Robert ReichThere are basically 4 ways to accumulate a billion dollars in America:
1) Profiting from a monopoly
2) Insider trading
3) Political payoffs
4) Inheritance
Don’t believe the self-made myth.
Roger@rbreich exploit people by paying them barely enough to get by while working them as much as you can.
1rr1table@rbreich You forgot one: Fraud.
Koray Karatay (MD,Scifi maker)@rbreich 5.Forgot the 5th point being a baby boomer.
Also it's not about America entire world is like that
Also it's not about America entire world is like that
Richie Enameller@rbreich billionaires = oligarchs
Darwin Woodka@rbreich 5) government grift
Andy P@rbreich “Pull yourself up by your bootstraps” It was meant to be sarcastic, or to suggest that it was an impossible accomplishment. But it has been hijacked.
fishdan@rbreich There has never been a monopoly in the history of the world that wasn't created with government support, usually via IP protection or raising barriers to entry,
And I hate Amazon, but in no way is Amazon a monopoly.
Amadi Lovelace@fishdan @rbreich you’re right that Amazon isn’t a monopoly. However, it is the leader of American oligopoly, an also entirely unethical system in which a very small number of companies have been able to dominate the entire marketplace by using the same tactics to destroy competition that a monopoly does, particularly for exurban consumers, including leveraging government support.
@amaditalks @rbreich Preach! The fastest way to fix this is to make it easier for other companies to compete with Amazon by not honoring their IP patents.
Dan Wentzel 🏳️🌈@rbreich A billionaire is a tax policy failure.
peterlhansen
Lonewolf@peterlhansen @rbreich which tech did he create? He buys existing tech and funds tech development but he’s not a critical tech inventor himself.
GaryRSimonds@rbreich Almost all of which, ALL "genius" billionaires have pursued. And when we say profiting from a monopoly we mean actively crushing and buying out ALL competition
Flaming Cheeto@rbreich long term CEO who's paid about an order of magnitude too much.
Sarah T. Roberts, Ph.D.
Morten BayHey - don't knock the CA state lottery! And why don't frivolous law suits make this list?
Speed demon 🇪🇺 🇳🇴🇺🇦🇵🇸@rbreich Worth noting that any one of these means you do not have a _free_ market.
Brian Smith@rbreich
That goes for all countries, not just the USA
That goes for all countries, not just the USA
cyber.philosohack
Dave Volek@[email protected]
Or you could start with $2b and throw half of it away on failed business ventures.
Or you could start with $2b and throw half of it away on failed business ventures.
Viral Triggers
⁰FisherTX14@rbreich
5) Avoiding taxes
6) Destroying unions
7) Not paying living wages
8) Not providing benefits
9) Voiding employee pensions
10) Cheating startup partners
5) Avoiding taxes
6) Destroying unions
7) Not paying living wages
8) Not providing benefits
9) Voiding employee pensions
10) Cheating startup partners
Mysturji@rbreich
I think they all start with 4, except in a few exceptional circumstances.
I think they all start with 4, except in a few exceptional circumstances.
mike805@rbreich the common element here is, there are a very small number of people who actually created a billion dollars' worth of value, and most of those (Telsa for example) didn't get to keep it.
Ford and Edison did but both were ruthless SOBs. A nice humane inventor will not get to keep the money.
The main way to obtain for yourself the lifetime productive output of a few hundred people is by force or fraud.
As for Musk, reusable rockets are the most important thing he has made real.
Noah Zane@rbreich ooooo sarcasm
Danette 🐬@rbreich you mean they didn’t work at McDonalds in HS, go to college, get a good job and learn the ins and outs of a company and work their way to the top? I’m shocked! Shocked I tell you 🙄
🏁⚡Omar Two Tone⚡🏁
@rbreich The american dream is a scam... actually it is a nightmare
BorderCollieGuy@rbreich
Anyone ever seen the old TV show Hart2Hart about the self-made billionaire who helps solve crimes? TV was really bad back then.
Anyone ever seen the old TV show Hart2Hart about the self-made billionaire who helps solve crimes? TV was really bad back then.
@rbreich
Hmmm:
Jaz-Z and Beyonce
Kanye West (may have destroyed it by now)
Kim Kardashian
Kylie Jenner has done pretty well if not a full B
Hmmm:
Jaz-Z and Beyonce
Kanye West (may have destroyed it by now)
Kim Kardashian
Kylie Jenner has done pretty well if not a full B
EarthOne@rbreich You forgot Transnational Organized Crime.
MrShoggoth@rbreich - 5. Being Oprah.
You forgot one, people that can afford to corrupt the law through politics.
costrike@rbreich paying terrible wages seems to help
Frank Schmidt@rbreich
As an experiment I let an AI evaluate this statement:
"While highlighting some rare illegitimate paths to wealth, this statement obscures the fact that determination, risk-taking, skill-building, and legitimate enterprise-creation are the primary ways wealth is accumulated in open and fair market economies like the U.S. The implication that "the self-made myth" should not be believed is misguided and counterproductive."
Please evaluate the content of the following statement: "There are basically 4 ways to accumulate a billion dollars in America: 1) Profiting from a monopoly 2) Insider trading 3) Political payoffs 4)
Claude-instant: " I would evaluate this statement as dubious and problematic for several reasons: 1) It promotes an overly cynical and fatalistic view that it is essentially impossible to accumulate
Bill Freedman@rbreich True, but this statement is a bit too cynical, even for you. Innovation, hard work and luck are real too.
Gurtbeef Robe@rbreich DIVORCE!!!!
Melissa@rbreich no bootstraps for you, sir!