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I think it's a bit more complex than that. If you genuinely believe that society is a zero-sum-game, where any winner comes at the expense of some loser somewh

I think it's a bit more complex than that. If you genuinely believe that society is a zero-sum-game, where any winner comes at the expense of some loser somewhere, then ultra-successful people must make you sick. You can hear a few whispers like "Tesla factories aren't the safest places to work at" or "An Amazon worker had to pee in a bottle" and it all lines up: these are horrible people who only got ahead because they abused others. The absolute iron-jaw of that concept is that it explains ones shortcoming in life instantly. Any success you missed? Well that was just due to the lack of evil in your heart. If you were ruthless, surely you'd be just like "the rich". It's a genuinely scary line of argument, and I have yet to be able to cure anyone of it, even a little. Taken to it's ultimate logical conclusions "Eat the Rich" can be taken literally. It's terrifying. Unfortunately, history is full of grey areas. Actual evil and wealthy people - and their possibly justified consumption by the mobs do exist.

mlindner 5y ago
> If you genuinely believe that society is a zero-sum-game, where any winner comes at the expense of some loser somewhere, then ultra-successful people must make you sick. Which is an unfortunate myth that needs to be better educated out of people. And thank you for the rest of your post. It puts into words thoughts I've had for a while in a constructed form better than I have done.
rablackburn 5y ago
> I think it's a bit more complex than that. Because we can always go one level deeper... When I ask people why they dislike Musk, the answer I get is usually not for some bleak, reasoned belief but because of his internet persona. He makes shitty, immature jokes. People think he's a bit of a dick. Interestingly, engineers I know tend to be a bit more positive on him. I wonder if it's because they're exposed to more of his YouTube persona than his Twitter one. > If you genuinely believe that society is a zero-sum-game... The rest of this is strawman-ing pretty hard. I'm sure there are some people as described, but I think there's a larger more nuanced population who are uncomfortable with the huge growth of wealth inequality that's been going on. Some of their ire with the system is directed at those doing best under it. That's probably not entirely unjustified either, what group in human history did nothing to preserve the status quo when it worked for them? Society may not be a zero-sum game, but it's not a zero-harm game either.
- kiba 5y ago
  Elon Musk is actually pretty much a dick, but he's also very smart and thoughtful and did a lot of engineering works himself. Would be great if Elon Musk isn't a dick, but he's the hero we have, not the hero we want. People, however, don't care about nuance.
- mlindner 5y ago
  > He makes shitty, immature jokes. People think he's a bit of a dick. See that doesn't make sense though. If he were a normal person you met at a party then yeah you'd say "whatever" about him and not talk to him any more. But he's not at all so saying people dislike him just because of a few personality quirks doesn't make any sense.

mlindner 5y ago

> If you genuinely believe that society is a zero-sum-game, where any winner comes at the expense of some loser somewhere, then ultra-successful people must make you sick. Which is an unfortunate myth that needs to be better educated out of people. And thank you for the rest of your post. It puts into words thoughts I've had for a while in a constructed form better than I have done.

rablackburn 5y ago

> I think it's a bit more complex than that. Because we can always go one level deeper... When I ask people why they dislike Musk, the answer I get is usually not for some bleak, reasoned belief but because of his internet persona. He makes shitty, immature jokes. People think he's a bit of a dick. Interestingly, engineers I know tend to be a bit more positive on him. I wonder if it's because they're exposed to more of his YouTube persona than his Twitter one. > If you genuinely believe that society is a zero-sum-game... The rest of this is strawman-ing pretty hard. I'm sure there are some people as described, but I think there's a larger more nuanced population who are uncomfortable with the huge growth of wealth inequality that's been going on. Some of their ire with the system is directed at those doing best under it. That's probably not entirely unjustified either, what group in human history did nothing to preserve the status quo when it worked for them? Society may not be a zero-sum game, but it's not a zero-harm game either.

kiba 5y ago
Elon Musk is actually pretty much a dick, but he's also very smart and thoughtful and did a lot of engineering works himself. Would be great if Elon Musk isn't a dick, but he's the hero we have, not the hero we want. People, however, don't care about nuance.
mlindner 5y ago
> He makes shitty, immature jokes. People think he's a bit of a dick. See that doesn't make sense though. If he were a normal person you met at a party then yeah you'd say "whatever" about him and not talk to him any more. But he's not at all so saying people dislike him just because of a few personality quirks doesn't make any sense.