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Not really. Anyone could but not everyone. You need people to uphold the Ponzi scheme of capitalism to funnel money to the trillionaires. Edit: I’d really love

by xwdv 3y ago

Not really. Anyone could but not everyone. You need people to uphold the Ponzi scheme of capitalism to funnel money to the trillionaires. Edit: I’d really love to know what these damn down voters are thinking. You literally think everyone can just be a trillionaire? Where is the value being produced? Where is the money coming from? Trillionaires passing each other money around???

wait_a_minute 3y ago
Capitalism has lifted billions out of poverty. It is not a zero sum game. People will invent new things and new industries. There are infinite possibilities to discover and all of those are new products and services and experiences to build. All the commodities humans need for huge increases in per capita wealth are plentiful throughout the universe. NASA wants to explore an asteroid that just by itself is worth $10 quintillion because of all the precious metals in it. That isn’t even the biggest one discovered. There are going to be endless asteroids and entire planets like these. And there will be endless planets that can be settled and colonized and terraformed.
- smeej 3y ago
  I do wonder about that valuation, though. Unless they only manage to extract the value so slowly it doesn't flood the market, wouldn't the "precious" medals just become less precious? At least the ones where the value largely comes from scarcity? This example has nothing to do with this specific asteroid, but it makes the general point: If the amount of gold available doubles over 50 years, the market could probably handle it. But if it goes up 2x per year for 50 years? The price craters.
  - wait_a_minute 3y ago
    Yes the prices would plummet but that means wealth per capita increases in real terms. Producing the goods and services that depend on those cheaper commodities will become much cheaper. If we get to a world where everything of value today costs $1 to produce tomorrow, that’s a much wealthier (non zero sum) world.
smeej 3y ago
Print enough money and everyone's a trillionaire! (I say that in jest, but it's awfully typical of how governments do seem to solve problems. "Trillionaires can buy whatever they want, so let's print enough money for everyone to be a trillionaire!" is awfully similar to "People with college degrees have higher lifetime earnings, so let's make college free so everyone can have a college degree!")
deleted 3y ago
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inglor_cz 3y ago
I haven't downvoted you, but you are overlooking the forest for the trees. Compared to the richest person alive in 1923 or 1823, or 1023 for that matter, we have a lot more at our disposal. In this sense, we are much richer than them. You could be the King of England and if you got cancer, it was lights out, no exception for His Majesty. Going still back in history, even Genghis Khan had to defecate in a desert and wipe his behind with his own fingers, though he ruled of majority of Eurasia at some point. Contemporary people aren't all trillionaires, but they certainly enjoy a much higher standard of living than tycoons of yesterday.

by xwdv 3y ago

wait_a_minute 3y ago

Capitalism has lifted billions out of poverty. It is not a zero sum game. People will invent new things and new industries. There are infinite possibilities to discover and all of those are new products and services and experiences to build. All the commodities humans need for huge increases in per capita wealth are plentiful throughout the universe. NASA wants to explore an asteroid that just by itself is worth $10 quintillion because of all the precious metals in it. That isn’t even the biggest one discovered. There are going to be endless asteroids and entire planets like these. And there will be endless planets that can be settled and colonized and terraformed.

smeej 3y ago
I do wonder about that valuation, though. Unless they only manage to extract the value so slowly it doesn't flood the market, wouldn't the "precious" medals just become less precious? At least the ones where the value largely comes from scarcity? This example has nothing to do with this specific asteroid, but it makes the general point: If the amount of gold available doubles over 50 years, the market could probably handle it. But if it goes up 2x per year for 50 years? The price craters.
- wait_a_minute 3y ago
  Yes the prices would plummet but that means wealth per capita increases in real terms. Producing the goods and services that depend on those cheaper commodities will become much cheaper. If we get to a world where everything of value today costs $1 to produce tomorrow, that’s a much wealthier (non zero sum) world.

smeej 3y ago

Print enough money and everyone's a trillionaire! (I say that in jest, but it's awfully typical of how governments do seem to solve problems. "Trillionaires can buy whatever they want, so let's print enough money for everyone to be a trillionaire!" is awfully similar to "People with college degrees have higher lifetime earnings, so let's make college free so everyone can have a college degree!")

deleted 3y ago

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inglor_cz 3y ago

I haven't downvoted you, but you are overlooking the forest for the trees. Compared to the richest person alive in 1923 or 1823, or 1023 for that matter, we have a lot more at our disposal. In this sense, we are much richer than them. You could be the King of England and if you got cancer, it was lights out, no exception for His Majesty. Going still back in history, even Genghis Khan had to defecate in a desert and wipe his behind with his own fingers, though he ruled of majority of Eurasia at some point. Contemporary people aren't all trillionaires, but they certainly enjoy a much higher standard of living than tycoons of yesterday.