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Power, including financial power, reveals who people really are without constraints. President Johnson has to be my favorite example of this, he spent a politic

Power, including financial power, reveals who people really are without constraints. President Johnson has to be my favorite example of this, he spent a political career kowtowing to racists, enforcing racism where he needed to in order to acquire power, and then when full power was finally thrust on him by JFK's assassination, he flips and pushes through key legislation from the Civil Rights Movement. I certainly didn't put forward an idea that having money makes people less of an asshole. Somebody who gives it away in a non-assholish way certainly makes them less of an asshole. Or is your contention that anybody with money is an asshole, without exception?

joquarky 4mo ago
At the very least, I would question the motive of people who defend billionaires.
- epistasis 4mo ago
  Who do you believe is doing this? The implication, I guess, would be me, but I wasn't talking about strictly "billionaires". What is the wealth cutoff here, and how?
  - pydry 4mo ago
    zdragnar, not you.
jfil 4mo ago
I just thought of an interesting thought experiment. Inagine a politician who kowtows to racists and does their bidding for his whole career and then, just before grabbing the presidency, he has a heart attack and dies. How would you see his legacy? What can you say about the essence of this person?