this post was submitted on 15 Jan 2024
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DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — The world could have its first trillionaire within a decade, anti-poverty organization Oxfam International said Monday in its annual assessment of global inequalities timed to the gathering of political and business elites at the Swiss ski resort of Davos.

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[–] [email protected] 61 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

The idea that one person could generate enough benefit to mankind in a year that they have fairly earned a billion dollars is ludicrous. The existence of billionaires is self-evident proof that the system is broken. It's impossible for one person to have that through means other than denying other people their fair share.

That being the case, no one under the age of 1000 at least should ever be worth a trillion dollars.

[–] smokin_shinobi 24 points 1 year ago

We should dip the first one in gold and put him on display as a warning.

[–] AllonzeeLV 49 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Yes, the problem of wealth concentration is going unaddressed and getting worse.

The few with more than they need to live large for a thousand lifetimes using their ill gotten, exploitation derived wealth to exploit more wealth while contributing no labor to the society they extract value from without any consideration, let alone any appreciation for the society that provided the conditions for their great wealth in the first place. In essence, our oligarchs are fracking human civilization, for nothing more than ego.

This is what happens when you pretend a problem isn't a problem, and is in fact our purpose in life. In a crisis, the US's first declaration is that "we must protect our beloved ~~society~~ economic system of systematic exploitation." where else would such a road lead?

https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/stock-market-ownership-wealthiest-americans-one-percent-record-high-economy-2024-1

[–] bappity 24 points 1 year ago (1 children)

humanity is a failure of a species

[–] Pacmanlives 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

We are basically following the Universe 25 experiment. I am trying to figure out how to be one of the Beautiful Ones

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_sink

The fun TLDR version https://youtu.be/5m7X-1V9nOs?si=FOhzdsJmEqJXwbup

Original research https://youtu.be/iOFveSUmh9U?si=03LU40EC5Ifp_Cpl

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Someone should kill them if they do.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago

I personally wouldn't be upset if a few of them died even today

[–] hark 21 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Surely they'll have had enough then, right?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

quadrillionaire time

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago

I would say that if nature collapsed earlier this would be stopped but these parasites will profit from that too.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (2 children)

The problem with eating the rich is all the crazy drugs they take makes their meat rancid. Zuck however is probably the tastiest due to is wagyu diet and exercise routine.

[–] robocall 11 points 1 year ago

I hear lizard tastes like chicken

[–] UnderpantsWeevil 4 points 1 year ago

That man is absolutely brimming with steroids and neurotropics.

[–] rabiddolphin 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Once you get to a billion you should get a free ticket to the sun

[–] alquicksilver 8 points 1 year ago

Why waste the resources sending perfectly good stew meat into the sun?

Worst case scenario, they feed the pigs.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago

The game ends when one kid has all the marbles.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

So, we should get our pitchforks and meet up soon?

[–] MeekerThanBeaker 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I can't afford a pitchfork. I have some plastic sporks though.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I have microplastic inside me. A lot of it apparently.

[–] numberfour002 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

OH MY GOD WHAT A COINCIDENCE? I ALSO HAVE MICROPLASTIC INSIDE OF ME AND APPARENTLY A LOT OF IT AS WELL.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

By your powers combined!

[–] eran_morad 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Same as it ever was. First of all, we’re talking basically about infinite money, past a certain number it transitions into a qualitative regime. Several people have had that over the course of human history. Most of them were fucking murderous douchecunts. History shows that they either pass their power to other douchecunts, with the chain broken by incompetence over many generations and at the cost of countless lives, or they meet a violent end — choose your own adventure. Shout out to the very few who have given away their fortunes in their lifetimes.

[–] FlyingSquid 7 points 1 year ago

It might as well be infinite money right now. All of these billionaires have more money than they can spend in their lifetimes.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Thats their take????

The numbers are as follows:

The 1% own 43% off all wealth.

The 5 richest men raised their wealth by 114% in three years.

To offset the difference in rate increase between total 1% and top 5 aswell as the total amount of wealth also increasing with innovation we will pretend this number is a stable 100% increase every 3 years while we actually expect that rate to increase exponentially.

That means in 3 years the 1% will have 86% of all wealth.

If we dont solve wealth equality before 2030 more than 99% of the world will have to share less then 1% of existing wealth. By that time i believe no economy can sustain. People will be better of growing food in their garden and trading with their neighbous.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

People will be better of growing food in their garden and trading with their neighbours.

Which the gov't will then start taxing because the top 1% will not be taxed at all.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

What government? And taxes using what valuta?

When we get close to the 1% owning 99% of wealth i (which we cant know if it really will happen but it can be within 5 years based on oxfams recent numbers) People will have nothing left to pay with, employers and governments besides the 10 “winner” megacorps no institution will have money to afford staff.

There might be still some form employment as part of the corpos private army which may pretend to be a government but i highly doubt people will have to worry about giving up a % of their crops more like there land and lives.

I recognize i am sketching a very pessimistic picture here. I want to note i am equal optimist and pessimist. Maybe before that time the signals will be clear enough for a global wealth tax an ubi. I see many ways for the world to become great or horrible and feel like its important to get a grasp of all possibilities, even the extreme ones. The only thing i can truly say for certain is that change is inevitable.

As a kid i was often told “no one person can change the world” but no one person can stop change from happening either.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I’m sure it will be me, with my 3% annual raises

[–] june 2 points 1 year ago

You get annual raises?

[–] paddirn 9 points 1 year ago

We shouldn't even have billionaires, let alone trillionaires. That much wealth concentrated in any one person's hands is means that somebody somewhere is getting fleeced, whether it's workers or consumers, something isn't being distributed fairly.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

This 21st century cancer is gonna kill the rest of us.

[–] ObviouslyNotBanana 8 points 1 year ago

Nah fam that sounds bad

[–] Mango 8 points 1 year ago

If you see an anomaly like this in a computer program, you generally think memory leak.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Should we tell them that Mohammed Ben Sulayem is likely already one?

[–] Got_Bent 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Explain? I've never heard of this guy. I look him up and find a retired race car driver? Is there some weird Emirates family money I'm missing?

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] Got_Bent 2 points 1 year ago

Ah. Ok. Similar but ever so slightly different name than what I got in search. Thank you.

[–] Death_Equity 3 points 1 year ago

Inflation will get us there faster than that.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What are the odds that any of them will go in a Carnegie direction in their later years in a cynical attempt to try and rescue their reputation? I would bet that none of them even give that many fucks...

[–] UnderpantsWeevil 3 points 1 year ago

https://givingpledge.org/

Been going on for over a decade. Gates and Buffet have been at the forefront of the project.

The dirty truth of things is that this wealth isn't being given up. Its simply being recategorized. Rather than owning savings accounts with tens of billions of dollars, you now sit as chairman of the board that commands tens of billions in assets. When you spent money from the former, it was taxable income. But now its charitable spending. Nevermind that it pays for all the same Davos Summit accommodations and Epstein island retreats you'd planned to spend it on anyway.

The institutions you fund end up being giant PR projects (like the Carnegie, Ford, and Hoover foundations) intended to advance the board's ideology. You just get to pretend its for a good cause, and therefore exempt from any kind of taxation or significant oversight.

[–] SomeGuy69 2 points 1 year ago

Everyone ready for Musk buying the Wallstreet in 2034 and causing a crash so big, that the 2008 crisis looks like a meaningless day in comparison? All for the lulz and to become part of history forever.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil 0 points 1 year ago

Why would you use Musk when Bezos, Gates, and Buffet are the more likely candidates?