There was an article celebrating the fact that we’re on our way to having the first trillionare.
I wanted to die. It’s so insanely fucking disgusting
7 years ago there were no billionaires worth more than $100 billion - today there are 18!
Submitted 2 months ago by darnisha1@sh.itjust.works to aboringdystopia@lemmy.world
Comments
Asafum@feddit.nl 2 months ago
Rubisco@slrpnk.net 2 months ago
bitjunkie@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Dis pos rel’van to beltalowda intres
yetAnotherUser@discuss.tchncs.de 2 months ago
How is space an adjective in the first one? Shouldn’t it be a noun?
These Anglo-Saxons again, putting random spaces into compound words.
abbadon420@lemm.ee 2 months ago
Why would you go around celebrating untreated and ignored mental illnesses?
pingveno@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Look at all our WONDERFUL job creators amassing their dragon hoards!
PrimeMinisterKeyes@lemmy.world 2 months ago
On the other hand, if we all work really hard, go the extra mile, burn the midnight oil… we can make that happen faster.
reallykindasorta@slrpnk.net 2 months ago
It’s almost seems like the main thing you need to make money is money
jinarched@lemm.ee 2 months ago
tail -n +2 listAbove | cut -f 2 > DeathNote.txt
Olgratin_Magmatoe@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Don’t forget you still need facial recognition data.
Fedizen@lemmy.world 2 months ago
kamala harris’ proposed tax on unrealized gains seems like a great idea rn
HootinNHollerin@lemmy.world 2 months ago
And that’s just the wealth that we know about
stormesp@lemm.ee 2 months ago
A boring distopia is already even a single person having more than a single billion.
T00l_shed@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Yup, there was that post a while back, like you reach a billion, you get a plaque that says “congrats you won capitalism” and then they start at 0 again
itslilith@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 months ago
Not even a billion, as soon as you’re in 8 figures you have more than a reasonable person can spend in a lifetime. Cap it at 50 million, every cent more goes towards public infrastructure and welfare
Or we could do away with capitalism entirely. Just saying
stormesp@lemm.ee 2 months ago
For real, like Prestige in Call of Duty
grrgyle@slrpnk.net 2 months ago
It’s inherently antisocial. You no longer have to play by the social contract with that kind of wealth/power.
It’s a grave failure with our economic system that billionaires have been permitted to come about
ReallyActuallyFrankenstein@lemmynsfw.com 2 months ago
The overall average median lifetime earnings of $1,850,000 for men and $1,100,200 for women. Let’s just take the average and say an average American earns $1,475,100 in their lifetime.
The important thing to remember is, in an unequal system where workers have most of the value of their work taken by a single person who the system disproportionately favors, that value is translatable to literal life. They are directly, inexorably going to die having had that value simply transferred to the other person or people who collect that value. Or put succinctly, they are giving up life, and the CEO is gaining the value of their life.
Another note is that even though most valuations are stock, stock valuations do not exist in a vacuum. The stock market is the realizable increase in productivity value that we all collectively have caused.
So based on that principle, just for fun, let’s convert these fortunes to human lives, to better understand just how much (economically-valued) life force these people have taken from people:
Elon Musk: 262,000,000,000 = 176,259 human lives. Jeff Bezos: 208,000,000,000 = 141,007 human lives. Mark Zuckerberg: 203,000,000,000 = 137,617 human lives.
thisfro@slrpnk.net 2 months ago
just for fun, let’s convert these fortunes to human lives
Muh capitalism
Asafum@feddit.nl 2 months ago
To take that farther I wonder how many employees they have. How close is the ratio of workers to their life value obtained by the owner.
bitjunkie@lemmy.world 2 months ago
That’s 18 people who own about a tenth of the US GDP. Something needs to be done, and soon.
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 2 months ago
That’s 18 people who own about a tenth of the US GDP.
Okay, sure. But that’s bad analysis. GDP is annual and net-worth is lifetime total. That’s also global wealth, not US-domestic (four of them aren’t even American).
Something needs to be done
BastingChemina@slrpnk.net 2 months ago
Including 14 inn the US.
Kallioapina@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 months ago
How many security guards can one of these assholes have on duty at any one time?
Dont y’all have assault rifles and semiautomatics on you at all times and you are all about being against tyranny? WHAT GIVES?
RattlerSix@lemmy.world 2 months ago
If my math is correct and we taxed everything over 100 billion at 100% we’d get over 900 billion in taxes. Nearly a trillion bucks if we limited these assholes to a measly 100 billion.
chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 2 months ago
A trillion bucks, but not in cash; in shares of those companies. Try to sell it all for cash and you tank the share price. People lose their jobs, pension funds that own shares in those companies lose value.
That’s the trouble with taxing wealth. It’s not liquid like income. All that net worth is tied up in the companies and not easily accessed.
ebc@lemmy.ca 2 months ago
I’d be okay with the govt owning shares, honestly. That way the public would get a voice in how these megacorps operate, and that voice would get bigger the larger the company becomes.
Brosplosion@lemm.ee 2 months ago
Is this inflation corrected? Cause an arbitrary line across 7 years of inflation is gonna be crossed…
LaLuzDelSol@lemmy.world 2 months ago
A dollar in 2017 is worth 1.28 today. So yes, in today’s dollars there would have been 4 people above 100 billion in 2017.
itslilith@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 months ago
I don’t think we had 250% inflation in the last 7 years
We certainly didn’t have a 250% increase in wages or median wealth in the last 7 years
They are parasites and criminals
Brosplosion@lemm.ee 2 months ago
These sorts of stats are misleading and can erode the footing of the argument you are making. Showing the numbers adjusted for inflation is damning enough.
We’ve had around 60% inflation over the past seven years, does it explain all their increases? No.
But not including that information and saying “but number is bigger!” Just makes your argument look weak when it could be statistically sound.
Rivalarrival@lemmy.today 2 months ago
1% tax on all registered securities, payable in shares of those securities. The SEC just confiscates 1% of every position, and conveys them to an IRS liquidator. The liquidator sells them off in small lots over time, comprising no more than 1% of total traded shares. Securities with negative values are returned.
Once completely phased in, natural persons will be exempt on their first $10 million in registered securities. Corporate-owned securities will not be exempt: the are taxed from their first share.
We tax only the problematic portion of their wealth: their wealth-generating assets. We auction those assets off to the general public.
Welt@lazysoci.al 2 months ago
You sound like you know what you’re talking about, and convey it with spectrum-like precision. I throw my hat and my heart entirely to making your dream come true. Hoo, hoo (hoo-oo-hoo)
Jimmyeatsausage@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Hey, look, I found the thing the US is still number 1 at!
psycho_driver@lemmy.world 2 months ago
There are probably several Russian Oligarchs missing from this list because their wealth is mostly dark money. Rumor has it Putin is the wealthiest man in the world and has been for some time.
Gullible@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
How has musk maintained his companies’ valuations? Particularly Tesla.
Captainvaqina@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
Blatant fraud
Illuminostro@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Guillotines. The only answer.
phneutral@feddit.org 2 months ago
Guillotine is such an offensive word. I like „social scissors“ better.
TammyTobacco@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I think it should be legal to murder a billionaire. They either have to pay for private security they can’t fully trust and always worry about being killed, or they can give away their money until they’re under a billion.
over_clox@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Eat the rich!
I’ll take a #8, with fries please…
deafboy@lemmy.world 2 months ago
But there’s nobody to prepare the fries. The economy has transformed entirely to eating the rich…
Clent@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Socioeconomic weeds choking out the rest of us.
Utter ignorance is how we find ourselves with so many morons admiring the thistle in the garden for its pretty purple flower. While economists stand around debating the merits of these weeds by divining dogma to give meaning to weeds natural stubborn deep roots.
BilboBargains@lemmy.world 2 months ago
If only we could combine Jim, Alice and Rob into a single entity called The Waltronzoid, we could easily defeat all the other billionaires by creating a bazillionaire.
bitwaba@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I think what’s fantastic about it is of they acted just as crazy as the other billionaires like Musk and Bezos where they decided they wanted to go to space. Then we could make fun of people blowing up their Walmart brand space ship and be like “what did you expect?”
FabledAepitaph@lemmy.world 2 months ago
This is a list of people who’s creations I’d like to avoid, if at all possible.
It’s obvious for several people on this list, but how do I boycott someone like the Oracle guy? As a non-tech guy, it just seems impossible. I don’t even recognize several of these people, tbh.
taiyang@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Ugh, I hate ladderboards for games with cheaters and exploiters on top. Where are the moderarors?! I demand a refund.
technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 months ago
Well when paper money is continually speeding towards zero value, it’s no surprise that the most privileged have an endless supply.
Kbobabob@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Well when paper money is continually speeding towards zero value
Time to start saving bottle caps I guess.
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 2 months ago
It’s funny. I went to a libertarian convention and watched as the pundit they invited to
rantspeak went off about how US fiat money was worthless and who agreed and every hand went up. He pulled out a 20 and ‘who thinks this is worthless’ and every hand went up. Let’s test this who wants this 20 and every hand went up. Dude tore up the twenty and may have ended hisrantspeech a dozen minutes early. Libertarian conventions used to be hilarious. Haven’t been to one in a decade tho.deafboy@lemmy.world 2 months ago
The proof is in the pudding… we need more heroes like that.
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Well when paper money is continually speeding towards zero value
Zeno’s Monetary Policy
Linkerbaan@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Oil princes are far richer than this
iknowitwheniseeit@lemmynsfw.com 2 months ago
Didn’t Bill Gates sign a pledge to give all of his money away? And he is billions richer than last year? Huh.
Krono@lemmy.today 2 months ago
Yes he signed up to give his money away. To a charitable trust. Which he and his family controls. And can withdraw from at any time.
It isnt a charity pledge, its a plan to avoid paying taxes.
negativenull@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Adam Conover video on the “Billionaire Donation/Charity” scam:
youtu.be/0Cu6EbELZ6I
Bluefalcon@discuss.tchncs.de 2 months ago
It’s all bullshit and marketing so people will regurgitate this lie. Everyone that says that puts it into a charity that they or their friends run.
Their children get high positions that allow them to have high paying jobs from the start. They have huge political influence which helps them with their other companies.
We need to redo our tax system and increase the top brackets. We also need to redo what is considered taxable and what can be claimed as a tax benefit.
Valmond@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Bill Gates a lying piese of shit? Who would have thought?
I went out in the rain yesterday and I got slightly moist. More at seven.
pingveno@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I’m not sure who is doing the calculations here, but the latest estimates I’m seeing for Gates have him down a bit for the year. He also is down after is divorce from Melinda, which included splitting off a good chunk of money for her own personal and philanthropic use.
iknowitwheniseeit@lemmynsfw.com 2 months ago
Bill Gates signed his pledge more than 10 years ago. His wealth doubled in the last 7 years, meaning that he’s gotten average increases of like 10% per year.
Mr. Gates, you’re going the wrong way!
grrgyle@slrpnk.net 2 months ago
Wow! So things must have gotten a lot better for people over the last 7 years!
Right?
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Save me a teriyaki one
Obi@sopuli.xyz 2 months ago
No Japanese on the list, but we could make some nice fois gras with Bernard I’m sure.
zcd@lemmy.ca 2 months ago
Purée them
HootinNHollerin@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Poseidon must be satiated
psycho_driver@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Looks like Sam Walton would be atop the list had he figured out immortality.
Probably would top this list as the most decent person of the bunch too. He wasn’t a saint, but I haven’t seen evidence that he was rotten to the core, either.
911@lemmynsfw.com 2 months ago
I am super confused by this post.
Yes, there is a huge problem of equality in societies around the world.
I even posted a arricle here that was talking about how the difference in distribution of wealth among families in USA is huge.
Yet the existence of billionaires alone, is not something surprising considering factors affecting the means of production, inflation and many other factors.
In order to be a boring dystopia you need to list the top earners from the middle class or the poor to demonstrate your point.
Otherwise, this post is kind of meaningless in my opinion.
3aqn5k6ryk@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Pardon my ignorance. I dont follow these kind of news. BUT, why the hell is musk is no 1? What has he done? Last i heard this manchild is running down twitter, tesla with cybertruck fiasco. Is it from spacex?
I mean, zuckerberg and bezos basically create meta and amazon.
96VXb9ktTjFnRi@feddit.nl 2 months ago
If you have a lot of money
- you contributed a lot to society- you took a lot from society If you’re a successful businessman and you want to contribute, perhaps you could lower the prices of your products, perhaps you could give shares to your employees who do all the work. Not only is it efficient for them to have a stake in the company, it’s also only fair. Not doing so is unfair. We won’t celebrate your ‘success’, a successful thief is a thief nonetheless. You doing so-called ‘philanthropy’ won’t do any good either. Money is power, you exerting your power over us isn’t the moral thing to do. What’s the logic here: perhaps it’s wrong for me to gather so much money and power, but it’s right when I exert this power of everyone? It’s still wrong to the core. Sure, people voluntarily giving money to all sorts of causes is a beautiful thing, but only if money is reasonably distributed among people in the first place. If you take money from society on a large scale and then exert this power, than undoubtedly your views and interests are disproportionately represented. Your intentions are dubious, because if you intended well, why did you keep all the money and power for yourself in the first place? But even if you’re somehow naively unaware of this and truly have the noblest of intentions with your philanthropy, then it’s still a ludicrous idea that this would be an efficient way to distribute money. It’s quite obvious that if everyone got a say in where the money goes, that the distribution of assets would better represent what society deems important. It’s only logical that if you get to distribute the money, it will go to things you deem important. If you think that makes sense, it can only mean that you deem yourself wiser, more moral, than all of humanity combined. It means you are a narcissist. It’s not unlikely that you are, people who are successful money-wise, often think that life it a money-game and they’re the winning players. And they have won because they work hard and are clever. The thing is, life isn’t a money-game, people have moral compasses and strive towards others goal than making money. And even if it was a money-game, you’ve not won because of your so smart and hard-working, it is in a very large part due to your luck. That’s not an allegation, it’s a logical fact.
BestBouclettes@jlai.lu 2 months ago
Billionaires are a political choice as much as homelessness. They are allowed to exist because nobody does anything about it.
tiefling@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 months ago
They are allowed to exist because they can literally buy their own political system
mPony@lemmy.world 2 months ago
They already have.