• Cethin@lemmy.zip
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      1 month ago

      Yeah, as far as I’m aware, 100% of them came from at least a middle class family. They start with a fair advantage over the poor still. Most are born to extreme wealth though.

    • merc@sh.itjust.works
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      1 month ago

      Here’s a counter-example that proves the rule:

      • Born in 1992
      • Graduated from MIT in 2014 at 22
      • Joins a proprietary trading firm after graduation
      • Founds a quantitative trading firm in 2017 at age 25
      • Founds a cryptocurrency exchange in 2019 at 27
      • On the 2021 Forbes “30 under 30” list at 29, and is recognized as a billionaire
      • Found guilty of wire fraud and conspiracy in 2023
      • Currently in prison

      Sam Bankman-Fried got to $1b before 30, and he didn’t inherit his wealth (but he certainly started with a lot more wealth than most people). But, the way he managed to hit $1b before 30 was via massive fraud. Without massive fraud, I don’t know how you go from an entry level job at 22 to $1b just 8 years later.

  • crusa187@lemmy.ml
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    1 month ago

    Outlaw billionaires, tax them out of existence, and use the proceeds to fund needed social programs like medical care for all and universal basic income.

    They can still be richer than 99% of us as multimillionaires, and the more wealth these elites create, the better our society becomes through the tax sequestration - it’s a win win.

  • jballs@sh.itjust.works
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    1 month ago

    It still weird me out that there are only something like 600 billionaires in the US. This seems like such a solvable problem.

      • merc@sh.itjust.works
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        1 month ago

        At 5 minutes per execution, it could be done in just over 2 days. If you wanted to ensure that nobody missed any of the event and limited it to 8 hours per day, you could get it done in 1 week.

      • Alloi@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        if we did one per minute, we are looking at about 10 hours of solid thwacks. give or take. im sure we could shave that down by a few seconds per, they are a physically weak people on average. so i imagine we could get it done in half the time if we shave it to 30 seconds per billionaire. and have them all lined up. ready to go.

        thats an afternoon. about 5 hours at 30 seconds a pop.

        • jballs@sh.itjust.works
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          1 month ago

          I appreciate the Silcon Valley-esque efficiency calculation but honestly that’s not a super high requirement. 5 hours, 10 hours, a week, whatever. No need to speed run this thing. Honestly if we were good in a year I’d be thrilled.

        • chaogomu@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          Guillotine blades get dull. And they’re kind of heavy.

          So to keep things moving I motion that we set up half a dozen of them. Each one would handle 100 people, which would still absolutely wreck the blade. But that’s a price I’m willing to pay.

    • 0x0@lemmy.zip
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      1 month ago

      Hunger games, billionaire edition, the winner gets a quick death.

      • JackFrostNCola@aussie.zone
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        1 month ago

        Imagine if they dropped all their loot upon death, i would love to see the lootsplosion of money, gems, deeds to property, stock folios and legendary/epic rarity artworks & artifacts.

        Unfortunately very small EXP rewards as they never levelled up through the grind.

  • ceenote@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    I’m fine with taxing the ever-loving shit out of their estates. If the heir class are not fine with that, we can go to OP’s suggestion.

  • tackleberry@thelemmy.club
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    1 month ago

    The system we created ensured the wealth is concentrated among a few of us, has always been this way even when monarchs ruled a majority of our population.

  • nonentity@sh.itjust.works
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    1 month ago

    The percentage of sociopaths involved with creating a society should never be greater than zero.

    Financial obesity is an existential threat to any society that tolerates it, and needs to cease being celebrated, rewarded, and positioned as an aspirational goal.

    Corporations are the only ‘persons’ which should be subjected to capital punishment, but billionaires should be euthanised through taxation.

  • JadenSmith@sh.itjust.works
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    1 month ago

    It’s against most rules for advocating against certain things, however for educational purposes only I would suggest a slow roast with a barbeque glaze, and if you’d like to put in some effort an apple and sage stuffing could really help bring some flavours out (be sure to remove that giant stick they all have up their arse first, though).

  • PillowD@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    1/2 of all the rich are rich because they were born rich. I lost where I found that statistic though.

  • doug@lemmy.today
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    1 month ago

    How do you talk the winner of a Monopoly game into not playing the game anymore and letting us move onto a cooperative game?

    Like my god man, Monopoly isn’t even that good of a game; we all know by now it was created to lampoon capitalism. The game sucks. Stop touting your winnings. You are ruining game night with this!

    And now you’re having your kids brag about your winnings and holding game night hostage?

    Bruh.

    • 0x0@lemmy.zip
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      1 month ago

      Kidnap the fucker and make him live in a third world country for a while, that oughta humble them.

    • birdwing@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      1 month ago

      They see money as a method of prestige. So maybe they need to be shifted by prestige.

      If for example you got points for each time you helped the community, and can buy more with that, that’d be one. Having a lot of resources is hoarding and you then cannot buy anything with it. Asking for a lot of resources is also hoarding, unless if these resources do not go to your portfolio or that of friends, but instead directly towards benefiting the community as a whole.

      And no one can own resources that give them more power to exert violence, than another, and giving away/destroying those resources instead will give you goodwill to gain other resources, once you’ve also given other resources.

      If Musk can spy on everyone, why shouldn’t we be able to spy on him?

  • technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    1 month ago

    Their parents created so much value for humanity that it overflows to their children.

    (capitalist ideologues really believe this)