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Isn't 95% of every resource use "sub-optimal"? Everyone goes to holidays or buys stuff they do not need. Bezos is just rich enough so that his spending goes int

by rxdb 5y ago

Isn't 95% of every resource use "sub-optimal"? Everyone goes to holidays or buys stuff they do not need. Bezos is just rich enough so that his spending goes into the news.

mitchdoogle 5y ago
Yes but this is an extreme example
- fastball 5y ago
  Right, but how do you compare? Where do you draw the line?
  - jamil7 5y ago
    > Where do you draw the line? 500m dollar yacht seems like a good place to start, we can work our way back from there.
    - fastball 5y ago
      Well I can't speak for everyone else, but your arbitrary conception of what is "too much" actually doesn't cut it for me.
      - jamil7 5y ago
        I'm not arguing that my definition is the correct one, I'm arguing that we can and have drawn lines before and are capable of doing it again.
      - vba616 5y ago
        Neither can I, but it's easier for me to accept a billionaire doing something that's at least really new and different. I'm not a fan of Elon Musk, but I feel much less negative about his ventures than about Bezos, simply because they are adding to the world of what is possible. Bezos' rockets seem like a "me too" thing. People often say expensive things are "status symbols". It appears that Musk really wants to make science fiction real, independently of what anyone else does, and I suspect Bezos of actually being obsessed with relative status. Who knows if that's fair, but that's how it looks.
  - kiliantics 5y ago
    Maybe if he paid his warehouse workers a living wage, and didn't force them to keep working while a tornado destroys a facility killing them, or piss in bottles while delivering packages. Maybe then he would only have enough left over for a somewhat smaller yacht and it wouldn't be quite so outrageous.
makapuf 5y ago
Going on vacation can be useful for culture, resting or improving your knowledge of the world. Spending 1000x the resources for this is 0.999 economical waste.
hansworst 5y ago
If I go on holiday, I’m not mis-allocating 100s of millions of dollars. I simply don’t have the power to do that, and maybe nobody should to prevent this kind of issue in the first place.
throw0101a 5y ago
> Isn't 95% of every resource use "sub-optimal"? Depends: > If we suppose that the goal of society is to produce the greatest utility, and that the utility wealth provides an individual is sub-linear (i.e. twice as much money makes you less than twice as happy), then inequality is inefficient resource allocation. > However, we also suppose that some level of inequality can lead to greater productivity, and thus greater utility overall. The question is then what level produces the best outcome? * https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14505342 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14505342 At want point is the cut-off in the diminishing returns of utility/happiness?
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

by rxdb 5y ago

Isn't 95% of every resource use "sub-optimal"? Everyone goes to holidays or buys stuff they do not need. Bezos is just rich enough so that his spending goes into the news.

mitchdoogle 5y ago

Yes but this is an extreme example

fastball 5y ago
Right, but how do you compare? Where do you draw the line?
- jamil7 5y ago
  > Where do you draw the line? 500m dollar yacht seems like a good place to start, we can work our way back from there.
  - fastball 5y ago
    Well I can't speak for everyone else, but your arbitrary conception of what is "too much" actually doesn't cut it for me.
    - jamil7 5y ago
      I'm not arguing that my definition is the correct one, I'm arguing that we can and have drawn lines before and are capable of doing it again.
    - vba616 5y ago
      Neither can I, but it's easier for me to accept a billionaire doing something that's at least really new and different. I'm not a fan of Elon Musk, but I feel much less negative about his ventures than about Bezos, simply because they are adding to the world of what is possible. Bezos' rockets seem like a "me too" thing. People often say expensive things are "status symbols". It appears that Musk really wants to make science fiction real, independently of what anyone else does, and I suspect Bezos of actually being obsessed with relative status. Who knows if that's fair, but that's how it looks.
- kiliantics 5y ago
  Maybe if he paid his warehouse workers a living wage, and didn't force them to keep working while a tornado destroys a facility killing them, or piss in bottles while delivering packages. Maybe then he would only have enough left over for a somewhat smaller yacht and it wouldn't be quite so outrageous.

makapuf 5y ago

Going on vacation can be useful for culture, resting or improving your knowledge of the world. Spending 1000x the resources for this is 0.999 economical waste.

hansworst 5y ago

If I go on holiday, I’m not mis-allocating 100s of millions of dollars. I simply don’t have the power to do that, and maybe nobody should to prevent this kind of issue in the first place.

throw0101a 5y ago

> Isn't 95% of every resource use "sub-optimal"? Depends: > If we suppose that the goal of society is to produce the greatest utility, and that the utility wealth provides an individual is sub-linear (i.e. twice as much money makes you less than twice as happy), then inequality is inefficient resource allocation. > However, we also suppose that some level of inequality can lead to greater productivity, and thus greater utility overall. The question is then what level produces the best outcome? * https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14505342 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14505342 At want point is the cut-off in the diminishing returns of utility/happiness?

deleted 5y ago
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