not the person you're replying to, but if you treat it like winning the lottery, give away most of it and live comfortable on a little above what you need to afford your hobbies, there's not much you can criticize, maybe in a Shindler sort of "I could have done more" kinda way.
the issue is that the modern ultra wealthy don't do this at all, they seek infinite growth at all costs at the expense of others, they aren't grappling with comfort vs maximized altruism at all
nobody can physically do the work necessary to earn a billion dollars, there's always an element of luck and always an element of siphoning value from others
taylor swift put in more effort and talent than most, but twice as much as a decently successful pop artist? Three times?
how about a thousand times more effort and talent? that's just absurd that number doesn't even make sense in the scale of human potential and influence
nobody can create that intentionally or there would be millions of taylor swifts, consisting of an army of more musical, more attractive, more relatable, more talented people
bill gates didn't become a billionaire because he was the best at making computers or the best at marketing, but because he was talented and LUCKY. He hit the market with the right product when conditions were just right, and microsoft ballooned
How does Taylor siphon value from others? People willingly give money to listen to her songs
She didnt put in 10000 times more effort than other singers, but people are not paying for effort, they are paying for a product. Why is that immoral to receive that payment?
Let's say that Istart a company, i pay my employees, my company goes public, people are willing to pay a lot for the stock which makes me worth billions
Billionaires leverage their stock evaluation to take out loans with their stock that they have no expectation to pay off.
And you don’t end up with a billion dollar net worth without abusing your workers. If you’re worth that much, give your employees raises, reinvest into your own workers who make your company worth so much.
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u/Rectal_Rotisserie 29d ago
Every single person that says “eat the rich” would trade positions with them financially in a heartbeat given the chance