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It's not that the rich are inherently corrupt or evil, it's just that in order to get that rich you usually have to be pretty relentless and such money is almost always made over the backs of other people.
You could say that's just business as usual, or that some of those rich companies offer great products and/or services while also treating their employees pretty well.
But even if such a rich person is a paragon of pure justice, no person should be able to wield so much money (and the power that comes with it).
I simply think it's not good for society as a whole.
The society could use that money, Elon Musk, at this point, cannot.
He has so much money he can't even spend it all, ever (I realize he doesn't have all that money on his bank account, but in stock options).
Meanwhile, he pays a relative low percentage of tax (which is unfair on it's own).
Right now, he doesn't like Twitter (neither do I, mind you) and he has the money and power to outright buy it and do with it as he wishes.
That's what all these companies do, buy the competition, or anything they don't like, and shut it down or integrate it in their own business model.
That's not democratic or capitalist (read, fair market competition), it's much closer to communism where one party owns everything (I'm speaking in American terms here, us Europeans are much less concerned about capitalist vs. communism).
For example, at this point, you're kind of an outsider if you're not on social media (Facebook, Instagram and/or WhatsApp).
Especially in the Netherlands, it's difficult to live without WhatsApp, it's everywhere.
Friends communicate through WhatsApp, parties are planned on WhatsApp, invites are send on WhatsApp, even payments are requested through WhatsApp.
You can simply dismiss such claims by saying "just don't create an account", but us people really want to belong and these tools make that possible.
You'd have to have a very strong personality or beliefs not to make an account on any of these platforms.
And all are owned by Facebook.
Ergo, to belong to a group, or even society as a whole, you have to sell your data to Facebook, you don't really have a choice.
And even if you don't, Facebook is harvesting your data anyway because every website that has a Facebook share button (which is pretty much every website, including CP) sends your data to Facebook.
You just can't not-use Facebook!
And as Zuck has proven times and again, he really can't be trusted with our data.
The guy should be in jail after all the Facebook scandals, but because he's filthy rich he can afford the best lawyers and buy his way out.
The fines don't even hurt him or Facebook because they make so much money we can't even imagine it.
The same goes for Apple, Google, Microsoft and Amazon (Amazon isn't that big in The Netherlands), and all other really large and rich companies for that matter (oil, pharmacy, etc.).
Now you tell me, is that fair? Is that righteous? Could there be a ring of truth to "big companies are evil"?
Amazon treats and pays its employees like crap while their boss is the richest person on the planet (richer than entire countries!).
People say "just don't work for Amazon", but people need jobs and Amazon provides.
1 out of every 153 employed people works for Amazon, that makes Amazon incredibly powerful and when people massively choose not to work for Amazon the American economy will probably collapse or at least see a steep fall.
So you see, these people don't choose to work for Amazon, they choose not to be unemployed so they can at least put food on the table.
That's how powerful a company or even a person can be.
I don't have a clear solution, but we really can't solve the problem until people recognize and acknowledge it's a problem at all (even if it's a completely legal situation, mind you).
It may not be evil or corrupt, but it's still a situation we shouldn't want to be in.
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My post wasn't about Musk specifically, but about billionaires and huge companies in general.
Member 13496917 wrote: How many companies / competitors did Musk buy?
I can't say I know much about Musk, but ask that question for all other rich people/companies.
Google, Microsoft, Facebook... They eat competitors for breakfast.
Again, I'm not saying these people do not work hard or that they don't take risks.
What I am saying is that many people do so, but don't get anywhere near where these people are and that the biggest difference is often dumb luck.
Member 13496917 wrote: You obviously haven't done much research, because Tesla didn't close the Fremont factory.
I already mentioned I didn't know how that ended.
However, my point is that Musk was not at all concerned about his employees, he was concerned about losing profits.
Member 13496917 wrote: As for net worth, this has effectively been 'voted' to them by their investors, and allowed/encouraged by the elected officials of the land.
If you have an issue with that, there is an obvious remedy. Change the government.
I think you make a good point here.
Our system is broken.
If someone, by either hard work, risk, luck or coincidence, makes it past a certain point, the system simply will not stop it.
These people are so tremendously rich we can't even imagine it.
There's a point where they stop working for it and it'll simply come to them.
Musk never needs to work a day in his life anymore and he'll earn more money in the next hour than we will in a lifetime (he'll earn about $18 million this hour alone).
However, we'll pay a bigger percentage of our income to taxes than Musk.
And through their money, these people have great power.
They make and break politicians, laws, people, companies...
To me, that's not deserved or fair anymore, that's a broken system.
Meanwhile, many people are defending these ultra rich and saying "they've worked hard so they deserve it!" and I think that's simply not the case.
Tell me, why is Musk's hard work and risk taking more than a billion times worth more than yours or mine?
Simply put, tax everything above $1bln and everyone will be happy (the billionaires won't even notice a billion more or less!)
Also note that these rich people are mainly in the USA, where taxes are low, wealth is unevenly distributed and employees are not very well protected.
I think the USA strikes a balance between Europe and "third world" countries and has "the best of both" if you're an employer.
Becoming as rich as the richest Americans is almost impossible in pretty much any other country on earth.
In the top ten richest people on Earth right now, only three (out of 194 countries) are not from the USA (and Forbes says "& family" for two of those).
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Judging people's "level of humanity" or demonizing them based on their wealth or lack thereof is logically fallacious. Free market capitalism is the only economic system that has raised the living standard of the whole world. What you seem to be doing is Simping for Marxists.
If you think 'goto' is evil, try writing an Assembly program without JMP.
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That sounds like the rant of your typical Communist.
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And yet you gave my comment a thumbs down? 
If you think 'goto' is evil, try writing an Assembly program without JMP.
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Sorry, that must have been my mistake!
Nothing worse than referring to someone as Communists/Marxists.
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Reminds of back in 2007 -- "Say what you want about Bernie Madoff... but he's winning!"
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Well, it's hard to hate a hardworking man who does so much in different fields
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Well, I have seen more out of Musk that makes me believe he understands social interaction better then Bill Gates. Bill Gates NEVER polled his user base about anything, just pushed his latest "improvement" to a captive audience. Don't even start about Linux on the desktop... Not that anyone is comparing directly, but Gates is a real oligarch and fascist. Musk seems to be more of an attention whore much like Trump.
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Love it when a hard working African American makes it Big.
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Free speech only scares people whose house is built on a pack of lies.
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You'd probably enjoy this[^]. Taibbi was the one who called Goldman Sachs a vampire squid, so the hypocrisy of those gnashing their teeth over Musk's bid has to be over the top for Taibbi to have written this.
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Awesome, and NAILS it.
We have not had "free" speech in a very long time.
Funny, when it was only newsletters with no real reach... Speech was freer.
Once we got the internet... And free could be truly free... It's amazing that companies shut it down.
Now, if it turned out that ANY pressure to shut it down, came in the form of GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS (ie, we will continue to pay you for the portals you give us to SPY on citizens, but you must also shut down "dangerous" speech)... Then I believe this would constitute an "Actual Conspiracy".
Dr. Shiva, for example, showed in his court case, that his Twitter was shadow-banned (something we were told was NOT a thing by the CEO just months earlier)... And it was done by a PUBLIC EMPLOYEE of the state, who did not like Dr. Shivas views/complaints/speech. To me, this is collusion. But if you can show it happened in ONE other place, and you can show that the Public Employees knew how to ask for this power... Then I believe you have a "Conspiracy" criminal charge.
But good luck with that in todays America... Or is it Amerika already!
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True, but back then I wasn't exposed to people's newsletters about fake elections, flat earth, tracking chips in vaccines, and hoax pandemics.
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I think a lot more people will start respecting him if he buys it and just shuts it down.
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Would you have the same outlook if it were George Soros attempting to take Twitter private? 🤔
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Shall we suspend the CCC until 19-04-2022 ?
"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!" - Hunter S Thompson - RIP
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Google: Easter Monday is a public holiday in 116 nations throughout the world, including Australia, Austria, Germany, Egypt, Ireland, United Kingdom, Spain, Ghana, Fiji, France, Hong Kong, Italy, Kenya, Poland, Russia, and South Africa
That's over half of the nations of the world:
Google: There are 195 countries in the world today. This total comprises 193 countries that are member states of the United Nations and 2 countries that are non-member observer states: the Holy See and the State of Palestine.
So, that's probably a good reason to suspend.
But I'm good either way.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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OriginalGriff wrote: State of Palestine
There's a reason that's not a member of the United Nations.
Psst! It's not a country.
The difficult we do right away...
...the impossible takes slightly longer.
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Change of holiday to avoid Virginia results in an argument. (11)
modified 14-Apr-22 4:11am.
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Altercation ?
it's alter vacation with va (Virginia) removed.
"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!" - Hunter S Thompson - RIP
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I knew it was an easy one, but 5 minutes?
You're up tomorrow, or maybe Monday, or whenever we resume the CCC after Easter. 
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Don't get hung up over Easter
Leon Russel - Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour
"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!" - Hunter S Thompson - RIP
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Damn, it was one of those that just leapt out at me in a few seconds but it had already been solved for 13 minutes by then!
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