Tobias Lütke is rich. Very rich. His company, Shopify, is worth about $154 billion. But apparently, wealth isn’t enough; he wants to rewrite the rules of democracy. This week, Lütke took to social media to endorse a system that would strip voting rights from anyone who doesn’t pay income tax. He called it a “good system.” Two words. That is all it took to spark a firestorm.
It is a wild flip of history. We used to fight against “no taxation without representation.” Now, the tech elite wants “no representation without taxation.” If you do not pay, you do not play. Critics call it a blatant push for plutocracy. Supporters call it a thought experiment. Let’s be real. It is a power grab.
The digital nonsense started when Lütke suggested that retirees on pensions should lose their voting rights. Treat them like kids. Keep their money safe, but take away their ballots. Then, an online account named “Eric Thor” chimed in with a tiered voting scheme. No income tax? Zero votes. Earn over $500,000? You get five votes. Lütke loved it.
Think about who this hurts. It is not just a few people. It is a massive chunk of the country. Retirees on Social Security. Students. Caregivers. Disabled folks. Low-income workers. They all get wiped off the voter rolls. Meanwhile, the ultra-wealthy get a five-fold megaphone. It is a dream scenario for the country club crowd.
This is not a fresh idea. It is a dusty, discarded relic from the 19th century. They used to call it “census suffrage.” Back then, only property owners had a say. We spent the entire 20th century fighting to kill that system. We wanted universal suffrage. Now, a tech bro wants to bring it back.
The debate actually started over housing. People are angry about NIMBYs blocking new apartments. In San Francisco, wealthy boomers are fighting high-rises. Yale professor Samuel Moyn calls this an “oldigarchy.” His solution? Lower the voting age. Lütke’s solution? Just take votes away from the poor.
Here is the kicker. Lütke loves hoarding votes for himself. In 2022, Shopify gave him a “Founder Share.” It guarantees him 40% of the company’s voting power. It does not matter how much stock he actually owns. He gets the control anyway. Proxy advisors hated it. But Lütke kept his power. He protects his own ballot box while trying to lock you out of yours. Typical.
