• Cyborganism@lemmy.ca
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    9 days ago

    Nobody becomes filthy rich by being honest. You can only become this rich by exploiting people and having absolutely no fucking empathy whatsoever.

    • Maeve@kbin.earth
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      8 days ago

      The biggest lotto win in the USA was $2.04 BN, in California. Subtract taxes and there is no way that comes close to the account of money other billionaires have ammassed, even assuming there was no outstanding debt to pay and the money was invested in high-yield investments (green or not). I believe you’re right.

      • DragonTypeWyvern
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        8 days ago

        In theory a modern artist, writer, musician, etc could become a billionaire from direct to customer sales, but I’ll believe it when it happens.

          • PaleRider@feddit.uk
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            8 days ago

            Wasn’t Taylor Swift born into a wealthy family? That’s why she could take the time and chances to become a pop star. Not that I’m saying she isn’t talented, she obviously is, but a lot of talented poor kids don’t get that opportunity.

            • aStonedSanta@lemm.ee
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              8 days ago

              Yeah. But I wonder if she’s the first billionaire off actual performance and content sales.

              • BakerBagel
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                8 days ago

                Kanye supposedly was before he lost all his endorsements for openly being a Nazi. Artists dont actually own any means of production so they can very quickly lose everything.

                • GiveMemes@jlai.lu
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                  8 days ago

                  Some do. Some, like Shaq or Ryan Reynolds (or Kanye) use their money to invest in other companies. Ryan Reynolds coming out and saying Nazi shit would probably be bad for Mint, just like Ye’s controversy was bad for Yeezy, just like Elon’s controversy is bad for Tesla.

        • Patapon Enjoyer@lemmy.world
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          8 days ago

          Even them are profitting off the work of hundreds of people. Or rather, a publisher is profitting off of their work along with the work of a lot more people.

          • DragonTypeWyvern
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            7 days ago

            Direct to customer meaning they sell direct to a customer. Presumably through digital copies and owning a server rack.

            You can certainly argue that even that kind of hypothetical billionaire shouldn’t exist, and you’d be right.

          • DragonTypeWyvern
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            8 days ago

            Nah. Tons of merchandising, films, publishing etc.

            Those Quidditch brooms and plastic wands don’t assemble themselves in a sweatshop.

            Think more like if some self hosted webnovel had the same success somehow, or if she’d been as involved with checking the conditions of the merchandise empire as thoroughly as she was apparently involved in making sure the child actors were treated well. Not particularly likely, but hypothetically.

            • everyone_said@lemmy.world
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              8 days ago

              Why do the merchandise sales not count? Are they not a product of her creative writing? Many webnovelists sell merch. One of my favourite webnovelists semi-recently hired an editor, would that disqualify them?

              I’m a little confused on how you are defining the conditions. If the artist can only count their personal contributions than I don’t think it is possible in any sense. No person no matter how hard working or talented can personally generate a billion in profit.

    • Yawweee877h444@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      See? Trickle down economics really works! The wealthy trickle down $8 per day to their thankful employees for 18hr shifts! And don’t you dare say it’s slavery, you damn liberal! They’re getting paid and free to leave at any time! Slaves don’t get paid!

    • Valmond@lemmy.world
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      9 days ago

      Feed the poor 🎸🎶 Until there are, no rich no more 🎶

      (The original starts with “Tax the rich” but you do what you can with what you got right?)

  • philluminati@lemmy.ml
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    9 days ago

    Firstly, who the fuck are they?

    Secondly, you have the money, why can’t you just be reasonable? Like it’s not enough to rich, and not work and be happy, travel the world without limits and without a care… you somehow need to hurt people. It’s awful.

    • SoleInvictus@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      8 days ago

      But how else will they get a bigger house? Nicer, larger yacht? More private jets?

      Like, I kinda understand the “more more more!” mentality. As my income has gone up over the years, there’s always something more my monkey brain tells me I should want. A nicer, more comfortable car. A new video card. Two angry ponies. You know how it is. I tell it to shut up because I have more than enough already.

      I’m not a sociopath, though, so at no point has my monkey brain told me to enslave others so I can have nicer stuff.

      • slurpinderpin@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        Yeah but still, once I hit my “number”, I’m taking my small slice of the pie and living life. There isn’t a never ending drive to accumulate forever and ever. That’s just these psychos

        • SoleInvictus@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          8 days ago

          Little Grandpa story time:

          Ponies are generally nicer than horses, but I was raised believing ponies were angry, vicious little assholes. My father was bucked off of a pony in his twenties, causing him to break a rib and paralyze half of his diaphragm. Being the actual asshole in this story, he never stopped to think that maybe he was too heavy and too drunk for a pony, so he spread pony hate throughout his life. I want angry ponies as I dislike my father and on a primal level think they’d keep me safe from people like him, like two pissy, grass eating charms to protect against narcissists.

      • ShaggySnacks@lemmy.myserv.one
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        8 days ago

        But how else will they get a bigger house? Nicer, larger yacht? More private jets?

        Yeah, paying your staff a liveable wage would be like a fraction of your wealth would mean it take slightly longer to get that bigger house, larger yacht, or new private jet.

    • Kanda@reddthat.com
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      8 days ago

      Because they’ve got their fortune by being an absolute psychopath not having a second thought about walking over dead bodies for a penny. This is how anyone becomes rich, just throw all morals, compassion and legality to the wind. And they can’t stop now.

  • Adderbox76@lemmy.ca
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    9 days ago

    I’m not even kidding when I say it’s getting to be pretty close to the time that we need to break out the guillotines and remind these people what happens if they get too sure of themselves.

  • dependencyinjection@discuss.tchncs.de
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    9 days ago

    Actual monsters. I know you don’t get this rich by being generous but god damn. Unless people like this do get jail time then nothing will change.

  • Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world
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    8 days ago

    They wouldn’t even notice the money if they paid their staff properly. But people like that actually get off on the cruelty. I hope they throw those fuckers in jail.

    • BeMoreCareful@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      I think maybe the rich folks just don’t think about their staff or employees as people, or they think they’re out to get them.

      I work manufacturing adjacent and see a lot of this attitude from the management layer. They think they own people and that every dollar they give them, every break, every word not out of necessity is the worker pulling one over on them.

      It’s a sad othering, like they’re not raking in money with these people. It’s like they think the money is coming no matter what, and every wasted moment is direct theft in opposition to them.

    • Treczoks@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      Nope, not the King. He might have a lot of stuff, but quite a lot of that is basically unsellable. So his crown might be worth a gazillion, but parliament would probably interfere if he tried to sell it off. And it would be an issue what is actually his to sell and what is really owned by the state.

      • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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        8 days ago

        Much of it is owned by the Crown Estate. Which is technically owned by the current monarch, but it’s not their personal property.

        All sounds like a scam to me to prevent inheritance taxes scooping off a chunk every time one of them carks it.

        • JohnEdwa@sopuli.xyz
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          7 days ago

          All the revenue that the Crown Estate generates is given directly to the UK government to use, so they get plenty of tax from it already. ~$400 million in 2022 for example.

    • CheeseNoodle@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      The british royal family are a bit like a church, Not that rich on paper but buffalo buffalo buffalo owning so many assets all over the world that if you did the legwork to put it all together they might turn out to be richer than the richest oligarchs.

  • ynthrepic@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    Is the royal family not the richest in the UK? Edit: Not just me wondering this I see!