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.
Point taken, billionaires don’t get that much money through altruism.
But weak counterpoint: if I woke up tomorrow with all of Jezos’ wealth, I’d want to use it to make others’ lives better, and to do so I’d need 1. People who understand me and know how I’d want to invest, because a single person doing their own finances cannot spend money fast enough to get rid of billions in a lifetime, and 2. An organization that understands my goals and can work towards that. Sure, there are probably some type of money manager jobs that essentially give money away already, and I could hire the ones who mostly agree with my values to give to charities that mostly agree with my values, or I could just set up my own organization of investors and charity workers to use my newfound money in the exact way I want.
The reality is that these people aren’t hoarding wealth because they need it. You have to think about it as a mental disorder. A rational person wouldn’t accumulate so much wealth because, as you point out, there is no way to spend this wealth. There’s also a selection process at work here. Capitalism selects for psychopathic behavior. Bezos built his empire on ruthless exploitation of millions of people toiling in inhumane conditions at Amazon. If Bezos was capable of any sort of empathy towards others then he wouldn’t be running a slave empire in the first place.
I don’t know if that is the case. I kind of dislike the “mental” explanation for the actions of billionares. Yeah they are cruel, but I doubt Bezzos even sees anything wrong with his actions. Or if he even sees his actions at all. He lives in a fantasy land detached from reality thanks to his huge cushion of wealth. He probably genuinely believes in the “invisible hand” and “free market”. Yeah he constantly sees headlines calling him out but that doesn’t mean he understands what they are saying.
That’s the problem with capitalism, the separation of capital from it’s labor so that the capital becomes blind to it’s own actions. It’s why capitalism creates crisis, it cannot see the actions of wealth hoarding, abusing workers, and crushing competitors.
These things aren’t mutually exclusive. I completely agree that billionaires live in a bubble where they’re completely detached from the suffering they cause. However, where the mental aspect comes in is in pursuit of wealth for the sake of wealth. And there is a selection process in play as well. Since the amount of wealth one can hoard is the sole fitness function, it selects for behaviors that are most efficient at achieving this. People who are willing to step on others, to lie, cheat, steal, and do any sorts of immoral actions are rewarded with success. People who have moral qualms end up being outcompeted by those who don’t.
I completely agree with you that it is a systemic problem within capitalism, and the focus should be on moving away from capitalism towards a system that rewards cooperative behaviors where individual self interest aligns with the interest of the majority.
A rational person wouldn’t accumulate so much wealth because, as you point out, there is no way to spend this wealth.
Thing is, most billionaires like Bezos, Musk, or Gates tend to have very different finances than other classes of people. What they own is pieces of a company or companies, as opposed to a house, bank account, or being poor as fuck. Owning that means owning shares in the company, not having liquidity that they can just go throw around. So it’s not really a matter of whether they have more than they can use in a lifetime. It’s a matter of having enough to retain control over generally how the company is run.
I’ve heard this argument before, and it’s patently false. These people clearly do have a ton of liquidity that they spend on their incredibly lavish lifestyles. You could make the argument that their valuation is inflated because financial wealth doesn’t directly translate into actual wealth, but these people own tons of physical property. For example, Gates is the biggest private owner of farmland in US.
Point taken, billionaires don’t get that much money through altruism.
But weak counterpoint: if I woke up tomorrow with all of Jezos’ wealth, I’d want to use it to make others’ lives better, and to do so I’d need 1. People who understand me and know how I’d want to invest, because a single person doing their own finances cannot spend money fast enough to get rid of billions in a lifetime, and 2. An organization that understands my goals and can work towards that. Sure, there are probably some type of money manager jobs that essentially give money away already, and I could hire the ones who mostly agree with my values to give to charities that mostly agree with my values, or I could just set up my own organization of investors and charity workers to use my newfound money in the exact way I want.
The reality is that these people aren’t hoarding wealth because they need it. You have to think about it as a mental disorder. A rational person wouldn’t accumulate so much wealth because, as you point out, there is no way to spend this wealth. There’s also a selection process at work here. Capitalism selects for psychopathic behavior. Bezos built his empire on ruthless exploitation of millions of people toiling in inhumane conditions at Amazon. If Bezos was capable of any sort of empathy towards others then he wouldn’t be running a slave empire in the first place.
I don’t know if that is the case. I kind of dislike the “mental” explanation for the actions of billionares. Yeah they are cruel, but I doubt Bezzos even sees anything wrong with his actions. Or if he even sees his actions at all. He lives in a fantasy land detached from reality thanks to his huge cushion of wealth. He probably genuinely believes in the “invisible hand” and “free market”. Yeah he constantly sees headlines calling him out but that doesn’t mean he understands what they are saying.
That’s the problem with capitalism, the separation of capital from it’s labor so that the capital becomes blind to it’s own actions. It’s why capitalism creates crisis, it cannot see the actions of wealth hoarding, abusing workers, and crushing competitors.
These things aren’t mutually exclusive. I completely agree that billionaires live in a bubble where they’re completely detached from the suffering they cause. However, where the mental aspect comes in is in pursuit of wealth for the sake of wealth. And there is a selection process in play as well. Since the amount of wealth one can hoard is the sole fitness function, it selects for behaviors that are most efficient at achieving this. People who are willing to step on others, to lie, cheat, steal, and do any sorts of immoral actions are rewarded with success. People who have moral qualms end up being outcompeted by those who don’t.
I completely agree with you that it is a systemic problem within capitalism, and the focus should be on moving away from capitalism towards a system that rewards cooperative behaviors where individual self interest aligns with the interest of the majority.
Thing is, most billionaires like Bezos, Musk, or Gates tend to have very different finances than other classes of people. What they own is pieces of a company or companies, as opposed to a house, bank account, or being poor as fuck. Owning that means owning shares in the company, not having liquidity that they can just go throw around. So it’s not really a matter of whether they have more than they can use in a lifetime. It’s a matter of having enough to retain control over generally how the company is run.
I’ve heard this argument before, and it’s patently false. These people clearly do have a ton of liquidity that they spend on their incredibly lavish lifestyles. You could make the argument that their valuation is inflated because financial wealth doesn’t directly translate into actual wealth, but these people own tons of physical property. For example, Gates is the biggest private owner of farmland in US.
Oh shit he’s even mega kulak in addition to all rest of crap.
Most people don’t realize just how despicable Gates is. He has one of the best PR teams out there.