@Jelaniya no surprise. Why do so many people think amassing large sums of wealth makes someone intelligent? I’ve met a number of these folks and my experience is most are bat shit crazy narcissists.

@thom @Jelaniya I agree.. but I have to say.. we were taught in school that only intelligent people become rich. Whether it's "you need a college degree to make a lot of money and you have to be smart to get into a good college" or "here's a parade of wealthy men throughout history and because our system only rewards the good, smart people, they are all smart"

@FallonStone @thom @Jelaniya life has taught me that only those who are willing to exploit become insanely rich.

@patricklee @thom @Jelaniya sounds right to me. Author Jon Ronson wrote a book examining psychopathy and found that capitalism rewards psychopathy. Psychopaths have some basic traits -- lack of empathy, difficulty distinguishing right and wrong, tendencies to lie or manipulate, a disregard for the rights of others -- all traits that benefit capitalistic pursuits towards extreme wealth. It is not just wrong to assume the rich are brilliant, it's dangerous.

@FallonStone @patricklee @thom @Jelaniya
No other well competing system has been invented yet. Saying "Capitalism is wrong!" is just like saying "Life on Earth is wrong!".

@iarov @patricklee @thom @Jelaniya there are, apparently, better ways to do capitalism and whether other systems are better is a matter of opinion. Lots of people throughout history seemed to think, for example, that socialism is better. I don't have an opinion yet, but to say one can't criticize what exists without something better already existing, negates the process undergone to develop something better.