Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The best ones are thoughts that many people can relate to and they find something funny or interesting in regular stuff.

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Almost every problem in the world would be dealt with meaningfully if we outlawed billionaires. (lemmy.ca)

submitted 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Everytime I look at small problems or big global problems, if you follow the money trail, it all leads to some billionaire who is either working towards increasing their wealth or protecting their wealth from decreasing.

Everything from politics, climate change, workers rights, democratic government, technology, land rights, human rights can all be rendered down to people fighting another group of people who defend the rights of a billionaire to keep their wealth or to expand their control.

If humanity got rid of or outlawed the notion of any one individual owning far too much money than they could ever possibly spend in a lifetime, we could free up so much wealth and energy to do other things like save ourselves from climate change.

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 6 months ago (14 children)

Where's the line? Is it one billion? Aren't we all trying to make more money and lose less money? Who decides what number equals 'enough'? Does it depend on where you live? Size of your family? How/where you spend, save, donate? They say Dolly Parton could have been a billionaire but she's donated so much that she only has $650 million. Should that be the goal - earn a billion and donate half? Is that better or worse than earning 100 million and donating half?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 months ago (10 children)

A billion dollars is so incomprehensibly more than anybody needs, no matter the size of their family, that there really is no reason to take these things into account. As for who decides what is enough, it's the people allowed to vote.

As for the donation example, yes, that is worse, since for every billionaire that miraculously donates some of their wealth, there are loads who don't. So better tax them all than hope that maybe a couple of them decide to be nice for once.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago (1 children)

And a key point with donations: they go wherever the rich people want, not where society needs.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 6 months ago

Where do taxes go? Do you trust the government to decide what society needs? I donate locally and i try to spend my money locally, but fucking Amazon comes along with a $2 wrench that delivers before 8am and i get sucked in.

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