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what if it was just a single trillionaire ? What would you think of them becoming a benevolent dictator ? If the people could agree to an election where buying

what if it was just a single trillionaire ? What would you think of them becoming a benevolent dictator ? If the people could agree to an election where buying votes was allowed, how much would it cost to win the election if the people believed in such a dictator's benevolence ? There are 11 million people living there. It would cost 3 trillion dollars to give each about $300,000 or about the mean wealth of an american. It would probably cost less than 3 trillion to win such an election.

wonderwonder 5y ago
There are no trillionaires. I mean in reality I am pretty sure you could get every vote you wanted for $5,000 each. Average annual income in Haiti is $500. So 10 years of salary. Also only about 6 million voters in Haiti and you only need half of them so you could be president for $15 billion. Likely most people would sell their vote for their annual income, that means a total of $1.5 billion. I would not blame them either, extreme poverty is a terrible thing and for many the adage 'any port in a a storm' is likely true. This assumes that people would agree to sell their votes. With that said, I am very much against dictators, benevolent or otherwise. But I would understand.
- cdolan 5y ago
  I would argue none of us have any idea if there is a "trillionaire" in the world because we are notoriously bad at guessing someone's total net worth. As support, I would point you to this 10 year old article on Moammar Gadhafi, where he was estimated to actually be worth roughly $200b USD - an unheard of number in 2011. https://www.forbes.com/sites/edwindurgy/2011/10/25/did-moammar-gadhafi-die-the-richest-man-in-the-world/?sh=baccb5876cf2 https://www.forbes.com/sites/edwindurgy/2011/10/25/did-moamm... This week, if Bezos were not divorced, he would be worth $300b USD: https://www.celebritynetworth.com/articles/billionaire-news/had-jeff-bezos-never-gotten-divorced-today-his-net-worth-would-have-topped-300-billion-for-the-first-time/ https://www.celebritynetworth.com/articles/billionaire-news/... And finally, the ProPublica Peter Thiel $5b USD ROTH IRA is worth *double what Forbes thought Thiels entire net worth is per the 2020 Forbes Billionaire List* (he is on page 3... look at the massive jump in the animated graph!): https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/ https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/ That said, the IRS had 20 years of tax returns stolen from it which would detail the richest Americans, and so it is unlikely anyone in the USA is a trillionaire.
  - naveen99 5y ago
    Tax returns don’t give you any clue (upper bound) about how much wealth anyone has. But yeah, so many countries are so tiny (economically), I’d be shocked (from my afterlife in heaven looking down with god) if most of them aren’t really indirectly controlled by some centi billionaires.
- naveen99 5y ago
  Seems like wsb could fix a small failed state with a spac.

wonderwonder 5y ago

There are no trillionaires. I mean in reality I am pretty sure you could get every vote you wanted for $5,000 each. Average annual income in Haiti is $500. So 10 years of salary. Also only about 6 million voters in Haiti and you only need half of them so you could be president for $15 billion. Likely most people would sell their vote for their annual income, that means a total of $1.5 billion. I would not blame them either, extreme poverty is a terrible thing and for many the adage 'any port in a a storm' is likely true. This assumes that people would agree to sell their votes. With that said, I am very much against dictators, benevolent or otherwise. But I would understand.

cdolan 5y ago
I would argue none of us have any idea if there is a "trillionaire" in the world because we are notoriously bad at guessing someone's total net worth. As support, I would point you to this 10 year old article on Moammar Gadhafi, where he was estimated to actually be worth roughly $200b USD - an unheard of number in 2011. https://www.forbes.com/sites/edwindurgy/2011/10/25/did-moammar-gadhafi-die-the-richest-man-in-the-world/?sh=baccb5876cf2 https://www.forbes.com/sites/edwindurgy/2011/10/25/did-moamm... This week, if Bezos were not divorced, he would be worth $300b USD: https://www.celebritynetworth.com/articles/billionaire-news/had-jeff-bezos-never-gotten-divorced-today-his-net-worth-would-have-topped-300-billion-for-the-first-time/ https://www.celebritynetworth.com/articles/billionaire-news/... And finally, the ProPublica Peter Thiel $5b USD ROTH IRA is worth *double what Forbes thought Thiels entire net worth is per the 2020 Forbes Billionaire List* (he is on page 3... look at the massive jump in the animated graph!): https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/ https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/ That said, the IRS had 20 years of tax returns stolen from it which would detail the richest Americans, and so it is unlikely anyone in the USA is a trillionaire.
- naveen99 5y ago
  Tax returns don’t give you any clue (upper bound) about how much wealth anyone has. But yeah, so many countries are so tiny (economically), I’d be shocked (from my afterlife in heaven looking down with god) if most of them aren’t really indirectly controlled by some centi billionaires.
naveen99 5y ago
Seems like wsb could fix a small failed state with a spac.