me_irl

I doubt billionaires actually spend time on the fediverse, as the values that bring people here tend to conflict with those typically held by billionaires.

Hmm. Why not. They might be dark a triads ridden, but maybe not stupid. And why would I want to waste my time on echo-chambers and bot-muds like reddit or x or whatever stupid platform. There is usenet, Lemmy and other options where one could still have talks that aren't intellectually challenged. Chance is not zero 😁

You seem like an overall decent human being, both for your perspective on traveling and your volunteer service.

Thanks. You too. Everyone should do that IMHO. If one can afford that, obviously. But sadly the more people could, the less they would. I have been asked countless times WHY I do that as it nets no profit. This is sad, it should be the other way round.

how society rewards dark triad and punishes empathy.

Exactly. And kudos for not giving in to the brainrot. capitalism in itself isn't inherently bad. Same as socialism or a plain dictatorship. It always fails at people. And it's always the worst examples that are on top. No matter where.

If I had all the money I would ever need, I would live in a castle and raise dozens of animals. I certainly wouldn't be neurotically pursuing infinite growth and making everyone else's lives worse to do so

Absolutely correct. Except the castle... Who would want to clean or heat that monstrosity 😁

Wife and I do have more than we need. We travel, we enjoy life and we give back in some form or another. More? Why? For what? We don't live large, we have well calculated budgets and we don't brag with stupid things. When I still had my company, every employee could come and go as they please, and were benefitting from profits. Cleaning staff too of course. Could I had more profits? Sure. Did I need them? Nope. But for a janitor, a thousand more a month means a lot.

It's just the wrong mindset and gets punished. Which makes me furious...

100m was a highball so that no one could try saying "but that's not high enough!" 5% APY would be 5 million per year. No one could possibly need more than that

Anecdotal observations from me: people earn 1000 more and spend 1001 more. And are always broke. Even people making 100k a month are basically broke as they spend it on a lavish lifestyle to impress people they would not even deal with. And I've seen rich people break completely just because they suddenly went poor due to happenstance. This was always sad to watch.

And yeah, healthcare is an issue, but it wouldn't be if billionaires were taxed fairly to fund state-run healthcare (and education to ensure a large enough workforce in perpetuity!)

Isn't even necessary to tax them hard. Here (Germany) we do have a decent free healthcare and still billionaires avoiding paying a single buck. You couldn't even touch them anyway. Open a company in e.g. Luxembourg, have it run your wealth and pay yourself a tiny salary and car and else is company-leasing. Can even hire employees to do meaningless things and are still saving money. Or just invest it all in stocks. You only pay taxes for dividends payed out. Or countless other silly loopholes or tricks...

The system needs changes as it is inherently flawed to the core. But they won't ever happen, as they evading the taxes are making or buying the rules.

Conversations tend to meander. At least mine do

Hehe, that are the interesting ones.