I’d say that the problem is that the billionaires prop up the politicians with campaign financing in order to keep the tax system away from their treasure.
the bigger problem is that politicians are so easily bought. don’t they have any scruples?
from what I know about them, I would rather work for bezos than steve jobs, bill gates, elon musk, or zuckerberg
Jobs maybe. Gates is supposed to be okay to work for. And more importantly, Microsoft is a pretty decent employer. Apple is weird and secretive, but also okay to work for. I don’t know much about Musk. Zuckerberg seems to be a raging asshole. Larry Ellison is also supposed to be a piece of work.
Bezos chooses to be in the public eye. He willingly dons the mantle of a certain type of society and culture. Not everyone likes that version of society.
I don’t believe in the concept of a good billionaire. I think the institution is more to blame than the individual, but I don’t think he’s a good guy, either.
Do you think any CEOs are good? Why draw the line at billionaire? What about 100 million? 10 million? Maybe we shouldn’t have anyone with assets over 1 million so long that we have kids starving in Africa.
Somehow I think you’d draw the line right above your projected lifetime asset
You’re putting a lot of words in my mouth, and quite frankly are being a jerk about it.
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Not my intention. But a genuine question
I don’t think most CEOs are good, no. I’m not drawing the line anywhere, many millionaires are likely bad people, too, but I’m willing to assert that a person doesn’t become a billionaire without exploiting people, or receiving assets that were earned from that exploitation directly. I’m open to an exception to that, but I haven’t found one. I’m also happy to include plenty of other people who aren’t billionaires in that bucket, too.
But CEOs can only exploit when their customers also exploit.
CEOs wouldn’t have money if no one was a client. So realistically, you only have the asset value that you have because the goods and services you purchase are severely undervalued through exploitation, and that goes for everyone.
If you’re arguing capitalism is evil, I’m there with ya.
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Trying to think of things I’d do with just 1 billion dollars.
- Pay off my home
- Pay off all my immediate family’s debts
- Do a lot of research then donate all but about $10M
- Quit my job and live an extravagant life
I don’t think I’d pay off my home…I think I’d buy a new home…which is more in line with living an extravagant life.
Might get a nicer one. I like mine but I suppose it’s not a money-doesn’t-matter dream home. I can’t see spending more than $2M on one in the Po though, even that might be more house than I want.
2 mil can buy you a mansion in the Po for sure.
To solve the big house problem, just have multiple maids.
I’d own homes in a few different climates / continents if I had a billion dollars.
If I were to choose to live in today’s world or a world prior to Amazon, I’d probably choose to live in today’s world. Working in an Amazon warehouse blows, but the options you had before that were much worse. I don’t view Bezos as being some kind of hero or whatever, just a businessman taking advantage of the times. But I do think what we have now is an improvement over past times.
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I’m of the opinion that simply living your life like normal is the best way to improve the lives of other people. You buy stuff throughout the day, that helps the ordinary people you buy things from, janitors, bus drivers, teachers, store clerks. Just regular people benefiting from your boring life. There’s no need to be all charity about things. I think charities are one of the worst options out there for trying to make the world a better place.
Don’t agree
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