There’s really no other response when going f2f with the status-quo. Some may strike it rich or inherit it, but for the most part we’re worker ants and bound to stay that way no matter how hard we work at it.
Or else…what?
Or else this …
No you don’t.
Oh. I thought Galahad was kidding. Yikes.
I do. In my job, they are part of the landscape. Elevate yourself above pettiness.
Well, Bill Gates is a personal friend of mine, and I think he’s a paragon of lovingkindness.
So there you go. Dueling anecdotes. You know lots of billionaires, I know lots of billionaires, you say they suck, I say they don’t. How can the viewers at home evaluate which claim is more likely to be true? Take your word for it? Except why would they take your word over mine? I’m just a dude on the internet boasting that he knows Bill Gates personally. That’s me. Why should people believe what you say over what I say?
Capitalism is about greed; about individuals enriching themselves at the expense of others. That is innately anti-egalitarian and anti-altruism.
America doesn’t back democracy movements and has never had any interest in democracy. It wants puppets who do what they are told while making speeches about how great America and democracy are; not actual democracy. And what “many leftists fear” is what is happening; a system where virtually all of the wealth, all the resources are hogged by a few while the majority suffer under them in poverty and exploitation.
Why shouldn’t they believe both of us? Must everyone have parallel experiences to yours? Here in Texas, billionaires are not in short supply, likewise in Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Hollywood and Vegas, where most of my colleagues and acquaintances are to be found. We hang out with different rich folks. Calling me a liar for no discernible reason, though, makes me question your good judgement in other subjects, such as character evaluations.
But the thing is, whether you’re telling the truth or lying, I have no good reason to believe that you know lots of billionaires.
You’re aware that on the internet, people make stuff up, right? So let’s stipulate for a moment that you’re telling the truth. There’s me, who makes shit up. There’s you, who tells the truth. Then there’s everyone out there reading. How do those guys out there reading tell the difference between us?
The only form of communism that is both productive and not tyrannical is extremely localized. So no, international communism is far from inevitable, but most likely impossible.
But, there can’t really be such thing as a world-wide rebellion.
I actually predict a global corporatocracy before global communism. I imagine something along the lines of Wall-E, but perhaps not so gloomy/doomsdayish.
Well, democratic socialism (as distinct from authoritarian socialism and as distinct from social democracy) is the one thing that has never yet been tried. Unless you count Venezuela, which at present is both imperfectly democratic and imperfectly socialist.
Cite?
Because no one who has ever heard of Bill Gates will believe he is a paragon of lovingkindness.
Are you thinking of the Paris Commune, or what?
He was responding to a post about the US, not the world in general. But I doubt it’s true of the world in general-- that people are generally worse off today than they were 50 years ago.
If you’ve got cites, I’d love to see them.
Oh, so your explanation is that you just make shit up. I thought so.
:rolleyes: Bullshit.
Kid Gallahad…according to Wiki there are 425 billionaires in the entire country. There are not lots of them. Newport Beach might MIGHT have 1 or 2. Laguna? Nope. Hollywood? Definitely not…its not even a city. Please grind out a few more levels of fabrication before you try it again.
According to the latest list compiled by Forbes there are 425 Billionaires in the US. What’s that, 1 out of every 700,000 people?
I know quite a few people who are worth over a million, but don’t think I know any who are billionaires. If you know a lot of them, what are you doing wasting your time arguing with the rabble and riff raff around here? 