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I wish billionaires were spending more on beautiful public places with cool sculptures. Better than hiding wealth with art in storage centers that will never b

I wish billionaires were spending more on beautiful public places with cool sculptures. Better than hiding wealth with art in storage centers that will never be seen again.

practicemaths 2y ago
Bezos is funding this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clock_of_the_Long_Now https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clock_of_the_Long_Now
- wmf 2y ago
  Which sounds like it will never be open to the public.
  - practicemaths 2y ago
    Say's Bezos is getting the prototype. A public one is planned for Ely, Nevada.
tempsy 2y ago
do they not? little island in NYC was funded by Barry Diller https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Island_at_Pier_55 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Island_at_Pier_55
kjkjadksj 2y ago
Say what you will about the robber barrons. We still have rockefeller, carnegie, and vanderbilt buildings, institutions, and colleges today. Being a patron for general public welfare was at least socially popular for the ultra wealthy capitalists in this country 100 years ago. A shame how that has changed.
- wahnfrieden 2y ago
  We don't call them robber barons anymore, they've succeeded enough at spinning their entrepreneurship in the public eye that they don't need to build those institutions these days Instead they now buy enough land to keep common folk far enough away from them on what used to be areas free to roam, eg what they're doing in Hawaii
  - kjkjadksj 2y ago
    I’ve visited Lanai, you can too you know.
    - wahnfrieden 2y ago
      Ok
- lenerdenator 2y ago
  > We still have rockefeller, carnegie, and vanderbilt buildings, institutions, and colleges today A very narrow slice of American geography has those things, primarily within the Mid-Atlantic and New England states. Regardless, they did that kind of thing back then because there was a real risk of a lower-class uprising if they didn't at least pretend to care about the little people.
  - kjkjadksj 2y ago
    They did that where they lived. Chances are if some town in texas or wherever had a local magnate in the 1920s they made similar investments in the local community.
ASalazarMX 2y ago
Decadent nobility wasted fortunes in basically gardens and lawn ornaments. It's reprehensible, but I think most of us are already decadent and wasteful in out own scale, at least compared to poorer societies.

I wish billionaires were spending more on beautiful public places with cool sculptures. Better than hiding wealth with art in storage centers that will never be seen again.

practicemaths 2y ago

Bezos is funding this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clock_of_the_Long_Now https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clock_of_the_Long_Now

wmf 2y ago
Which sounds like it will never be open to the public.
- practicemaths 2y ago
  Say's Bezos is getting the prototype. A public one is planned for Ely, Nevada.

tempsy 2y ago

do they not? little island in NYC was funded by Barry Diller https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Island_at_Pier_55 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Island_at_Pier_55

kjkjadksj 2y ago

Say what you will about the robber barrons. We still have rockefeller, carnegie, and vanderbilt buildings, institutions, and colleges today. Being a patron for general public welfare was at least socially popular for the ultra wealthy capitalists in this country 100 years ago. A shame how that has changed.

wahnfrieden 2y ago
We don't call them robber barons anymore, they've succeeded enough at spinning their entrepreneurship in the public eye that they don't need to build those institutions these days Instead they now buy enough land to keep common folk far enough away from them on what used to be areas free to roam, eg what they're doing in Hawaii
- kjkjadksj 2y ago
  I’ve visited Lanai, you can too you know.
  - wahnfrieden 2y ago
    Ok
lenerdenator 2y ago
> We still have rockefeller, carnegie, and vanderbilt buildings, institutions, and colleges today A very narrow slice of American geography has those things, primarily within the Mid-Atlantic and New England states. Regardless, they did that kind of thing back then because there was a real risk of a lower-class uprising if they didn't at least pretend to care about the little people.
- kjkjadksj 2y ago
  They did that where they lived. Chances are if some town in texas or wherever had a local magnate in the 1920s they made similar investments in the local community.

ASalazarMX 2y ago

Decadent nobility wasted fortunes in basically gardens and lawn ornaments. It's reprehensible, but I think most of us are already decadent and wasteful in out own scale, at least compared to poorer societies.