Wrong, they should CEASE to exist
Well, I don't know about your but I'd prefer a system where it wouldn't be possible for a single person to amass that many resources in the first place
Worker co-ops, social safety nets, guaranteed income and a robust, free universal healthcare option are all things we could do RIGHT NOW without hurting our precious capitalist empire at all. In the long run some businesses like the Healthcare companies will suffer and have to downsize, but it's always been absolutely astonishing to me that a company like Tesla, IBM, Boeing, Walmart or other mega-companies close plants or stores and send tens of thousands of people into joblessness and poverty nobody bats an eye.
The moment we talk about actions that might impact the insurance empires suddenly we have to all worry about the workers and all the businesses that are connected to the insurance company and so on.
Wrong! I agree with you and OP but I also don’t know what the word “wrong” means!
They should exsist, as a footnote in human history.
Nah there should be a whole chapter about oligarchs that make future people go "what the fuck". Hopefully followed by the one about how we no longer have oligarchs that makes future people go "based".
Why would I want to change your mind‽
No. Will not change your mind
They only exist because we allow it.
Thought this guy looked familiar, turns out I was thinking of the Honey Monster from UK ads in the 90s.
Has gritty acknowledged this relation???
Why the fuck is Gritty a member of Crowder's mug club? Fucking cancelled.
(If you're not going to fully Photoshop that fascist out of the meme, use the Calvin & Hobbes version)
This one, right?
Gritty is really a far leftist on X:
I'm not clicking that fucking spam link.
Lots of Zimbabweans would disagree.
I'm with Jesse Ventura on this one. There should be a Maximum wage
Well then I guess you're right. Billionaires are great!
Many have promised that when they die the money should be used for charity. Warren Buffet started this trend.
The bad part here is they can waste all the money however they want and nothing can stop them. Example, they buy cars just to blow them up, not one but 1000. They can afford it. Good for the environment? No, but fun for them as they might have found a new sport.
Often the "claims" of donating the money are complete bullshit. They set up their own charities that they or their children control and "donate" The money to it.
It is just another way to evade taxes and perseverance their generational wealth
Tell this to Iranians.
Wealth is not zero sum. Me having money does not mean I'm taking money from you, or the other way around
There's a finite amount of money in the world. The more I have and keep, the less there is for others.
Motherfucker currency is printed literally ad nauseam
Wealth != Money
Your conceptual framework will never work if you make elemental mistakes like that
I don't mind billionaires existing, but I absolutely mind them getting special treatment and getting away with crimes.
edit: if you're mad about this comment, I have to think you're just jealous of the rich assholes. If billionaires paid their fair share of taxes and were prosecuted for crimes, the world would be objectively a better place. Instead, I guess for some that's not enough, it's a fully socialist world or NOTHING.
No one is "mad" at your comment. People just think it's stupid to think inequality should exist
People just think it's stupid to think inequality should exist
This has to be some of the most naive text I've ever read.
Inequality will never not exist. Humans are not equally talented, equally diligent, equally intelligent, etc. They don't have equally-capable bodies, they don't have equal desires.
My coworker is lazy and chronically late, I'm not. You will never convince me or anyone with a functioning cerebrum that we deserve to be paid the same. And that's just one tiny example.
Query: Is Wage Theft a crime?
I ask because I am unaware of any way to amass such grotesque levels of wealth without engaging in Wage Theft.
lf by wage theft you mean illegally withholding salaries, it is illegal but not punished nearly as it should be
If you mean wage theft as in taking of surplus value by the owning class, it's not but it should be
Is the line right at billion, how rich should people be allowed to be?
Should it matter how the money was acquired?
Should everyone always have to have the same amount of money as everyone else?
Personally, I don't care how much someone accrues in their life. I do think there should be a cap on inheritance. Peg that cap to some multiple of the minimum wage, let's say 1million, then if billionaires want to pass on more than $7.25 million they need to raise the minimum wage.
Tax 'em when they die and move on.
I remember watching an intervew with a philosopher dedicated to answering those questions. She says that, in her country (Norway or somewhere near, I can't remember), surveys show that the majority of citizens consider having 2 million dollars the max amount a family of 4 should have before being "too much money any family should have". So she suggests putting a cap at 10 millions for an individual. In her country, that's officially more than enough while not detering people to try to become "rich". Big emphasis on "in her country". She believes it should be very dependant of the amount and quality of public services. Good quality and cheap public education etc.
I think the question could be summarised as, how much is "enough"? Is it enough to live on? Enough to feel secure that you know you could pay for that big ticket item? Is that big ticket item the necessity you need or have to pay for?
And for that, alot of people have different lines that are deemed enough.
Exactly. Everyone has their own line. Some people are content to sit in the woods and live off of the land. Some people are content living a life of bartering without as many interesting things to spend their time with. The majority of people are not content no matter what they have. They are always looking for a way to get more than they have now, however much it is.
Whoa! Which one of these questions do people not like and why?
Ok so.... I can't speak for everyone, but
Is the line right at billion, how rich should people be allowed to be?
This could be perceived as sealioning, or just asking questions. Looking through the thread I don't believe that to be the case, so I personally don't find this one objectionable. My answer to that would be $100,000,000 US Dollars. No more than that, and people should really be retiring once they hit $10,000,000 USD
Should it matter how the money was acquired?
Perfectly reasonable question, and I would answer, "yes, absolutely." I would then immediately ask two follow up questions.
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Is Wage Theft a crime?
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Will we prosecute the crimes that these rich people have committed?
Should everyone always have to have the same amount of money as everyone else?
This is a strawman question, even if you didn't intend for it to be. No one thinks that everyone should have the same as everyone else, even those of us that advocate for moneyless and stateless society. I suspect this is the one that is getting the down votes, though the first is also a potential candidate.
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Workers should collectively own the Means of Production and direct it democratically as they see fit.
More and more companies are replacing workers with independent contractors who are running their own businessness where they are in complete control. We have now begun seeing some workers be replaced by AI, and this is a trend that will only continue to grow. This means that we are heading to a future that you described, a board of directors, or maybe even a single CEO who is the sole worker in a company and has complete control.
Maybe you should step back and realize you're defending billionaires. Idk if you realize just how much money a billion dollars is. No single person should ever have that much material power, that is an insane amount of money.
I'm not defending billionaires. I just don't care about them because of the amount of money that they have. If they are assholes, then I judge them based on that. Maybe in order to become a billionaire, you have to be an asshole, in which case they are all assholes. I just don't see the very act of being a certain amount wealthy as itself in itself issue. If Bezos were to wire a billion bucks into your account right now, would you instantly become an asshole? Of course not, that's absurd.
Life sucked more for everyone before there were billionaires, so who am I to say that I know for sure that they make life worse for everyone? Maybe life would be better in a system in which they can't exist, I don't know, and to act like I do know 100% would be disingenuous. Sure, I get that people claim they can perfectly imagine how life in completely different complex systems with billions of individuals would be, but I just don't choose to give such high regard to my own very hypothetical imaginations. I'm suspicious of people who claim to have such a perfect ability to simulate possible alternate realities in their minds. Especially when they also can't seem to be able to use their incredible mental powers to get their life comfortable enough to be able to see just what an incredible time it is to be alive.
