Democrats want us to believe that there is some cohort of “good billionaires” who can be relied upon to fight for political progress. But as the right-wing turn of tech billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk suggests, this is nonsense.
My proof that ethical billionaires don’t exist is that there’s a line (I usually like to set it at 10 million due to living in a very high CoL area) beyond this line you will never need more money in your life. Money will no longer improve your standard of living and your savings are enough to ride out life in comfort.
When you reach or approach this line you have two options:
Look at everyone you’re working with and help them reach that line - if you’ve accomplished that then start lowering the costs of your business to customers to help your customers reach that line.
Squeeze harder so you get more money and everyone around you gets fucked.
If you chose #2 you are a fucking asshole. You cannot become a billionaire[1] except by choosing #2. You have actively chosen to push down those around you so you can watch number go up.
The exception here is inheritance though someone with a sizable inheritance also has questions about using it to help those around them and, IMO, the estate tax should be near 100% and we should ensure that everyone has as equal a shot at life as we can. I loathe inheritance of wealth as a general concept though some things like having a family home are obviously pretty meaningful to a lot of people.
Well, inflation has made that more than 10 million, but yes I agree there is a number that says “I own a huge mansion, 10 cars, a yacht, and I eat caviar every meal.” That number is significantly less than a billion without having to work a day more.
You realize you have to pay every year for dockage, fuel, maintenance? You should not exceed a 4% withdrawal rate, so if your life roll is 10M, do not spend more than 400K a year. But 4% withdrawal indexed for inflation doesn’t survive the worst recessions so realistically 300K
Are we really spending $100,000 a year on a yacht?
Depends on the yacht. And, depends on your definition of expensive. Either way, it’s less than you think, depending on the yacht—which is a broad term.
The premise that merely having more than you need is inherently unethical is completely arbitrary, doubly so when only applied to those who have the most.
I live a fairly simple and frugal lifestyle. The amount of money where I am living at the standard of living ideal for me, and my “savings are enough to ride out life in comfort”, is likely a much lower number than most others in the US.
Does that make me more ethical than those others? I don’t believe so.
There’s no hard line, sure: I lived in the Amazon for years, so I know how to live off poverty wages. Poverty where I grew up in the USA seems almost plush by comparison, because a shitty trailer is far more comfortable than a thatch roofed house with electricity only 4 hours a day. My lifestyle now is middle class, and I feel like I’m living like a king. It’s a grey smear of a continuum of wealth and privilege and morality that I feel like I understand viscerally.
However: my lifestyle and wealth is far closer to my friends in the Amazon than that of billionaires.
So there’s a line, but it’s far closer to the top 0.1% than the rest of us. I can help a few friends get motors for fishing canoes, and still make ends meet if I’m careful. A billionaire could get electricity and running water for the whole town and not notice.
My proof that ethical billionaires don’t exist is that there’s a line (I usually like to set it at 10 million due to living in a very high CoL area) beyond this line you will never need more money in your life. Money will no longer improve your standard of living and your savings are enough to ride out life in comfort.
When you reach or approach this line you have two options:
Look at everyone you’re working with and help them reach that line - if you’ve accomplished that then start lowering the costs of your business to customers to help your customers reach that line.
Squeeze harder so you get more money and everyone around you gets fucked.
If you chose #2 you are a fucking asshole. You cannot become a billionaire[1] except by choosing #2. You have actively chosen to push down those around you so you can watch number go up.
Well, inflation has made that more than 10 million, but yes I agree there is a number that says “I own a huge mansion, 10 cars, a yacht, and I eat caviar every meal.” That number is significantly less than a billion without having to work a day more.
You can’t own a yacht with 10 million
Oh, you ray of sunshine.
I’m gonna be that guy… but yes you can.
What many perceive as Yachts, the big boats that the ultra wealth have, are not the sole size of yachts.
This is a yacht for under 600k
https://fgiyachtgroup.com/yachts-for-sale/opus-one-440996/
You realize you have to pay every year for dockage, fuel, maintenance? You should not exceed a 4% withdrawal rate, so if your life roll is 10M, do not spend more than 400K a year. But 4% withdrawal indexed for inflation doesn’t survive the worst recessions so realistically 300K
Are we really spending $100,000 a year on a yacht?
Seriously… how much do people think yachts are. Not everyone is buying bill gates’ $500m yacht.
They are very expensive to maintain
Depends on the yacht. And, depends on your definition of expensive. Either way, it’s less than you think, depending on the yacht—which is a broad term.
The premise that merely having more than you need is inherently unethical is completely arbitrary, doubly so when only applied to those who have the most.
I live a fairly simple and frugal lifestyle. The amount of money where I am living at the standard of living ideal for me, and my “savings are enough to ride out life in comfort”, is likely a much lower number than most others in the US.
Does that make me more ethical than those others? I don’t believe so.
There’s no hard line, sure: I lived in the Amazon for years, so I know how to live off poverty wages. Poverty where I grew up in the USA seems almost plush by comparison, because a shitty trailer is far more comfortable than a thatch roofed house with electricity only 4 hours a day. My lifestyle now is middle class, and I feel like I’m living like a king. It’s a grey smear of a continuum of wealth and privilege and morality that I feel like I understand viscerally.
However: my lifestyle and wealth is far closer to my friends in the Amazon than that of billionaires.
So there’s a line, but it’s far closer to the top 0.1% than the rest of us. I can help a few friends get motors for fishing canoes, and still make ends meet if I’m careful. A billionaire could get electricity and running water for the whole town and not notice.