2 ms·

>I totally fail to understand why this is a polarizing issue as 99.5% of people are on the same side of the threshold... Because I had a good father and a good

by vdaea 3y ago

>I totally fail to understand why this is a polarizing issue as 99.5% of people are on the same side of the threshold... Because I had a good father and a good mother who taught me that stealing from someone else is not okay, even if they have more things than me.

richbell 3y ago
It's intriguing how many people frame this as "stealing." How do you think many people become billionaires? It isn't through fair competition and treating workers well.
- pi-e-sigma 3y ago
  "Behind every great fortune lies a great crime" - Honore de Balzac.
- CapricornNoble 3y ago
  > How do you think many people become billionaires? Pareto Principle, offering some of the best market options on a planet with 8 billion people? Let's say I make a product that is 10% better than yours (maybe I burned more midnights engineering it, maybe I just had a radical trip on some DMT that gave me special insight, whatever). Let's say my product costs me $.90 to make, yours only costs $0.75 to make. We both sell at $1.00.....but 90% of the 8 billion people buy my obviously better product, and only 10% buy yours (maybe they hate something about me personally, or maybe my marketing simply didn't reach or convert them). I make $0.10 * (0.9 * 8B) = $720M. You make $0.25 * (0.1 * 8B) = $200M. I'm already over 3x richer than you, and ALMOST as close to billionaire as you are close to being impoverished ($0 net worth in this scenario). What part of my competition wasn't fair? What workers were mistreated? THAT SAID.....I don't disagree that many wealthy families are scummy thieves with a sheen of respectability (like the Sacklers, for example).....just, I prefer that we not instantly reach for that excuse and dismiss the entire concept of extreme wealth accumulation as "well OBVIOUSLY they've got to have done something evil, there is no other explanation, so let's collectively punish their entire class" which is how most of these conversations conclude.

by vdaea 3y ago

richbell 3y ago

It's intriguing how many people frame this as "stealing." How do you think many people become billionaires? It isn't through fair competition and treating workers well.

pi-e-sigma 3y ago
"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime" - Honore de Balzac.
CapricornNoble 3y ago
> How do you think many people become billionaires? Pareto Principle, offering some of the best market options on a planet with 8 billion people? Let's say I make a product that is 10% better than yours (maybe I burned more midnights engineering it, maybe I just had a radical trip on some DMT that gave me special insight, whatever). Let's say my product costs me $.90 to make, yours only costs $0.75 to make. We both sell at $1.00.....but 90% of the 8 billion people buy my obviously better product, and only 10% buy yours (maybe they hate something about me personally, or maybe my marketing simply didn't reach or convert them). I make $0.10 * (0.9 * 8B) = $720M. You make $0.25 * (0.1 * 8B) = $200M. I'm already over 3x richer than you, and ALMOST as close to billionaire as you are close to being impoverished ($0 net worth in this scenario). What part of my competition wasn't fair? What workers were mistreated? THAT SAID.....I don't disagree that many wealthy families are scummy thieves with a sheen of respectability (like the Sacklers, for example).....just, I prefer that we not instantly reach for that excuse and dismiss the entire concept of extreme wealth accumulation as "well OBVIOUSLY they've got to have done something evil, there is no other explanation, so let's collectively punish their entire class" which is how most of these conversations conclude.