Why do billionaires exist? (1 Viewer)

[brun]

Why stop at billionaires?  A third of the world lives on less than $2 a day.  I think we should tax every American 75% to help the world's less fortunate.  Why should we get to have so much when so many have so little?

Or are we only cool with giving away other people's money?

Globally I'm in the top 1%. So I got that going for me. Which is nice.

 

[TheIronSheik]

Globally I'm in the top 1%. So I got that going for me. Which is nice.

This is why you should have to give 80% of your paycheck to taxes.  Help distribute that money to people who need it.  You don't need two cars or a large house.  Or a phone or big screen TV.  Especially not while 1/3 of the world struggles to eat a meal each day.  

 

[culdeus]

Or solid advice.

So is bootstraps, but bootstraps and plumbers aren't going to fuse atoms.  

 

[TobiasFunke]

If you put $1B in an investment account that grows at 5%, you'd have to spend over $50MM just to begin whittling away at that billion. This is how/why the rich get richer.

And billionaires don't invest in things that grow at 5%. Their wealth gives them access to investments that basically guarantee growth well beyond that. Bill Gates retired almost 20 years ago, transferred several billion out of his personal wealth to establish a charitable foundation, and to my knowledge has not worked for salary or done substantial work for the benefit of any of his for-profit investments since that day. I've seen estimates that put his total charitable donations since retirement in the $40 billion range.

Yet he is now worth about twice as much as he was when he retired. He made ten billion dollars last year. He's richer than Jeff Bezos.

I imagine even Bill Gates would tell you that is supremely ###### up.

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

So is bootstraps, but bootstraps and plumbers aren't going to fuse atoms.  

Nor are patent clerks.  Wait.

 

[culdeus]

Only billionaires I have any even remote interaction with are both oil tycoons.  One sold a fracking company and made it huge on that, the other just on wells. 

The best story is one of them bought their daughter a 10 Million dollar recording studio for her sweet 16 present.  May have cost 40, unclear.  As far as I know she never used it.

Here's the studio. http://ranchlandstudios.com/

 

[culdeus]

Only billionaires I have any even remote interaction with are both oil tycoons.  One sold a fracking company and made it huge on that, the other just on wells. 

The best story is one of them bought their daughter a 10 Million dollar recording studio for her sweet 16 present.  May have cost 40, unclear.  As far as I know she never used it.

this guy

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-21/billionaire-fracking-brothers-hammered-by-permian-investments

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

The only billionaire I know is Donald Sturm.  He was quite unpresupposing when I met him.  We were at a conference together in the Sturm College of law.  He was sitting next to me.  We exchanged barbs and sarcastic remarks under our breath about the speaker.  He invited me to have lunch with him.  I accepted.  I did not know his name.  We went to a faculty dining facility at D.U.  The person who admitted us to the room called him Mr. Sturm.  It was then that I put it together.

 

[stbugs]

My friend had a scar from where the aliens operated on him.  First hand experience, GB.  

This is me in Larry’s jet.

 

[ProstheticRGK]

Billionaires exist to make trillionaires feel better about themselves

 

[Terminalxylem]

Technically, yes I guess I do work in heath care (although not directly). Its irrelevant as Im asking what Im not seeing. So far, nothing you have mentioned comes close to "crumbling health care". If something is crumbling, that means it is getting worse. Im not seeing that. I was hoping you (or others) could show me my blind spot. 

Well, when you discount horrific cost control from the get-go, you’re ignoring the biggest problem. And I’ve pointed out a couple other things that are getting worse, but you aren’t phased because you haven’t seen the problems first hand.

I work directly in healthcare, and I’d be hard pressed to find anyone who thinks things are getting better. I wouldn’t have any trouble finding people who agree with my assessment.

 

[Cjw_55106]

Well, when you discount horrific cost control from the get-go, you’re ignoring the biggest problem. And I’ve pointed out a couple other things that are getting worse, but you aren’t phased because you haven’t seen the problems first hand.

I work directly in healthcare, and I’d be hard pressed to find anyone who thinks things are getting better. I wouldn’t have any trouble finding people who agree with my assessment.

You pointed out two things and 1 was false and the other wasnt really the fault of the system. Life expectancy is not worse and the primary care shortage is due to an aging population and many (dare I say most) countries have a shortage. 

 I'll bow out from here as I dont see this getting anywhere. 

 

[AAABatteries]

This may have already been covered but I have no problem with billionaires or folks having lots of money and doing whatever they want with it.  My problems are:

- When Billionaires have too much influence in politics and political policy

- When Billionaires put their thumbs on the scale to remain Billionaires or squash competition 

- When Billionaires treat their employees poorly 

 

[ShamrockPride]

This may have already been covered but I have no problem with billionaires or folks having lots of money and doing whatever they want with it.  My problems are:

- When Billionaires have too much influence in politics and political policy

- When Billionaires put their thumbs on the scale to remain Billionaires or squash competition 

- When Billionaires treat their employees poorly 

Isn't this like....every billionaire?

 

[AAABatteries]

Isn't this like....every billionaire?

Maybe?  Probably?  No clue but I’m willing to be open minded and not accuse them all of it.  

 

[Terminalxylem]

You pointed out two things and 1 was false and the other wasnt really the fault of the system. Life expectancy is not worse and the primary care shortage is due to an aging population and many (dare I say most) countries have a shortage. 

 I'll bow out from here as I dont see this getting anywhere. 

Probably for the best. Not only have you ignored the biggest problem with our system, you deny facts in favor of personal experience while simultaneously discounting the opinion of someone who works in healthcare.

The thread is about billionaires anyway, so I guess we never should have started this “discussion” in the first place.

 

[Vanilla Guerrilla]

False. I had my eye on a 250K , 1600 sq ft home near the school and this billionaire swooped in and scooped it up. He didnt even need it. 

False.  His pot-bellied pig needed a place to live.  It was needed.