• Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          10
          ·
          2 months ago

          …I never understood that line. Like, why wouldn’t the people deserve a hero?

          Of coarse, that’s assuming you take the movies POV, and think of Batman as the hero.

          I mean, I don’t. But if you think he’s the hero of the movie, why would gotham not deserve him?

          And in Luigis case, I DO think of him as the hero of the story. But I also think we deserve him.

          So, I never got that phrase.

          • MrPoopbutt@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            18
            ·
            2 months ago

            “Because he’s the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now”

            Because the hero Gotham needed was Harvey Dent. Gotham needed hope, which Harvey represented. If Gotham knew that Harvey went evil, then it would have shown that the Joker was right. It would have shaken peoples faith and motivation to do good.

            The line never said people didn’t deserve a hero.

          • daltotron@lemmy.ml
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            3
            ·
            2 months ago

            It’s because the movies are written by christopher nolan, and that guy does not have good politics. The other guy is right with their explanation, but the underlying message is, as you say, pretty much total nonsense.

    • quink@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      19
      ·
      edit-2
      2 months ago

      And to avoid that, all they have to do is became big damn heroes by giving their money in charity, or tax, or fund a research lab or whatever way of throwing their money back out there that they choose.

      Astounding that they’d find it so detestable that they’d rather risk death in the hands of a class revolution than see their money feed kids or cure cancer or whatnot.

  • MithranArkanere@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    199
    ·
    2 months ago

    Well, that is a bit excessive.
    Rabid dogs are put down because there is no cure for their disease, and they cannot be controlled, and their very existence will bring harm to others and…

    Nevermind.

    • ameancow@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      73
      ·
      edit-2
      2 months ago

      Yah this is really hyperbolic, the reason we “put down” vicious or dangerous animals is because we’ve accepted that they are what they are and we’ve all collectively agreed that they cannot change their nature and will always be a danger to every- …oh. Okay, yeah I see.

    • takeda@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      201
      ·
      edit-2
      2 months ago

      His net worth is between $14M and $20M. That’s a lot for you and me, but he is nobody for example next to musk’s $400B (20,000 times more)

      • RedditWanderer@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        181
        ·
        2 months ago

        One million seconds is a about 11 days, 1 billion seconds is just under 32 years. People underestimate the difference

        • zalgotext@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          89
          ·
          2 months ago

          The one I’ve always liked is “the difference between a million dollars and a billion dollars is… about a billion dollars”

          • WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            5
            ·
            edit-2
            2 months ago

            Considering the horrifically shit quality of education in the US, you’re probably better off saying “the difference between a million and a billion dollars is 999 million dollars”.

        • prole
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          2 months ago

          Yeah, people can’t seem to comprehend just how large 1 billion is.

      • cubism_pitta@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        61
        ·
        edit-2
        2 months ago

        I mean, he is still 980 MILLION dollars away from being a mere billionaire. He is WAAAAAAAAY closer to you and me

      • iAvicenna@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        20
        ·
        2 months ago

        20 million is what a rich person should be not 20 billion. the latter one is more akin to cancer, hoarding resources to the extent of the suffering of everyone else.

      • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        15
        ·
        2 months ago

        We need to define rich. To me, 14 million is rich.

        Right now, Bill Burr could buy a house, cash, buy solar power for that whole house. And buy a new car every 5 years.

        Then just sit at home, and not do shit. Ever.

        I can’t do that. Nobody I know can do that.

        • rothaine@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          52
          ·
          2 months ago

          He’s rich, but only “American Dream” rich, not “controlling the media” and “funding anti-science think tanks” rich. It’s the latter that are the problem.

          • ramjambamalam@lemmy.ca
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            33
            ·
            2 months ago

            It’s not like he’s “give a Nazi salute to millions of viewers and nothing of consequence happens” rich.

            • rothaine@lemm.ee
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              18
              ·
              2 months ago

              Exactly!

              Millionaires aren’t the problem. Oligarchs are the problem.

        • Pennomi@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          46
          ·
          2 months ago

          $14M is in the reach of normal people though. With a good job, judicious spending, and a little investment luck, it’s possible to get there.

          The problem is that most people don’t have a good job.

          No one person can make a BILLION dollars though, without exploiting others.

          • I_Miss_Daniel@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            23
            ·
            2 months ago

            Without a passive income it is difficult to become rich.

            He who is paid by the hour can only trade his time for money.

          • Vinstaal0@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            2 months ago

            No it isn’t people investing and expecting massive ROI are already part of the problem. They are driving companies to generate as much profit as possible.

            You need a salary of 350k a year after tax which is like a 700k salary before tax. Or more likely you need a good company and yeah they will be evaluated for a sale for in the milions, but generally that is incorrectly counted towards your net worth. Since you are counting future income from the company towards your net worth.

        • tburkhol@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          28
          ·
          2 months ago

          $14M is almost exactly the top 1% of US households by wealth, around a million to million-and-a-half of them. There’s only 750 billionaires. The billionaires are less than 0.1% of the US 1%.

          $14M is plenty to live very comfortably, but it’s little enough that you still have to consider costs of big purchases. You’re not going to own a jet. You can have multiple houses as long as you keep them normal-sized. $14M is rich, but it’s not Rich-rich.

          • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            2 months ago

            You’re saying to me that Bernie Sanders is in the 1%, but not the 0.01% so it doesn’t count as rich. That’s REALLY your arguement here?

            • tburkhol@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              18
              ·
              2 months ago

              Yup.

              Listen, I understand that numbers are scary, but the difference between ‘ordinary rich’ and ‘problematic rich’ is entirely in the numbers. I’ve probably got 10x as much cash in bank as you, but I’m not rich. My grandma, retired with a paid-off house and a bit of 401k, probably - technically - a millionaire, but still not rich. Billionaire who gets stopped for speeding or DUI can drop $100,000 on lawyers, the way I might drop a penny in the Take-a-penny dish, not just fighting his ticket but investigating and suing the PD that stopped him. That billionaire can pay a politician $1M for special treatment the way I might buy lunch.

              Your grandma with $1M ain’t problematic rich. Billionaire is problematic rich. The threshold is somewhere in between, and probably closer to $100M than $10M. Estate tax starts at $14M. Most of the proposals for wealth tax start somewhere around $50M.

      • Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        12
        ·
        edit-2
        2 months ago

        I’d consider this way; assuming the upper bound there (20m), Elon spent over 14 Bill Burr’s worth helping Trump get elected, and that was pocket change to him.

        That’s the difference in scale. Musk could lose everything Burr has ever owned and he literally would not notice.

        You can maybe argue that what Burr has is too much. Personally, I really don’t care at this point. I’ll ponder the moral rightness of the existence of millionaires when there are no more billionaires.

        • Brgor@lemmy.zip
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          10
          ·
          2 months ago

          The way I always put it is the difference between $1 million and $1 billion is about $1 billion.

            • crapwittyname@lemm.ee
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              7
              ·
              2 months ago

              The very fact that there’s an order of magnitude difference is the point of the comparison. There shouldn’t be five orders of magnitude between any two people’s wealth; it’s obscene. Maintaining a linear comparison shows the true nature of the wealth gap.

              • AnIndefiniteArticle@sh.itjust.works
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                2 months ago

                Both scales are important. Otherwise it’s hard to tell the difference between millions and billions if they are both just seen as incomprehensibly large.

                Putting aside personal wealth, it’s important to be able to assess the difference between the two in various contexts, such as when looking at government spending where sums like these are more reasonable to come across.

                • crapwittyname@lemm.ee
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  4
                  ·
                  2 months ago

                  It’s really not hard to tell the difference between millions and billions. There are multitudinous ways in which that can be achieved, even if you’re explaining to a toddler. Anyone who can understand the concept of a log scales can understand the difference between a million and a billion linearly. How many threads in this carpet? Around a million? Cool. And a billion would be what, an entire city? Cool. Easy.

                  Yes, log scales are important if you put aside personal wealth, but why would you want to put aside personal wealth when it’s what we’re discussing?

    • darkdemize@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      64
      ·
      2 months ago

      The difference is that he isn’t exploiting the labor of others to make most of his wealth. I’m not a huge fan of most celebrities, but at least most of them are actually earning their money by generating demand for their “thing.”

      • just_another_person@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        2 months ago

        Very true. I like Bill Burr, but he’s still on a lovely crested hill of property that is way out of scope of attainability from the average person.

        • Lasherz@lemmy.worldM
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          24
          ·
          2 months ago

          I don’t understand the obsession with wealth here. I feel like people are missing the point that utilizing wealth to advocate for those less fortunate is still based. Most everyone is richer than us if we know their name and chopping allies down to only poor people means that your convictions to doing what’s right is contingent on meaningless values rather than class values of levels of exploitation. He makes money through his labor, just like us, it reminds me of how the internet reacted to the dock union president making bank. Your convictions end up pretty weak if a CEO could remove them by giving a raise to one person.

        • WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          9
          ·
          edit-2
          2 months ago

          This is a shit fuckin take. Bill Burr made his wealth from his own labor, and he’s 56. He’s been a relatively famous comedian for ~20 years, touring every single year, producing tv shows and shit.

          Acting as though his 15-20 million makes him not like us is some mentally ill tankie bullshit. There are hundreds of thousands of boomer and gen x millionaires who made their wealth from cheap labor, slave wages, exploiting the poor, landlording, etc, and you call out Bill Burr? Get the fuck outta here.

    • Wafzig@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      30
      ·
      2 months ago

      We need more from his class to speak up. This whole system is basically the Billionaires paying the Millionaires to keep the thousandaires hating the rest.

      • WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        edit-2
        2 months ago

        We need to stop acting like it’s the 1950’s and a million is “rich”. 1 million in 1950 would be equal to 13 million today, except in 1950 you could buy a fucking mansion for ~30k, with a < 30 minute commute (the official inflation figures are oligarch propaganda and off by a factor of 5-10).

        In like 30% of developed world cities a million isn’t even enough to own a home without an hour plus commute. The minimum for “rich” in 2025 is a paid off home and another million in investments, which will net you about 50k a year without working (e.g. able to exit the rat race and live off capital). Even then, in the USA you need several million to buffer the likelihood of a medical condition bankrupting you…

        The VAST majority of Hollywood — especially comedians and writers — are working class and poorly paid. Even the majority of the famous ones grew up relatively average/poor. Most are not nepo babies or even in the 1%. Most are allies that are silenced or neutered by studios and production companies (capitalists) out of fear of being sued or blacklisted. Only an extreme minority of them have anything near oligarch money, and none of them made that from their labor.

    • PowerCrazy@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      20
      ·
      2 months ago

      I’m not sure why that matters? Pretty sure he has profited off of the fruits of his labor unless he owns some kind of orphan crushing enterprise I’m not aware of.

    • straightjorkin@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      2 months ago

      In today’s world a million dollars means that you’re successful at what you do. Not that you own massive swaths of society like billionaires.

    • GrundlButter@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      9
      ·
      2 months ago

      You’re right, but I do think we’d see societal improvements long before we got to Bill Burr if we started slaughtering the richest from top to bottom. I bet after you take out the Forbes top 200 list, anyone with that kind of cash would be racing to give it up, or to disappear. Either way, sounds like a huge win for the world.

        • GrundlButter@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          2 months ago

          The first 10 would be a good start, but net worth and liquid assets aren’t the same thing, so that money will only go so far.

          Though, the impact of removing that much rot from society could probably be felt pretty quickly.

          But the real snowball effect would be every billionaire suddenly realizing they need to shed their ill gotten gains or suffer the same fate. Imagine that world, suddenly there would be so many employee owned corporations, philanthropy would reach record levels, large swaths of land and property would be gifted to countries and co ops around the world. And all you need to do is kill the first 200 and give it a few months to re-evaluate, and if needed pick the next 200.

          I guarantee you each of these fucks are responsible for killing 200 a year on average. It’s only fair at this point.

          • Syrc@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            2 months ago

            That’s what I’m saying, the snowball effect will definitely be in full effect after the first 10. You do one per day and see how on the 11th day the richest person of the world has exactly 999 million dollars.

            As it has been said over and over, those people don’t need all of that money at all. Once they realize them having it is actually detrimental they’ll be quick to dump it on whatever they feel is the best use for it (which could be giving them to someone they trust, sure, but does Musk have 396 people he trusts? Hell I’m not even sure he has one!)

            Of course this is just fantasy and requires some god-like figure to act out, but while we’re just talking fantasy I’m convinced if that figure just showed up and said “from next month onwards, whoever owns at least one billion dollars will be killed” this could all be solved without a single person dying (of course excluding people like Musk which would suddenly find himself unable to function with a net worth under 1B and lose it all in one day).

    • LadyAutumn
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      2 months ago

      We’ll take class traitors of the ruling class. Not that he is one, but I’m just saying.

    • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      2 months ago

      Bernie Sanders is out there talking about eating the rich…he always convienently leaves out that HE HIMSELF is rich.

      I’m never sure if that’s meant to say like “Yeah, I’LL pay my fair share if we get all the other rich people to do it too”.

      Or if it’s meant to be something that sounds good on a soundbyte that makes you angry at the rich…while you’re not supposed to know HE’S rich.

      I never know what to take that context as.

        • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          2 months ago

          If someone has even 1 million dollars they’re rich. That’s the thing about numbers. They’re infinate.

          You say you couldn’t even buy a house with a few million dollars? I could buy a house for $70,000.

          For another $10,000 I could fit the house with solar, and use the other 900,000 to live off interest.

          How is that not rich?

          • Zorsith
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            23
            ·
            edit-2
            2 months ago

            A million isn’t even enough to retire on anymore. That shit’ll be gone in a couple years in a nursing home. A few million might let you leave a house to your family.

            The cheap houses in my part of Ohio (a fairly cheap state to buy a house in) start at about 200K

          • Mister_Feeny@fedia.io
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            23
            ·
            2 months ago

            The difference between 1 billion and 1 million dollars is just about 1 billion dollars.

            And maybe you could find a house for 70k in your area, but that is not common at all. The AVERAGE home price in my area is 525-550,000.

            Having a single million dollars just does not mean you’re rich these days.

              • TheCelticPirate@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                13
                ·
                2 months ago

                Did you really use a $50k house that needs at least $100k in repairs in a terrible neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio as an example? Are you trolling? This might be the worst house for sale in America.

                • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  ·
                  2 months ago

                  Seriously? You think that’s the worst house in America? There’s not even pictures of the inside because long term tenants live there.

                  Thats not a bad area. Thats W.46 between Storer and Clark. I could open zillow again, and try to find some of those $2,000 dollar houses if you want to see some houses that need repairs. And they’d be in the actual ghetto.

                • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  ·
                  2 months ago

                  He doesn’t have to work. The comment was that he could buy a house, buy solar, and never have to do anything again.

          • SupraMario@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            11
            ·
            2 months ago

            You do know what net worth is right? It’s combined wealth. A lot of people are worth 1mil or more… especially since the housing boom. This is some of the dumbest logic to bitch about someone who is worth a few million. Get your head out of your ass, bitching about millionaires is hilarious, while the billionaires are running the country.

            • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              2 months ago

              I never bitched about him. I’ve said the same thing over and over and over. The comment was about context of why he’s saying to eat the rich, when that’s him.

          • adarza@lemmy.ca
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            6
            ·
            2 months ago

            if you want $900k to provide a steady return every year indefinitely, and while accounting for inflation, taxes on proceeds, fluctuations in the market, etc. you won’t be taking out nearly as much as you think each year.

            • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              2 months ago

              $900,000 x .02 = $18,000 ÷ 12 = 1,500.

              $1,500 every month, no rent, no mortgage, no electric bill. Basically means you’re paying taxes, insurance, water, gas, phone/internet. I’ll just round that off at $600. Means $900 a month after bills. All without working.

              You telling me that ain’t rich?

              • stickly@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                13
                ·
                2 months ago

                $18,000 is only $3k above the federal poverty level, and well below for a family of 2. This sounds like one of those out of touch McDonald’s PR budgets.

                Better hope your home never needs a new roof, that’ll be at LEAST 6 months of your passive income gone. Car breaks down? Well you need to fix that because you live in BFE, that’s another month gone.

                Not to mention I don’t know what scooter you’re parking in your one room shack to keep taxes and insurance and utilities under $600. Are you fitting health insurance in that too or just offing yourself when you get medical debt? Hope you never have any dependants either, that’s when things get really pricey.

                • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  ·
                  2 months ago

                  I wouldn’t call 44th and Clark BFE.

                  If anything, I’d have to check the map, and make sure Daves is as close as I think, but you could just walk everywhere. Although at his age, maybe he’d need a car. But the neighborhood is very drivable. It’s not like you’re out in the sticks.

      • crapwittyname@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        9
        ·
        2 months ago

        Bernie doesn’t say “eat the rich”, you’re saying that. Bernie makes specific statements about who to tax, and when and how.
        He does pay his fair share. If the richest in the US paid tax like he does, there wouldn’t be a problem.

        • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          2 months ago

          Oh I never said he wasn’t humble. I’m just confused by his motivations behind saying to eat the rich…ya know…because that’s him.

          • petrol_sniff_king
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            2 months ago

            You can assume he means himself as well.
            If we take care of the billionaires, and he starts getting defensive, then we can oppose him. It’s easy.

      • TheFonz@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        2 months ago

        What a brain dead thing to say. Is your whole argument that only the non rich are allowed to mention that the system is broken? Does he have to divest of all his assets before making any observations about our economic system? What a weird thing to get hung up on. This cant be real.

      • melisdrawing@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        2 months ago

        You needn’t be broke to want to end billionaires. Plenty of people clinging to their status as ‘middle-class’ want to end billionaires. They can be insulated AND correct.

      • PowerCrazy@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        2 months ago

        Class analysis is the only thing that matters. Read theory and stop being a wrecker.

    • Jericho_One@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      2 months ago

      There’s a difference between not wanting billionaires to exist and not wanting people to be able to be rich.

      Billionaires ≠ rich, billionaire = too rich

    • oyo@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      2 months ago

      I used to like him. Then I saw his post-election SNL monologue, which was dog shit. Now I think he’s ok, sometimes.

      • HappySkullsplitter@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        30
        ·
        2 months ago

        That’s the whole idea

        He’s planning to build a billionaire’s utopia where the poor live in debtor prisons and the ultra wealthy are treated like gods

        We’re in the endgame

        • Juice@midwest.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          2 months ago

          Nah probably not. There will be suffering and shocks but they’re like restructuring the economy here. They can’t like go back to feudalism, they don’t know how, and it isn’t possible. I just can never buy the apocalyptic framing, its not really evidence based, just Hollywood based.

          I do think you’re right about more prisons though, idk about debtors prisons yet but they are loving making people “illegal” and then doing horrible shit to them. If they can’t get enough people out of work to suppress wages how they want, then I bet you will see states arguing for their right to put debtors in jail. Although the expansion of online gambling into every part of our lives is kind of insane though, it could shift some dynamics.

          I think its more like the billionaires want this or they don’t care because they all know they’re gonna make the money. And we are gonna get screwed

            • Juice@midwest.social
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              edit-2
              2 months ago

              Or, maybe I am paying attention and we have different opinions? I gave a ton of leeway in my response, like I’m not saying you’re wrong, but there are limits on what they can accomplish, and I don’t like the apocalyptic framing for my personal analysis, but at the same time I do think there is something very intentional going on, a conspiracy here at the tail end of the neoliberal era by the ruling class to gain ground and power. So I’m not sure why you have to assert that I’m misinformed.

              If you think the ideas that you came up with in your head while staring at newsfeeds on your phone is the 100% objective truth, then more power to you. But IMO we could all benefit from good faith discussion and sharing ideas.

              Thanks for the link, another right wing freak to keep track of 😫

  • drunkosaurus@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    56
    ·
    2 months ago

    The rich are not the problem, the wealthy are the problem. I like the way Chris Rock put it: ‘Shaq is rich… The white man who signs his check is wealthy.’

    Millions of people could be up there with Bill Burr, if a few hundred wouldn’t hoard over half of all wealth in the country.

  • Zink@programming.dev
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    56
    ·
    2 months ago

    Maybe we collectively need to recognize billionaires like they recognize their workers. I propose the following:

    1. “Becoming a billionaire” is still a thing that the most aggressive, ambitious sociopaths among us can aspire to. Because they and the broken people that idolize them will insist that great things cannot happen without the promise of great rewards. And obviously the only “reward” of any meaning to them is money.

    2. Once you are a billionaire, you get a nationally broadcast pizza party on CSPAN and we engrave your name into a plaque in some “hall of smart winners” somewhere in DC. You are declared a champion of the economy and the President shakes your hand and declares a one-time national day to be in your honor. Or they read your name during the superbowl that year or whatever. Your place in history is locked in.

    3. Assets and earnings in excess of 1 billion are seized and given to charity, or infrastructure, or healthcare or whatever. Used for the betterment of society. It should be done responsibly in a way that won’t ruin the assets, for example not liquidating billions in stock all at once.

    4. The government publishes a leaderboard every year that shows which Champions of the Economy™️ gave the most back to society that year in the form of excess earnings. And we all pretend that we’re REALLY impressed.

    They can have their on-paper status and their superficial adoration they hunger for. And they can even be stupidly rich by ANY standard.

    • floquant@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      19
      ·
      edit-2
      2 months ago

      Can anyone argue this is not a great idea? Even by being devil’s advocate, I genuinely can’t see any reasons why this would be worse than it currently is for anyone. 1 Billion still grants you A LOT of luxury and influence, just about as much as any single human should reasonably ever need or desire. And the best part is that we wouldn’t even need to pretend to be impressed! Imagine a parallel universe where Nole Ksum “contributed” 400 fucking billions to improving infrastructure, healthcare, and research. Wouldn’t you actually like the guy who has made the world, or at least your side of it, measurably better?

      • Zink@programming.dev
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        2 months ago

        Yep. I didn’t want to make the post much longer, but I almost went on about how this could easily be a win-win scenario.

        The one speed bump I wonder about is that loss of shares means loss of control of the company and its board, which your “founder & CEO” types will not like.

        …but I guess reasonable people may consider that a feature, not a bug.

        And btw, thanks!

        • metaldwarf@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          2 months ago

          Billionaire wealth tax. No one needs a a net worth over 1B. Tax any amount over 1B. There is an easy solution to the “next dollar” over 1B while the owner remains in control. Value the shares each quarter. Any amount over 1B is converted from a common share worth $XXX to a preferred voting share with a par value of $1. The difference in value is treated as income or a capital gain and subject to tax. The owner retains their vote/control.

      • CouncilOfFriends@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        edit-2
        2 months ago

        Usually when people are asked when America was Great™ they’ll point to the burgeoning middle class of the post-war economy of the 1950s. Sometimes they’ll point to separate drinking fountains however we’ll ignore racists for now. The economic nationalists won’t like it when you point out the thriving economy was partly the result of other economies still receiving from war, but more importantly for the middle class there was a 94% marginal tax rate for income over $200,000 in 1945, which meant dollars were circulating and demand was created for more jobs. The trickle-down clowns who insistent the rich getting richer is good for the economy would be slightly more credible, if they weren’t the very same people saying the poor demanding higher wages is bad for the economy. As Nick Hanauer put it:

        We plutocrats need to get this trickle-down economics idea behind us; this idea that the better we do, the better everyone else will do. It’s not true. How could it be? I earn 1,000 times the media wage, but I do not buy 1,000 times as much stuff do I? I actually bought 2 pairs of these pants, what my partner Mike calls my manager pants. I could’ve bought 2,000 pairs, but what would I do with them? How many haircuts can I get? How often can I go out to dinner? No matter how wealthy a few plutocrats get, we can never drive a great national economy. Only a thriving middle class can do that.

        • unphazed@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          2 months ago

          1950s were also heavily unionized. Unions have declined by 80% since then, and “right to work” laws didn’t exist. (Also, the 40s were when unions began to realize they should be inclusive of marginalized groups. Not due to racism, but because those groups would be more likely to scab unless included)

    • zarathustra0@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      16
      ·
      2 months ago

      Once you are a billionaire, you get a nationally broadcast pizza party on CSPAN and we engrave your name into a plaque in some “hall of smart winners” somewhere in DC. You are declared a champion of the economy and the President shakes your hand and declares a one-time national day to be in your honor. Or they read your name during the superbowl that year or whatever. Your place in history is locked in.

      No, you’ve won the game so you start over with zero dollars on level 2 (someone breaks one of your legs to make it harder).

    • WagyuSneakers@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      12
      ·
      2 months ago

      The more you donate the more you’re celebrated. Our heros should be the people building schools and hospitals, not the people robbing them.

      • Zink@programming.dev
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        2 months ago

        Hack yeah, rule #4!

        It might be neat to have the rich lean into their new admirable roles and directly support the schools and hospitals publicly. If they keep their net worth down, the government does not need to seize anything.

        But then we run the risk of them pulling the shit where they donate to their own charities they control. But if we’re writing regulations to limit net worth like this, then writing the regulations about where they can send the money seems simple in comparison.

    • 🄱🄴🅲🅾🅾🅻@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      44
      ·
      edit-2
      2 months ago

      Correct me if I’m wrong, I haven’t listened to Joe Rogan in a decade, but I dont think Bill Burr has been invited on since he (hilariously) called out Joe’s anti-vax views back in 2020

    • BadmanDan@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      25
      ·
      2 months ago

      Joe Rogan is what right wingers think Jimmy Fallon. Brings elites on his show and sucks up to them.

        • jdf038@mander.xyz
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          11
          ·
          2 months ago

          While he laughs at his own jokes

          I almost hate that guy more than Rogan and I fucking hate Rogan 😤

          • prole
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            2 months ago

            I’m convinced that Horatio Sans took the fall for creepy shit that they were both doing. But Fallon was NBC’s golden boy, so they covered it up.

  • Dezzillion@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    54
    ·
    2 months ago

    CEOs could maintain control of society while avoiding bad press simply by providing people with what they need—living wages, healthcare, and secure retirement plans. They could still rule while ensuring a fairer system. BUT THEY WONT.

    • aeshna_cyanea@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      edit-2
      2 months ago

      No, any CEO that tried to do this would get eaten alive, if not immediately by their board/investors then a bit later by competition from more ruthless ceos. In a capitalist system they literally have no other choice.

      I don’t really see any way to fix it from the inside. Things are going to get a lot worse before they get better, and not by methods they’re going to like. I’m with bill burr here

      • unphazed@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        edit-2
        2 months ago

        Worked for Rockefeller. Dude was probably richer than Musk with inflation considered, and practically threw money towards charities (admittedly, using that money to improve cost of living and wages would have been better, but the rich gotta make their hoard still)

    • Darkblue@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      2 months ago

      They won’t, because greed doesn’t get punished. Even worse, the law protects money. And the sociopaths/narcissists/psychos are the ones getting rich (of course) and the don’t have empathy, care, or believe in ‘fair’.

  • Toneswirly@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    49
    ·
    2 months ago

    Man Bill Burr went from being a heel edgelord to a champion of the working class. He’s a true American.