13 minutes
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Summary
As the wine flows, we consider a "fairy tale" from the 21st century regarding a new tax on wealthy second homes in New York City. While the proposal to tax penthouses sounds witty to the masses, Germanicus warns it is mere "Kabuki smoke and mirrors" that will drive the wealthy to flee, drawing parallels to programs that destroyed communities and hampered natural mobility. He argues that only those who have lived under the "monstrous regimes" of the East — like those in Germany or Hungary — truly understand the devastation these ideas bring to the human spirit. Our evening concludes with a plan to visit the circus, preferring jugglers and marionettes to the exhausting drama of the modern age, as we depart the wine bar to offer our sacrifices to the divine Augustus. (3)
1550 ROME
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is the Friendsfisher Debating Society. |
| 0:08.0 | Germanicus and I are in our wine bar by the Thames. |
| 0:11.7 | The Centurians are expecting to hear some grotesquery from the 21st century about taxes. |
| 0:19.1 | No, guys, we're not going to do it. |
| 0:21.1 | We're going to tell a fairy tale. |
| 0:23.0 | It's hard to believe, but it might be true. |
| 0:25.3 | Here's how it goes. |
| 0:27.9 | There are people in New York City, a great number of them, |
| 0:33.3 | who have second homes that are worth more than $5 million. |
| 0:37.2 | Second homes in New York City. |
| 0:39.6 | One notable, famous, well-to-do person has a penthouse worth $238 million. |
| 0:49.0 | One pet house. |
| 0:52.3 | New York City right now. |
| 0:54.0 | As troubled as the city is. |
| 0:57.5 | Now, that's an opportunity. |
| 0:59.3 | Nobody believes it. |
| 1:00.4 | The sentarians are saying, I'm making this up. |
| 1:02.8 | I can't translate it into Cisterci's, but it's a big number. |
| 1:08.4 | Okay. |
| 1:09.4 | Right now, the proposal by the mayor, |
| 1:12.7 | Mamdani, who's 34 years old, maybe he's 35 by now, |
| 1:16.2 | he's a Democratic socialist, |
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