The point is that 1 million is a big number (or a lot of money), as is 1 billion. But 1 billion is so big, it makes 1 million seem small by comparison. 1 thousand is not a big number.
Honestly, probably the only way to save the Environment and Democracy. Too much power in the hands of the few leads to perpetual effective monarchy. It's why the Founding Fathers were against large amounts of inherited wealth, particularly inherited wealth that creates dynasties in perpetuity.
I know people don't like the Founding Fathers that much lately, and I see why, but conservatives really don't understand them, and deliberately misrepresent them, because not doing so would undercut all conservative "policies".
World's a mess because of inequality and the concentration of almost all wealth and power into the hands of a small amount of sociopaths. I honestly think the only way to solve this permanently is to cap the amount of wealth and power any individual or family can have.
Many years ago, I used to work in infosec. One of my employer's clients was a big and famous brand well-established in the luxury sector. One day, a colleague of mine was sent to test their POS. Inside one, he found a single transaction for around 6M € from a credit card swipe. It wasn't a payment made from a bank transfer or a check, just a single credit card swipe! At the time, I couldn't even dream a card with such a credit allowance would exist. I had a pretty good living then, with money for the rent, daily expenses, and even some savings. Still, for an instant, I remember feeling like a poor child living in a house made of mud.
I agree. Seeing stuff like that and how, more often than not, the clients treated their employees and consultants was just bad for the soul. In such contexts, you understand why workers aren't called people but "resources." In the end, I got burned out and quit the job.
None of this, anywhere, exists by any other means than chance. The entire universe has no reason to exist. It has no reason to not exist.
It also showcases the most unique thing about awareness of the human problem - If the meaning of life isn't a thing, what is it? Well, maybe it's not a question to be answered, but a journey to be experienced.
So we can say "well, fuck, we'll be miserable forever." Or, we can individually ask if we are ok with that, and if we aren't, how can we influence this journey to be worth experiencing?
i feel you, but i keep living just in case this ever changes. getting a job is unironically one of the best things i did for my mental health. helps paying for my hobbies too, still not enough to move out though. my solution is to endure and wait until i can sustain living on my own.
I recommend visiting Gapminder. For example the Dollar Street, where you can get an inside how different life around the world is, depending on income.
Also, it's various other statistical tools like this animated graph, where you can see the billionaires running away to the right. Also interesting is the short blip of people having more wealth at around 1980 - 2010, which immediately got sucked back into "slightly right of extreme poverty mountain".
"It has to stop" I agree. But how do I make it stop? There's a lot of talking about what is the issue and its consequences, I say this also for climate change. But they don't say what can we do about it
A possible solution could be to limit the personal (family?) wealth, fortune, possession, etc. to for example 100 million.
That should be enough to live a luxury lifestyle and give your children’s children a ‘care free life’.
Everything above that amount goes to the aid of the less fortunate, public and social improvements, energy transition, solving pollution problems, etc. (worldwide).
In exchange you get a certificate with: “Congratulations you won capitalism!”
P.S.
When you ‘cheat’ you get 1 dollar (or equivalent) and may start over.
In addition and not exclusive of all possible legal proceedings.
P.P.S.
The above is just an example to illustrate that there are possibilities. But this doesn’t solve all problems of inequality or everything else that is wrong on this planet.
P.P.P.S.
Too many people think the have the possibility to also collect wealth above the 100 million ( or think they are entitled to an amount above that). They will protest and vote against any such solution.
(I’m not talking about those 400 Americans from the website graphic).
Reminder that the money is printed out of thin air and it's not really that we need anyone's stored wealth. Not even liquidating a mansion or ten from a billionaire, or from all billionaires, is going to solve our problems. Sure they are worth a lot to one person, but how much is a mansion worth to society in effect? Not much really.
The system is designed to have poor people. It must so that there is incentive to work. Otherwise we would have to force people to work. I'm not trying to justify the ways things are, I just don't see going after stored wealth as solving the problem especially when it is not their assets we need or their made up currency.
Not to be fatalistic deliberately, but what can we do about it? If we try to take on the system individually, we face the Plucky Ninja problem. If we try to coordinate, it's too big a movement to keep secret, so the rich and powerful can subvert it before we get anywhere. (They're doing a pretty good job of it already.)
Spoliers! You owe it to yourself experience it first without anyone else's comments, it only takes a few minutes.
An extremely powerful infographic, well designed and well sourced. I love how after they said everything they said, they leave you to keep scrolling the last third of the 3 trillion. No more commentary, just letting the scale of it sink in.
Though, something I wish they touched on in the infographic itself is rebuking the argument of "all that money is tied up in stocks! they don't have that much money sitting around!" There are plenty of issues with that rebuttal of course and it's not actually a valid defense of the ultra rich, but it's a common enough counter that I think it warrants being mentioned to cover all your bases so to speak.
That's actually the best argument I read against this. I will be honest, I was thinking the same while scrolling, but this page made me think differently.
I went to that link and it was horrible, no the site is simple it's just when it went to Bezos ... then look at all the things we could have to make things better (free healthcare, free college, etc) just sickening.
And actually he does not have any money because its just his assets and what other people think they are worth but he is actually quite poor because he immediately spends all the money he makes to invest into new ideas to make the world an even better place for everyone.
Comparing myself to the ultra rich doesn't affect me any more than comparing myself to super athletes. It's the people around me that matters and they're not significantly more wealthy than me. You'll never be content in your life if this is the bar to reach.
Except pro athletes don't earn more than the rest of the world combined. Pro athletes don't control the prices of everything you've ever bought or rented. Pro athletes don't supply the politicians with enough legal bribes in a corrupt system that they're effectively in charge of the country.
If you don't think billionaires sucking up all the resources and political power matters to your daily life, you're either delusional or wilfully blind.
I wasn't talking about the wealth of pro athletes but their athletic capabilities. Your workouts will be miserable for the rest of your life if those are the people you're comparing yourself to.
I think that the comparison is a bit flawed in the way that comparing pretty much any of us to one of the super-rich is more akin to comparing a patient in a state of clinical death to the Warhammer 40k™ top-tier warriors, not just pro athletes
If I were to dedicate all my life to sports I would maybe make it into the pro level during the lifespan, even if that would mean that I'd have to choose some sport that allows old people 🌚
I I were to continue working the way I work today and get a hundred times raise in payment, it would take me about 60 thousands of years to get what Jeff has and that is if I don't eat or rent a flat anymore.
That's quite a bit of difference, don't you think?