4 ms·

If I gave you a billion dollars, do you believe that you would suddenly transform into an amoral non-human monster?

by qPM9l3XJrF 5y ago

cagenut 5y ago
not suddenly, but within a decade, yep
- qPM9l3XJrF 5y ago
  Why do you believe that? And if you believe that, how are you so sure that it hasn't already happened? If you're a software developer making $100K annually, you are already in the global 1%. Should people like you exist? Have you signed any sort of giving pledge, as many billionaires have? https://givingpledge.org/ https://givingpledge.org/
KozmoNau7 5y ago
That's a trick question, because the only way[¤] to amass enough wealth to become a billionaire, is to be amoral and callous in the first place. [¤]Excepting the exceedingly rare few who win an exceedingly rare 1+ billion lottery prize.
- qPM9l3XJrF 5y ago
  If what you say is true, billionaires who inherit their money should also be among the most ethical. Is that what you believe?
  - KozmoNau7 5y ago
    Everyone who inherited that sort of wealth was brought up and raised by billionaires, they were literally brought up in that worldview from the day they were born. There is no such thing as an ethical billionaire, that's the whole problem, that such wealth can only be amassed by unethical means.
    - WalterBright 5y ago
      What did JK Rowling do that was unethical? How about Paul McCartney? Oprah?
      - davidcbc 5y ago
        Kept more money than they could ever possibly need while others starve.
        WalterBright 5y ago
        Then you agree that "such wealth can only be amassed by unethical means" is not correct.
    - qPM9l3XJrF 5y ago
      Is there such a thing as an ethical thousandaire? Millionaire? If you think there is, why can't there be ethical billionaires? An ethical billionaire is just an ethical millionaire who kept working to make the source of their income grow until it grew 1000x as large. Big businesses are generally more ethical than little ones -- subject to more customer and regulatory scrutiny. It's much easier for a small business to get away with flouting environmental regulations or treating its employees harshly. (When's the last time the manager at a tiny roadside restaurant got fired for sexually harassing his employees?) This increased level of scrutiny means it is easier to bring to mind examples of unethical behavior by large businesses even if the actual rate is about the same. The media is biased to cover misdeeds by billionaires due to billionairephobia, the same way it is biased to cover misdeeds by Black people due to racism.
      - KozmoNau7 5y ago
        The only way to amass that sort of wealth is to exploit the labor of others. There are countless examples. Amazon warehouse employees not being allotted time to go to the bathroom, while Jeff Bezos buys a $165 million mansion in LA, not to mention the endemic underpayment and disregard for physical and mental stress. Richard Branson forcing his employees on 8 weeks of unpaid leave, while he's sitting comfortably on a fortune that means he doesn't have to care. Steve Jobs building the wealthiest company in the world and becoming a billionaire, while their subcontractors install suicide preventing nets on their factories. Simply the fact that some people are amassing such wealth, while millions of people in the world starve and cannot access even basic education or healthcare. That alone makes being a billionaire unethical, by default. > "The media is biased to cover misdeeds by billionaires due to billionairephobia, the same way it is biased to cover misdeeds by Black people due to racism." Excuse me, but did you just compare literally the most privileged human beings to ever exist in all of history, to people who have been historically downtrodden and subjugated for hundreds of years due to their ethnicity? The mind boggles at what a temporarily embarrassed billionaire can delude themselves into thinking.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
taberiand 5y ago
You've put words in my mouth. I think billionaires shouldn't exist because that level of wealth concentration represents a failure of the fair distribution of wealth through society, regardless of the moral standing of the individual. Given the state of the system though, I think the only thing that could replace them would be something even less fair and more violent than what we have.
bigbillheck 5y ago
Of course not. There'd be a short window in which I could give most of that money away without endangering my soul.

If I gave you a billion dollars, do you believe that you would suddenly transform into an amoral non-human monster?

cagenut 5y ago

not suddenly, but within a decade, yep

qPM9l3XJrF 5y ago
Why do you believe that? And if you believe that, how are you so sure that it hasn't already happened? If you're a software developer making $100K annually, you are already in the global 1%. Should people like you exist? Have you signed any sort of giving pledge, as many billionaires have? https://givingpledge.org/ https://givingpledge.org/

KozmoNau7 5y ago

That's a trick question, because the only way[¤] to amass enough wealth to become a billionaire, is to be amoral and callous in the first place. [¤]Excepting the exceedingly rare few who win an exceedingly rare 1+ billion lottery prize.

qPM9l3XJrF 5y ago
If what you say is true, billionaires who inherit their money should also be among the most ethical. Is that what you believe?
- KozmoNau7 5y ago
  Everyone who inherited that sort of wealth was brought up and raised by billionaires, they were literally brought up in that worldview from the day they were born. There is no such thing as an ethical billionaire, that's the whole problem, that such wealth can only be amassed by unethical means.
  - WalterBright 5y ago
    What did JK Rowling do that was unethical? How about Paul McCartney? Oprah?
    - davidcbc 5y ago
      Kept more money than they could ever possibly need while others starve.
      - WalterBright 5y ago
        Then you agree that "such wealth can only be amassed by unethical means" is not correct.
  - qPM9l3XJrF 5y ago
    Is there such a thing as an ethical thousandaire? Millionaire? If you think there is, why can't there be ethical billionaires? An ethical billionaire is just an ethical millionaire who kept working to make the source of their income grow until it grew 1000x as large. Big businesses are generally more ethical than little ones -- subject to more customer and regulatory scrutiny. It's much easier for a small business to get away with flouting environmental regulations or treating its employees harshly. (When's the last time the manager at a tiny roadside restaurant got fired for sexually harassing his employees?) This increased level of scrutiny means it is easier to bring to mind examples of unethical behavior by large businesses even if the actual rate is about the same. The media is biased to cover misdeeds by billionaires due to billionairephobia, the same way it is biased to cover misdeeds by Black people due to racism.
    - KozmoNau7 5y ago
      The only way to amass that sort of wealth is to exploit the labor of others. There are countless examples. Amazon warehouse employees not being allotted time to go to the bathroom, while Jeff Bezos buys a $165 million mansion in LA, not to mention the endemic underpayment and disregard for physical and mental stress. Richard Branson forcing his employees on 8 weeks of unpaid leave, while he's sitting comfortably on a fortune that means he doesn't have to care. Steve Jobs building the wealthiest company in the world and becoming a billionaire, while their subcontractors install suicide preventing nets on their factories. Simply the fact that some people are amassing such wealth, while millions of people in the world starve and cannot access even basic education or healthcare. That alone makes being a billionaire unethical, by default. > "The media is biased to cover misdeeds by billionaires due to billionairephobia, the same way it is biased to cover misdeeds by Black people due to racism." Excuse me, but did you just compare literally the most privileged human beings to ever exist in all of history, to people who have been historically downtrodden and subjugated for hundreds of years due to their ethnicity? The mind boggles at what a temporarily embarrassed billionaire can delude themselves into thinking.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

taberiand 5y ago

You've put words in my mouth. I think billionaires shouldn't exist because that level of wealth concentration represents a failure of the fair distribution of wealth through society, regardless of the moral standing of the individual. Given the state of the system though, I think the only thing that could replace them would be something even less fair and more violent than what we have.

bigbillheck 5y ago

Of course not. There'd be a short window in which I could give most of that money away without endangering my soul.