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I'm suggesting that for amounts of wealth past some (admittedly arbitrary) point, there is such a high concentration of power that it raises ethical questions,

I'm suggesting that for amounts of wealth past some (admittedly arbitrary) point, there is such a high concentration of power that it raises ethical questions, regardless of how the funds was obtained. Just thinking along the lines of Dr. McCoy in Xmen: "And I worry about how democracy survives when one man can move cities with his mind." A billionare may not be able to move a city with his mind, but he could outright buy one! Just a thought. :)

martinced 14y ago
"A billionaire may not be able to move a city with his mind, but he could outright buy one!" A tiny one then. About 20 000 houses in my neighborood would settle you for about $15bn. I'm not talking about a block on Wall Street or in the City with skyscrappers ; ) If one day you think you're rich, just go to N.Y. or Ginza (Tokyo) and look at the skyscrappers and ask yourself how many buildings you could buy. It's a humbling experience, even for very very very rich people. I mean, sure, he could buy a village in the U.S. or in Europe but some things are just too expensive. I also think you overestimate the power one billionaire has. The current U.S. debt is 16 trillions. You could take the money from the 30 first of these list and you'd only be paying back one trillion (back at the 30th position it's already "poor" billionaires who only have $20bn or so). In other words: you'd still have a 15 trillion public debt and you'd still be utterly and totally f*cked. I'd say there are much more pressing purposes to deal with than the personnal wealth of a few hundreds of billionnaires... Also, why does this get posted and upvoted on HN? So that the socialo-commie dudes can come out of the wood and start criticizing wealth creation and entrepreneurship?
- bjhoops1 14y ago
  Haha yeah after I wrote that I got to thinking that "large town" may have been more in keeping with the scale. Thanks for calling out my exaggeration. I think that the reason people (like myself) call out billionaires is because they are such a convenient distillation of the real problem of income inequality. >About 20 000 houses in my neighborood would settle you for about $15bn Damn where do you live?? I might point out that $750,000 homes are not typical. ;) 120,000 more typical $125,000 homes could be had for the same $15bn sum. Which is just wild to think about.

martinced 14y ago

"A billionaire may not be able to move a city with his mind, but he could outright buy one!" A tiny one then. About 20 000 houses in my neighborood would settle you for about $15bn. I'm not talking about a block on Wall Street or in the City with skyscrappers ; ) If one day you think you're rich, just go to N.Y. or Ginza (Tokyo) and look at the skyscrappers and ask yourself how many buildings you could buy. It's a humbling experience, even for very very very rich people. I mean, sure, he could buy a village in the U.S. or in Europe but some things are just too expensive. I also think you overestimate the power one billionaire has. The current U.S. debt is 16 trillions. You could take the money from the 30 first of these list and you'd only be paying back one trillion (back at the 30th position it's already "poor" billionaires who only have $20bn or so). In other words: you'd still have a 15 trillion public debt and you'd still be utterly and totally f*cked. I'd say there are much more pressing purposes to deal with than the personnal wealth of a few hundreds of billionnaires... Also, why does this get posted and upvoted on HN? So that the socialo-commie dudes can come out of the wood and start criticizing wealth creation and entrepreneurship?

bjhoops1 14y ago
Haha yeah after I wrote that I got to thinking that "large town" may have been more in keeping with the scale. Thanks for calling out my exaggeration. I think that the reason people (like myself) call out billionaires is because they are such a convenient distillation of the real problem of income inequality. >About 20 000 houses in my neighborood would settle you for about $15bn Damn where do you live?? I might point out that $750,000 homes are not typical. ;) 120,000 more typical $125,000 homes could be had for the same $15bn sum. Which is just wild to think about.