General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBillionaires
On many OPs here I have attacked billionaires as a group and even spoke about individual billionaires from time to time but i won't be doing that here.
Point of my comments here is to make a sweeping, unequivocal statement that all billionaires, all of them, no exceptions, are a living crime against humanity and again, there are no exceptions.
I cannot emphasize that enough. I also will not debate that particular point. If you think the billionaire you like is good than I'm no more going to convince you otherwise then I could convince a flat earther they are wrong.
Big picture, I think some people, in general, just don't understand how much a billion dollars is and what even a just one billion dollars does to our economy when in the hands of a single individual.
I'm not some fringe weirdo in that assessment.
Bernie Sanders has been trying to tell people that for decades.
Robert Reich has been talking about it for decades.
I also think most people do realize it but fall into two camps:
Camp 1 is those that don't want to limit wealth because they think they could one day be billionaires.
Camp 2 are the people that think because, every now and then, a billionaire will throw around an insignificant portion of their wealth so that means they are good and it's worth it.
I would argue that both those things are not true nor will it ever be true.
Again, I believe both perspectives stem from a misunderstanding of the wealth of a billionaire.
Let's say one second is equal to one dollar.
How long is a million seconds? Roughly 2 weeks.
How long is a billion seconds? Roughly 32 years
That is just illustrate the difference.
Practically speaking billionaire are incredibly harmful to economies. They skew everything from wealth ratios to the stock market.
I honestly believe that the stock market is a false metric of the health of the economy because it's currently being heavily manipulated by billionaires, especially and specifically tech industry billionaires.
Billionaires are also completely divorced from reality since they have no concept of money or failure.
I mean eLoon is a perfect example of this. He has lied and used his wealth to overtly lie by misrepresenting everything from his cars to his brain hardware. Overtly lying in many cases. Failing many times yet never really acknowledging that failure because to them that doesn't even process like that anymore. A billionaire is delusional. They exist in their own version of reality. Time. Costs. Failure. All meaningless.
Another example is that most US based billionaires are pumping billions of dollars into Al, while also, in some cases, freely admitting it will likely fail. The water and energy requirements for data centers are unsustainable, of that there is no debate, yet they keep building data centers. They can't stop because in their minds there is no lie, just the next opportunity to make more money on the backs and health of others.
To sum up my point, billionaires are pure evil and should not exist. They are always bad. Every. Single. One.
I will not debate that "billionaires are good" any more than I would debate the sky is blue.
It is blue. Billionaires are evil. There is no debate.
Jerry2144
(3,293 posts)One billion seconds is one thousand times longer, about 31.7 years.
That shows you the relative sizes. Substitute dollars for seconds.
How much money is enough? There is no way they could spend all their wealth.
OGBuzz
(450 posts)bucolic_frolic
(55,508 posts)Nothing happens in the world without somebody getting paid, in some form. People cannot be employed without capital for businesses, bank loans or private equity or venture capital. We were taxing them at one time.
Even pre-Revolutionary America had wealthy elites who imported, employed, held vast estates, and this an era of no banking.
Wealth concentration has gotten completely out of hand.
Phoenix61
(18,866 posts)to acquire that much wealth is evil. There's just no way to get that much money without taking it with low wages and high prices from the people that are actually doing the work.
Uncle Joe
(65,330 posts)than an average person would be with no limitations in a dysfunctional system.
A system with no limitation to the obtainment of economic power for the individual is a dysfunctional system dedicated to consuming itself, I view that as evil.
It's not built for the long haul nor the "general welfare."
Thanks for the thread angrychair
AllyCat
(18,934 posts)Not one person.
None.
cayugafalls
(5,971 posts)I think there was even a movie about it.
Many people see it, no common individual has the power to change it.
We the people have to just abide by the systems rules or we will be considered expendable.
The democratic/progressive movement in this country forced them to shut us down as we, the people, were gaining more power and feeling our oats.
We might win back the country at some point from the rethugs, but we will never rule the system.
jmho...I am a nobody.
Trueblue Texan
(4,550 posts)Pathological may cover them more accurately. I agree with everything you say about how out of touch with reality they are, how they are bad for economies, how they are insulated from failures, and careless about destroying resources the rest of humanity and living things need. I have always wondered, beyond the means to buy greater and greater influence, why billionaires are so driven to have even more money than they will ever need in a million years. I can only explain that it is a pathology. Pathology can most definitely become evil and destructive of the self and everything that supports its existence.
OldBaldy1701E
(11,352 posts)They are changing their outlook and making more attempts to...

(I knew I could not do that while keeping a straight face...)
I agree totally and until we remove their existence, we are going to be dealing with their destructive ways for a very long time.
NO equitable society can exist with such bias. Despite our propaganda desperately saying otherwise.