Work Reform

I work 7 days a week and my wife works full time to get that $100k/year and it took us years to get where we are in our careers. $1million in assets is still so far away. It's such an incredible amount of money and Zuckerberg and friends have thousands of times that much money. It's just so crazy to think about.

🤔 I don't necessarily believe that. An independent creator of a blockbuster franchise could in principle become a billionaire ethically. Like J.K. Rowling; she's estimated to have upwards of a $1.2 billion net worth. (say what you will about her) (I don't like her either but facts are facts)

100k isn’t that much in many regions these days. Its enough to get by but hardly enough to save to buy a house in the Seattle region.

“They trust me, dumb fucks,” was uttered by him years before that and his non-’answers to Congress.

I don't know if I'd say "earn" so much as "amass"

And tar and feather him in town square

Years ago Microsoft was about to be broken into separate entities and that didn't happen - corporations went too deep into politicians pockets

Most people say Bill Gates but it reminds me of the classic joke:

The woman you know as your grandmother is not my mother. That's an elderly woman now trying to get into heaven

Bill Gates acted identically to Zuckerberg and Musk and every other hated billionare back in the 90s. There was a time Micro$oft was always written with the dollar sign. There was a time a young smug grinning Gates was posted everywhere as the poster child for rich assholes. The Microsoft board of directors did the smart move and removed Gates from management and then he quietly retired. He's had an Ebenezer Scrooge moment and has spent the last decade trying to buy his way into people's good graces.

It's great that Gates is helping people, but I don't think we should all have to suffer under a power hungry cut throat CEO and hope one day they have a change of heart.

Bill Gates has done significant good fighting disease. Still something that should've been decided by society, not a single person, but credit where credit is due.

Unfortunately anti vaxxers have destroyed a lot of that legacy anyway.

Mackenzie Scott seems to be making it her mission to no longer be a billionaire by giving money to charity.

Capitalists actually keep the developing world from fully developing. On purpose. And NGO Aid has been proven to stagnage rather than assist countries that are constantly receiving it, such as Haiti. Yeah I would consider that failure, too. But they certainly wouldn't. And perhaps, with that many eyes in you, it might actually be harder to get things done that go against the interests of other rich and powerful people.

I get the impression plenty of these ultra-rich techbros come to believe that they're there by merit. They don't see all the luck that went into their riches, and they habitually take credit for the work done by those beneath them. People like Bezos and Musk may genuinely believe they're better (smarter, more insightful, more capable) than others. I expect many ultra-rich CEOs get like that, not just in tech companies. And certainly many of those investors who do nothing but mess around with the stock market think they're more brilliant than everyone who doesn't.

I tend to agree, but then again this is the guy that intentionally has a shit haircut so he can look like some Roman dude

From https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/14/business/jeff-bezos-charity/index.html:

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos plans to give away the majority of his $124 billion net worth during his lifetime, telling CNN in an exclusive interview he will devote the bulk of his wealth to fighting climate change and supporting people who can unify humanity in the face of deep social and political divisions.

Though Bezos’ vow was light on specifics, this marks the first time he has announced that he plans to give away most of his money. Critics have chided Bezos for not signing the Giving Pledge, a promise by hundreds of the world’s richest people to donate the majority of their wealth to charitable causes.

So he made a vague promise, "light on specifics", that he would give away "most" of his money to fighting the climate change that is exacerbated by his lifetime's work and the social divisions that he has worked relentlessly to entrench? He could fight social divisions by treating his employees well and allowing them to unionize, but Amazon is notorious for mistreating its workers, it profits off forced labour in China, and he has fought dirty against unionization at every opportunity.

Forgive me for suspecting he's full of shit with his vague and noncommittal promise, after a self-serving lifetime of aggressively doing the opposite.

These tactics are precisely intended to placate critics.

It is not good news when Bezos commits funds to charity and fighting climate change.

Good news would be the mass of society rising to end the conditions that cause climate change and that make charity necessary.