If a billionaire is a policy failure, a trillionaire is a civilizational one.
One person hoarding that much wealth in a world where people are in need — hungry, sick, homeless — is the end product of a society undergoing the complete collapse of human decency.
A trillionaire is an obscenity.
At some point the population is not going to take this any longer…
@gknauss not to say you are completely off the mark here, charitability on a larger scale which is proportionate to the wealth of any person should absolutely be encouraged, even demanded. However, the majority of the 'listed wealth' of any top valued person is, in general, fully engaged economically or has been counted from stock ownership, percent ownerships, etc.
It's not always a Liberace, wearing a gold/diamond encrusted suit worth all of that value.
<p>ANNIE LEIBOVITZ</p><p> B. 1949</p><p><em> 'LIBERACE AND SCOTT THORSON, LAS VEGAS'</em></p><p><br></p><p> Cibachrome print, signed, titled, dated, and editioned '10/40' in ink in the margin, framed, a The Art Museum of the Americas exhibition label on the reverse, 1981</p><p> 10 by 10⅛ in. (25.4 by 25.7 cm.)</p>
@veronica @swachter @gknauss very well said. It essentially amounts to a fascism in the sense that they dictate for that concentration of wealth. And that is where there is the potential for danger, harm, and corruption.
The potential influence is too strong and broad.
Is it even possible for a person with that much wealth to dispose of the wealth? I think Bill Gates tried to do it. Probably just felt guilty for having too much.
His wealth doesn't even exist, like everything else these creepy loons believe. It's as much invisible garment as anything else.
Until he changed the rules to steal our money from under us.
It's why he suckled his jaundiced ass into governments to start.
He must've learned from enough movies that you do the heist from inside.
Man, fuck Elon. He's worth dick.
In the end, we should discuss the following: is that actual wealth or just imaginary fairy dust? Tesla has no "value" of $1.5 trilion, so while shareholders can convert some stock into real-world value, until then it's imaginary. Same for fraud- and lie-based "AI" stock after SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic IPOs.
If we declare it's real then we should simply tax people on it. 1%/year sounds fair to me.
Understand the mindset of the rich, so you can reach them at a deeper level, and just maybe, reach them and undo the harm.
@[email protected] Some people are just broken kids, insecure on the inside. So they derive their self worth from money, because they don't see themselves as worthy, just being human. They need to appear larger than life, and so they self aggrandize. Having money confers social status. To gain more status, they need to impress upon others, how valuable this human construct called money is. So they create a world where some people are kept starving, while others are dazzled by glittering things, media imagery, advertisements, and they run the rat race, hoping to get rich, like the billionaires. They don't realize that money does not make people happy. It only reduces physical suffering, upto a sweet spot, beyond which, it's futile to have more money, or work for it. No matter how rich you are, you only eat 3 meals a day. No matter how many houses you have, or how many bedrooms in your home, you only sleep in one bed at time. No matter how many pretty people are out there, you have only one set of genitalia. Yet, people chase this mirage, which only brings fleeting pleasure, not lasting joy and contentment. Bezos was happy when he had a wife, with whom he shared a dream of starting a bookstore, because they both loved books, and each other. Chasing money, he lost the simple joy, made Billions, became the envy of the masses, and now has an inflatable plastic wife, and no heart that is sensitive to the suffering of the poor people. As a book lover, he once had that sensibility, though now he has a super yacht to impress others. "We work jobs we hate, to afford crap we don't need, to impress people we don't like." ~ Chuck Palahniuk.
Why shouldn't we demonize individuals who treat other human beings as disposable toys? They are mass murderers.
I'm hoping we don't have to wait until they run out of food to eat before they realize they screwed the pooch.
It would be interesting if all these sub-groups such as the White Nationalists groups got it through their thick skulls that the people they hate aren't the problem & they started warring on the billionaire class instead.
@BillMcGuire @gknauss it is the responsibility of the shepherd to lead the sheep, not the sheep to lead themselves.
by which I mean fixing the behaviour of mindlessly panicked groups who have lost their way to a life worth living is your and my responsibility, as people who see the situation for what it is.
which is fucked up but true. and I'm glad there's more than just one of us.
Probably so, though depending on when we can start changing their behaviors, mindsets, etc., will take time, and I doubt I have enough of time left in me to help out, though I am willing to try, if I am still above ground.
Greg, you might be onto something. Let’s start labeling billionaires as civilizational failures. Let’s unify against the alien enemy that is the 1%.
PS: The Apartheid Millionaire is a complete amateur. Putin controls more personal wealth than he can imagine.
" So it seems that the only legal remedy is a boycott, which would require some discipline on all of our parts. "
What the imperative -- Boycott -- suggests to me --
Use Cash instead of plastic
Shop Thrift instead of Retail
Shop Local instead of Corporate
Share boycott lists and portals.
Consume from alternate news.
Inchoate boycotting 'will evolve' to focused boycotting.
Let's ''flood the zone' with our own macro confusion, Boycotting
Gradually I understood -- to reach FB-friends, I wanted a trusted platform . So here is a similar toot on ghost.io
Obscenity starts around three quarters of a million, as far as I'm concerned. Tax the arses off the lot of them.
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