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Trump and Brexit are the result of people with too much money making terrible decisions for the rest of us. They're not evidence that rich people should have mo
by Retra 9y ago
Trump and Brexit are the result of people with too much money making terrible decisions for the rest of us. They're not evidence that rich people should have more power.
But incidentally, someone's ability to make a lot of money (or worse: inherit it) doesn't imply that they have any preferential ability to spend it in a way that benefits society. And when someone has the unchecked power to spend massive sums of money on themselves in ridiculous and frivolous ways, it's pretty clear that they have too much power. Because whoever should be making those decisions should certainly not be doing that.
Bill Gates rented a yacht for $5M/week. How is this not a clear waste? How much suffering could have been avoided at that cost? At least put it in some kind of public trust where such behavior can be properly considered corruption.
- heylook 9y ago> Bill Gates rented a yacht for $5M/week. How is this not a clear waste? Those $5M don't just get lit on fire. They transfer to some other set of people who can then decide what to do with it, and then onto some other set of people. Maybe the yacht's owner donates all proceeds to feed starving children.
- bittercynic 9y agoIt is still a waste in the sense that productive people spent their time building and maintaining a boat for the benefit of a few rich guys. It would represent reduced waste if the money was instead spent to hire those productive people to build infrastructure for their own communities. Not trying to argue that luxury goods are pure evil, but there is a degree of selfishness in having luxury goods for yourself when there are people who lack the basics.
- diggernet 9y agoSo you advocate firing all the hard working folks who designed, built, maintain, repair, clean, and operate that boat, and take care of the passengers? They they too will lack the basics, and the money you just protected from "waste" will need to be used to provide for them.
- bittercynic 9y agoNot advocating anything of the sort. Only saying it would be /even better/ if the people currently spending fortunes on yachts spent the money building libraries and the like instead.
- qntty 9y agoSomehow I don't think that's what she meant.
- Retra 9y agoNo, you pay them to do something else for someone else.
- auggierose 9y agoI think you get that wrong. Trump and Brexit are the direct result of democratic decisions in countries with a long history of democracy. Denying that isn't helping.
- Retra 9y agoYes, democratic decisions resulting from massive propaganda campaigns, funded by some extremely wealthy personalities. Obviously the problem here is democracy, not the very few overtly corrupt and overly powerful people undermining it.
- auggierose 9y agoAnd these overtly corrupt and overly powerful people exist within old democracies. You might have a nice and naive imagination of what democracy could be, but you shouldn't deny what it is RIGHT NOW.
- Retra 9y agoWhat it is RIGHT NOW, is fixable. I don't know what you're trying suggest be done instead.