Imagine being naive enough to actually believe this. What billionaires actually do is set up NGOs they call charities that they control as a way to dodge taxes.

[–] BaumGeist@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 years ago (7 children)

Point taken, billionaires don't get that much money through altruism.

But weak counterpoint: if I woke up tomorrow with all of Jezos' wealth, I'd want to use it to make others' lives better, and to do so I'd need 1. People who understand me and know how I'd want to invest, because a single person doing their own finances cannot spend money fast enough to get rid of billions in a lifetime, and 2. An organization that understands my goals and can work towards that. Sure, there are probably some type of money manager jobs that essentially give money away already, and I could hire the ones who mostly agree with my values to give to charities that mostly agree with my values, or I could just set up my own organization of investors and charity workers to use my newfound money in the exact way I want.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 17 points 2 years ago (6 children)

The reality is that these people aren't hoarding wealth because they need it. You have to think about it as a mental disorder. A rational person wouldn't accumulate so much wealth because, as you point out, there is no way to spend this wealth. There's also a selection process at work here. Capitalism selects for psychopathic behavior. Bezos built his empire on ruthless exploitation of millions of people toiling in inhumane conditions at Amazon. If Bezos was capable of any sort of empathy towards others then he wouldn't be running a slave empire in the first place.

[–] yang_wenli@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I don't know if that is the case. I kind of dislike the "mental" explanation for the actions of billionares. Yeah they are cruel, but I doubt Bezzos even sees anything wrong with his actions. Or if he even sees his actions at all. He lives in a fantasy land detached from reality thanks to his huge cushion of wealth. He probably genuinely believes in the "invisible hand" and "free market". Yeah he constantly sees headlines calling him out but that doesn't mean he understands what they are saying.

That's the problem with capitalism, the separation of capital from it's labor so that the capital becomes blind to it's own actions. It's why capitalism creates crisis, it cannot see the actions of wealth hoarding, abusing workers, and crushing competitors.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 9 points 2 years ago

These things aren't mutually exclusive. I completely agree that billionaires live in a bubble where they're completely detached from the suffering they cause. However, where the mental aspect comes in is in pursuit of wealth for the sake of wealth. And there is a selection process in play as well. Since the amount of wealth one can hoard is the sole fitness function, it selects for behaviors that are most efficient at achieving this. People who are willing to step on others, to lie, cheat, steal, and do any sorts of immoral actions are rewarded with success. People who have moral qualms end up being outcompeted by those who don't.

I completely agree with you that it is a systemic problem within capitalism, and the focus should be on moving away from capitalism towards a system that rewards cooperative behaviors where individual self interest aligns with the interest of the majority.

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