What happens to the rest of us? How will we move on?

  • morto@piefed.social
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    3 days ago

    They would form almost-billionaires consortia and spread the money to not cross the threshold. People just created a metric to blame, because it’s easy, but the actual problems are our societal structures and our culture. If we don’t change that, nothing will really change. I’m from a country where there are very few billionaires. If they all popped, nothing would change, because our oppressors aren’t billionaires, but the oppressing structures around here are pretty much the same as in the usa

    • Doc_Crankenstein@slrpnk.net
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      3 days ago

      Yup. The problem isn’t the people who exploit the system for their benefit. There will always be those people to some degree. The problem has always been the fact that the system is structured in such a way that allows and incentivizes the exploitation of others for personal gain.

      Fix the system so it distributes power horizontally in a way that no one individual can exert authority over others without their consent by threatening their basic needs then you remove the ability of the individual to exploit the masses.

    • spankysalmon@fedinsfw.app
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      3 days ago

      Nah, it’s the correct metric because of what gets people that metric: greed.

      The “billionaire” part is simply because of what the current number is for the richest piles of filth. I would hope most people understand the hate for “billionaires” is directly equivalent to the hate people have for any greedy, money-grubbing shitstain.

      If unjust/gross wealth is the metric, it’s the correct metric.

      Remember: A metric doesn’t tell you how to fix things. It’s just a metric. Of course leaving unregulated capitalism in charge after billionaires exploded wouldn’t be wise, but a metric doesn’t tell you how.

      Though your point is still true in that if we ONLY cared to eliminate billionaires directly and literally, it wouldn’t work: Any metric that becomes a target ceases to be a good metric.

      Although that wisdom really does beg to go up against a problem like billionaires… When the problem is the very existence of something, sometimes the metric is directly the problem. Like poison levels in your drinking water. You need to use that metric regardless of how you decide to solve the problem.

      If you could drag the poison in your drinking water out back and shoot it to get rid of it, wouldn’t you? Even if you had to do it once a week, you’ve still greatly improved your drinking water!

      • morto@piefed.social
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        3 days ago

        There are problems with that metric. One of them is that a lot of really rich people that hold local power just excuse themselves by claiming that they’re not billionaires. Estate owners are a good example. Many hold ownership over vast lands and contribute to people not having access to agricultural land, housing, etc. They’re mostly not billionaires, but are a key part in our oppressive system. Yet, the metric put them in the ok group

        Focusing on such metric can give room for wrong solutions, like reducing globalization, which would limit how much money a corporation can amass. It would mathematically reduce inequality, but wouldn’t change our living standards, and wouldn’t give us access to better things, like housing, healthcare, etc. Yet, in terms of metrics, we would have achieved our objective

        • spankysalmon@fedinsfw.app
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          2 days ago

          Like I said, the metric should be “extreme undue/unjust wealth”, not the most basic baby-brained interpretation of, “no billionaires”, as already explained.