# Billionaires, CEOs, "corporations", and capitalism- Are things really different, or is it propaganda? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 22, 2026, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billionaires-ceos-corporations-and-capitalism-are-things-really-different-or-is-it-propaganda/1034073 "2026-10-22T18:34:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billionaires-ceos-corporations-and-capitalism-are-things-really-different-or-is-it-propaganda/1034073/161 "2026-10-25T12:13:29Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > The problem is not that some people are rich. The problem is that not _everybody_ is rich. > > I still question the assumption that any of this is not age-old. I disagree with your conclusion. I agree that the problem isn’t that the extremely wealthy are rich. But it also isn’t that not everyone is rich. Some people work harder and / or are more talented. If those people earn more money as a result of providing more goods or services, or providing something of value that requires a specialized skill that most people don’t have, there’s nothing wrong with them earning more money. The problem arises because the wealthy aren’t the ones providing those goods or services of value. Instead they take a huge cut of the wealth generated by the people that are (AKA their employees). ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billionaires-ceos-corporations-and-capitalism-are-things-really-different-or-is-it-propaganda/1034073/162 "2026-10-25T12:30:53Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > Some people work harder and / or are more talented. If those people earn more money as a result of providing more goods or services, or providing something of value that requires a specialized skill that most people don’t have, there’s nothing wrong with them earning more money This is fine in the abstract, but when we look at multiples where we have a given human being who is worth a hundred billion times more than another person, we have to question whether the math really works at that scale, or if there’s some sort of market distortion at work. There’s nothing magical about a dollar. It has no intrinsic value. It’s just how society agrees on how to denominate claims on future economic production. If your pile of claims could feasibly sustain you for millions of years into the future, then that’s clearly broken. We can’t even imagine what the economy will look like a hundred years from now, or if the governments that regulate the value of money will even exist. As currencies go, the dollar has had a good run, but it’s probably fair to say it will be replaced by something else in a couple of hundred years, so it makes no sense to allow anyone to accumulate a thousand years’ worth of them when some people don’t even have enough to meet their needs for one day. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billionaires-ceos-corporations-and-capitalism-are-things-really-different-or-is-it-propaganda/1034073/163 "2026-10-25T12:39:20Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > This is fine in the abstract, but when we look at multiples where we have a given human being who is worth a hundred billion times more than another person, we have to question whether the math really works at that scale, or if there’s some sort of market distortion at work. > > There’s nothing magical about a dollar. It’s just how society agrees on how to denominate claims on future economic production. If your pile of claims could feasibly sustain you for millions of years into the future, then that’s clearly broken. We can’t even imagine what the economy will look like a hundred years from now, or if the governments that regulate the value of money will even exist. As currencies go, the dollar has had a good run, but it’s probably fair to say it will be replaced by something else in a couple of hundred years, so it makes no sense to allow anyone to accumulate a thousand years’ worth of them when some people don’t even have enough to meet their needs for one day. My disagreement is that the people who are accumulating a thousand years worth of dollars aren’t the ones doing so by working harder or providing a specialized or rare skill of value. Barring a few highly successful entertainers (and no, I don’t think the problem is people like Michael Jordan, Taylor Swift, or Lebron James), the wealthy didn’t get their by the fruits of their own labor. ETA. Someone above mentioned the top 10 to top 25%. Those are the types of people that I’m referring to when I mention someone who works harder, is more talented, or has a specialized skill. Take the city of Corpus Christi, where I live. Yes, we have problems with wealth inequality. But those problems aren’t due to the people earning in the low six figures by getting up at 4 AM to go work on refinery row every day to turn crude oil into gasoline, or the professors who teach at Del Mar college or Texas A&M Corpus Christi, the starting roster of the Corpus Christi Hooks (our AA baseball team), the medical professionals who would be providing treatment if you end up in a local ER, the pilots flying planes for United or Southwest out of Corpus Christi international airport, and so on. The fact that those people make more money than someone making minimum wage isn’t the problem. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billionaires-ceos-corporations-and-capitalism-are-things-really-different-or-is-it-propaganda/1034073/164 "2026-10-25T14:54:31Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > What? In one breath you’re ranting about the suspicious commonality and consistency of the message, and then in literally the same sentence ranting about the incoherence and inconsistency of it, and later about the confusion of the message. > If it’s an evil propagandist, then everybody’s message ought to be identical. If it’s organic then they should have a lot of variation. You can’t argue that polar opposite observations mean the same thing. No… you’re misunderstanding. What I was saying is that everyone’s indeed saying the same messaging- to the point of it being suspiciously uniform. But when asked to explain it and propose solutions, you get a crazy, incoherent mishmash of vaguely socialist and populist garbage that varies depending on who you’re discussing with. Almost like they’ve been fed slogans and talking points that sound good and get them all riled up, but without the usual explanations behind the actual talking points. And I mean that the _specific messaging_ wasn’t really there, not that the situations that let it flourish weren’t there. > [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > It’s just how society agrees on how to denominate claims on future economic production. There’s your problem- currency isn’t any sort of futures contract, it’s an abstract measure of _value_ that’s independent of any future economic value. People value gold jewelry, and it’s got little in the way of economic production value relative to all sorts of other stuff. Same with pretty much any sort of intangible financial instrument. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billionaires-ceos-corporations-and-capitalism-are-things-really-different-or-is-it-propaganda/1034073/165 "2026-10-25T15:15:14Z")
Do you have any theories? Some organized group pushing this particular messaging? ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billionaires-ceos-corporations-and-capitalism-are-things-really-different-or-is-it-propaganda/1034073/166 "2026-10-25T15:28:29Z")
> [@bump](#): > > > [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > > > It’s just how society agrees on how to denominate claims on future economic production. > > There’s your problem- currency isn’t any sort of futures contract, it’s an abstract measure of _value_ that’s independent of any future economic value. People value gold jewelry, and it’s got little in the way of economic production value relative to all sorts of other stuff. Same with pretty much any sort of intangible financial instrument. It seems to me that fundamentally money is a way of keeping score. We have dollars now because it’s easier to work with a single currency than a whole bunch of different company scrips, IOUs between individuals, and so on. The money itself has no value other than as a means of keeping score. Gold, ISTM, is different, in that (some, but obviously not all) people treat it as if it has inherent value. What the question of wealth comes down to, then, is whether someone with a lot money earned it legitimately by providing something of value, or if the scorekeeper assigned it to someone despite the fact that they didn’t actually score / provide something of value. ---
**Author:** ![Steven\_Maven](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steven_maven/32/3272_2.png) [@Steven\_Maven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_Maven)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billionaires-ceos-corporations-and-capitalism-are-things-really-different-or-is-it-propaganda/1034073/167 "2026-10-25T15:37:26Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > The first chart of this blog post shows the .01 pulling away from the .1, which is pulling away from the 1%. I don’t think it’s 90%/90%/90%, but it’s pretty striking. > > [Elon Musk Shows Us Why Oligarchy is a Danger](https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/elon-musk-shows-us-why-oligarchy) Thank you for your support. I am willing to scrap that 90% figure, but it is indisputable that since 1980 wealth inequality has skyrocketed Here is another article. [https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/07/opinion/leonhardt-income-inequality.html](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/07/opinion/leonhardt-income-inequality.html) ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billionaires-ceos-corporations-and-capitalism-are-things-really-different-or-is-it-propaganda/1034073/168 "2026-10-25T15:42:05Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > Do you have any theories? Some organized group pushing this particular messaging? I mean, a lot of the accounts peddling this stuff DID go dark after Ukraine blew up that Russian data center… ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billionaires-ceos-corporations-and-capitalism-are-things-really-different-or-is-it-propaganda/1034073/169 "2026-10-25T15:43:39Z")
Cite? eta: I guess it’s _a_ theory, that Russia’s attempts to sow division in the West mean that they’re pushing anti-oligarch messaging (seems strange for an oligarchy, but OK). But while I’ve seen the claim plenty that “far right spaces have seen traffic plummet” in the wake of the Yandex data center attacks, there’s [no evidence](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9y7l0pm8jkko) that this is actually true. > Researchers from dTeam, a US-based group that tracks Moscow-linked influence operations, told BBC Verify there has not been “any traffic change from known Russian accounts and bot clusters on any platform”. [More](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/10/ukraine-drone-strike-yandex-russian-bot-farm-right-wing-maga-afd-reform-uk-conspiracy-theory-viral-rumor/): > “I’m sorry to burst everyone’s bubble, but as of now, there is no solid evidence that Russian bot farms have become inactive due to the Yandex data centre strikes,” agreed Vatnik Soup, another group that [monitors](https://x.com/P_Kallioniemi?lang=en) Russian government-backed disinformation. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billionaires-ceos-corporations-and-capitalism-are-things-really-different-or-is-it-propaganda/1034073/170 "2026-10-25T16:07:25Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > Cite? I originally heard it in a speech from Zelensky but I can dig up a cite. > **[Did Ukrainian strikes on Russian data centers silence political bots? | CTech](https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/lzeae9vmp)** > > Reported declines in political discussions and anti-Israel posts followed outages at three Yandex data centers. Zelenskyy said the change showed that bots had been disrupted, raising questions about the infrastructure behind online political... > [@](#): > > “When we started responding to Russia’s operation against our data centers, and when our strikes reached Yandex’s data centers, it suddenly became a little easier to breathe on many social media platforms. A lot of people noticed it. There was less hate, less division, and fewer provocations,” Zelenskyy said in a speech at the Warsaw Security Forum. “Because there were fewer bots. And it’s pretty clear where those bots were coming from – if they disappeared when Yandex went offline. This proves, again and again, that Europe is not the source of the problems. Europe is not the one making everything more difficult.” And some stats: > [@](#): > > At the same time, researchers observed a decline in social media activity surrounding highly charged and polarizing topics. Online activity related to Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, for example, **reportedly fell by 30% in one day, followed by a further 56% drop the next day.** > On Reddit, discussions in subreddits focused on topics such as politics in Ireland and Spain, as well as general discussions about Sweden, Germany and the Czech Republic, fell by tens of percentage points. **Activity in the r/irishpolitics subreddit dropped by 80% following Friday’s strike on a data center, according to the reported figures.** > > Researchers also noted a decline in posts on X containing phrases such as “Free Palestine” and “genocide,” alongside an increase in posts mentioning Zelenskyy. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billionaires-ceos-corporations-and-capitalism-are-things-really-different-or-is-it-propaganda/1034073/171 "2026-10-25T16:11:02Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > It seems to me that fundamentally money is a way of keeping score. We have dollars now because it’s easier to work with a single currency than a whole bunch of different company scrips, IOUs between individuals, and so on. The money itself has no value other than as a means of keeping score. Gold, ISTM, is different, in that (some, but obviously not all) people treat it as if it has inherent value. > > What the question of wealth comes down to, then, is whether someone with a lot money earned it legitimately by providing something of value, or if the scorekeeper assigned it to someone despite the fact that they didn’t actually score / provide something of value. All economic and financial systems are sort of useful abstract bullshit we create to “keep score” to help organize and incentivize people and allocate resources to do stuff. In theory a society could work without currency and everyone just sort of gets together to get stuff done as it’s needed. Sort of like Amish folk raising a barn or whatever. But modern society is too complex for that. Too many highly skilled people working on too many complex parts for anyone to keep track ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billionaires-ceos-corporations-and-capitalism-are-things-really-different-or-is-it-propaganda/1034073/172 "2026-10-25T16:17:27Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > “I’m sorry to burst everyone’s bubble, but as of now, there is no solid evidence that Russian bot farms have become inactive due to the Yandex data centre strikes,” agreed Vatnik Soup, another group that [monitors](https://x.com/P_Kallioniemi?lang=en) Russian government-backed disinformation. I wonder if there’s a reason why Populist friendly Mother Jones snipped Vatnik Soup’s tweet to make the supposed negative claim in his post much stronger than it actually was? Here’s what Mother Jones clipped out: > [@](#): > > This doesn’t mean the strikes haven’t had an effect, but no one has demonstrated it with solid data so far. Many users have reported seeing fewer pro-Kremlin posts and replies since the strikes, and some automated pro-Russian and pro-MAGA accounts have reportedly gone silent. But this could simply be a coincidence. > > Nevertheless, the attacks on Russian data centres have extremely high strategic value for Ukraine, as they can massively disrupt the everyday lives of ordinary Russians. Populism is a cancer. In the comments to that post Mother Jones snipped the more favorable half of, he is pretty adamant that Russia _does indeed_ have a big network feeding populist narratives. But I’m not surprised that this would not stop a rag like Mother Jones from quoting him anyways. > ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billionaires-ceos-corporations-and-capitalism-are-things-really-different-or-is-it-propaganda/1034073/173 "2026-10-25T16:21:36Z")
That part that Mother Jones clipped out doesn’t exactly support the claim either. I know there was a lot of anecdata, but nobody has produced any real data. Zelensky’s team has walked back the claim as well. Everyone agrees that Russia is funding bot farms to sow division – that’s not new. There’s not evidence, however, that disinformation traffic has been diminished by the Yandex strikes. But let’s set that aside – let’s say that the Yandex strikes DID work to reduce Russian bot traffic. Do you have any evidence that said bot traffic was fueling this particular narrative? ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billionaires-ceos-corporations-and-capitalism-are-things-really-different-or-is-it-propaganda/1034073/174 "2026-10-25T16:38:14Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > But let’s set that aside – let’s say that the Yandex strikes DID work to reduce Russian bot traffic. Do you have any evidence that said bot traffic was fueling this particular narrative? It’s not exactly a well kept secret: [https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/facebook-says-russian-influence-campaign-targeted-left-wing-voters-us-uk-2020-09-01/](https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/facebook-says-russian-influence-campaign-targeted-left-wing-voters-us-uk-2020-09-01/) > **[Russian agency created fake leftwing news outlet with fictional editors,...](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/sep/01/facebook-russia-internet-research-agency-fake-news)** > > Internet Research Agency also hired real, unwitting freelance reporters in operation Facebook has removed > **[Russia’s ‘troll factory’ impersonates Americans to sow political chaos. How...](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/russias-troll-factory-impersonates-americans-to-sow-political-chaos)** > > Russia's attempts to interfere in American elections and political discourse did not end with the 2016 race. What do we know about Moscow’s meddling and what can we expect in the near future? Judy Woodruff learns more from Nina Jankowicz, a Russian... > **[Russia 'meddled in all big social media' around US election](https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-46590890)** > > YouTube, Tumblr, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter were targeted in the 2016 US election, a report says. > **[How Russia Is Trying To Boost Bernie Sanders' Campaign](https://www.wbur.org/npr/812186614/how-russia-is-trying-to-boost-bernie-sanders-campaign)** > > Sen. Sanders says he was briefed by the intelligence community about Russia's efforts to aid his campaign, which has gotten more positive support from Russian media than other Democratic candidates. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billionaires-ceos-corporations-and-capitalism-are-things-really-different-or-is-it-propaganda/1034073/175 "2026-10-25T16:51:10Z")
The only one of those links that supports you is that Russia was boosting Bernie to try to help Republicans. But Bernie has been beating this drum for like 60 years, so we can’t exactly blame his messaging on Russia. Anyway, like I said, I guess it’s a _theory._ Which is what I asked for. There you go @bump. It’s the Russians. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billionaires-ceos-corporations-and-capitalism-are-things-really-different-or-is-it-propaganda/1034073/176 "2026-10-25T17:05:51Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I thought it was “don’t trust anyone OVER 30?” Sorry. Brain fart. You know what i meant! ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billionaires-ceos-corporations-and-capitalism-are-things-really-different-or-is-it-propaganda/1034073/177 "2026-10-25T17:12:40Z")
> [@bump](#): > > No… you’re misunderstanding. What I was saying is that everyone’s indeed saying the same messaging- to the point of it being suspiciously uniform. > > But when asked to explain it and propose solutions, you get a crazy, incoherent mishmash of vaguely socialist and populist garbage that varies depending on who you’re discussing with. Almost like they’ve been fed slogans and talking points that sound good and get them all riled up, but without the usual explanations behind the actual talking points. > > And I mean that the _specific messaging_ wasn’t really there, not that the situations that let it flourish weren’t there. I know America’s enemies want to foment dissent, but haven’t uniform slogans always popped up when there is discontentment? These act as rallying cries. As far as the solutions, there are various solutions being looked into. Eliminate the step up basis A global wealth tax Land value taxes Progressive real estate taxes > **[‘A historic step’: G20 discusses plans for global minimum tax on billionaires](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2024/feb/29/taxation-worlds-billionaires-super-rich-g20-brazil)** > > Leaders gather in Brazil to explore solutions to hypermobile super-rich avoiding tax ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billionaires-ceos-corporations-and-capitalism-are-things-really-different-or-is-it-propaganda/1034073/178 "2026-10-25T23:16:01Z")
> [@bump](#): > > There’s your problem- currency isn’t any sort of futures contract, it’s an abstract measure of _value_ that’s independent of any future economic value. That’s not correct. The only value a currency has is how it serves as a claim on future production. If I have $5 now, that means I can get a Big Mac later. If we create more such currency, there are more claims on that Big Mac, so the price goes up. There’s no comparison to gold, because gold does have industrial value as well as ornamental value. Most critically, gold is finite and nobody’s obligated to trade with it. If one person happens to own 99% of the gold in the country, it’s no impact to anyone else unless they happen to be manufacturing with it. But if a few people get all the dollars, it’s a real problem because they own most of our economic output for the foreseeable future. The more they have, the more they act like unaccountable feudal lords, which is why we see the tech titans behaving more and more unaccountably. Elon Musk out there literally holding raffles for votes and making his own foreign policy in the form of kneecapping Starlink to help Russia for reasons we can only guess at. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2026, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billionaires-ceos-corporations-and-capitalism-are-things-really-different-or-is-it-propaganda/1034073/179 "2026-10-26T03:19:23Z")
I mean, sure billionaires are a problem, but it is an equally huge problem that not everybody is rich enough to share in the goods and services of value— like having enough food to eat and access to health care— given that society as a whole is rich enough to provide for everybody. I do not mean that it is a problem that not everybody is a billionaire. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2026, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billionaires-ceos-corporations-and-capitalism-are-things-really-different-or-is-it-propaganda/1034073/180 "2026-10-26T03:20:06Z")
Don’t trust anybody. [And I have literally seen people under 30 meticulously planning their future career in, e.g., investment banking, rather than gearing up to volunteer for the World Food Programme] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billionaires-ceos-corporations-and-capitalism-are-things-really-different-or-is-it-propaganda/1034073.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billionaires-ceos-corporations-and-capitalism-are-things-really-different-or-is-it-propaganda/1034073.md?page=10)