I tried to research salary demographics in my GOP congresswoman’s district, or basically on my little island, Staten Island (NY-11 also is comprised of parts of south Brooklyn). There is 1 billionaire. No exact data on the number of millionaires or multimillionaires, but it’s safe to say approximately 18,000 based on the 1 of 24 ratio in total in NYC with most multimillionaires living in Manhattan. As of November 2024 there were 182,731 Medicaid recipients on Staten Island. My GOP congresswoman voted to cut Medicaid for the 182,731 to give tax cuts for approximately 18,001 people. It’s known the GOP study committee wants to raise the retirement age to at least 69 if not higher. I’m not understanding why these messages are not getting through to Americans. Add in the instability of the economy due to tariffs & Elon Musk & Trump ego mish mash & today I am bleak. I am working with my local county committee but I am bleak today. Hopefully tomorrow, not so bleak.
Agreed. For the longest time I’ve been thinking of the ultra rich as “inhuman”. And while I consider the practice of dehumanizing any group of people as a disturbing and dangerous thing I’m really fine with it as it applies to these parasitic sociopaths.
The only possible process to use to acquire enough wealth, in cash or ownership, to be a billionaire is exploitation. Exploitation of employees, customers, renters and the public in general. Hard work, frugal expenditure and a strong skillset is insufficient - such qualities can make someone a millionaire but never a billionaire. Billionaires are psychologically unable to pause or cease. Their appetite for exploitation is never satiated. Accruement of their wealth goes way beyond wanting to enjoy its benefits - they must continue to steal, defraud, scam and lie.
Matt Stoller's book Goliath says that antitrust law is about preventing concentrated political power, and billionaires are an extreme example of the problems with such concentration.
This is an interesting perspective, and a great way to discuss billionaires with people. Citizens United was a death blow to our society as these corporations ceased to have to pretend to play by the rules.
Correct. Billionaires are parasites. They make no positive contribution to society. Your post made me think of Hannah Arendt’s writing about the “little Eichmanns.” We’ve been trained in America to think of “bad people” as only those who personally harm others, through crimes like assault. But Musk pointing-and-clicking on his screen and destroying thousands of lives is theft, at a minimum. We should treat them accordingly.
Interestingly enough I learned in Rutger Bregman's book HumanKind that humans are the only species to blush...it's uniquely human and it serves an evolutionary function, which exposes shame/embarrassment/empathy/etc. In his book he states that research shows that humans in extreme positions of power/wealth blush little to not at all. Indeed, billionaires have lost their humanity. When we say that they act without shame, we mean this very literally. They no longer know what it means to be human.
[My comment seems not to be posting. Pls excuse if a duplicate.]
What we should do is stop buying in to the propaganda that it's billionaires who are the problem. Each and every one of them is fully controlled by a tiny handful of trillionaires.
A trillion is a THOUSAND billions. The "billionaire question" is a red herring. May I suggest getting used to the fact that most of the political-type things we read are nothing but manipulative distraction.
This isn’t just a critique of wealth; it’s a reality check. Billionaires are not quirky rich folks with yachts and Twitter addictions. They are post-state sovereigns, extra-legal entities with more power than most governments, who treat nation-states like vending machines and people like margins. They are not citizens but market forces in human form, optimizing for profit, not humanity.
Whether Musk buys political offices like second homes or Trump uses trade policy to spike portfolios, these men don’t influence the world; they rewrite its source code while pretending to be players in a game the rest of us are stuck surviving. It’s not that they lack empathy; empathy has no utility function at their altitude.
The question isn't, “Are they good people?” It’s, “Why the hell are we letting gods cosplay as men?”
I tried to research salary demographics in my GOP congresswoman’s district, or basically on my little island, Staten Island (NY-11 also is comprised of parts of south Brooklyn). There is 1 billionaire. No exact data on the number of millionaires or multimillionaires, but it’s safe to say approximately 18,000 based on the 1 of 24 ratio in total in NYC with most multimillionaires living in Manhattan. As of November 2024 there were 182,731 Medicaid recipients on Staten Island. My GOP congresswoman voted to cut Medicaid for the 182,731 to give tax cuts for approximately 18,001 people. It’s known the GOP study committee wants to raise the retirement age to at least 69 if not higher. I’m not understanding why these messages are not getting through to Americans. Add in the instability of the economy due to tariffs & Elon Musk & Trump ego mish mash & today I am bleak. I am working with my local county committee but I am bleak today. Hopefully tomorrow, not so bleak.
Agreed. For the longest time I’ve been thinking of the ultra rich as “inhuman”. And while I consider the practice of dehumanizing any group of people as a disturbing and dangerous thing I’m really fine with it as it applies to these parasitic sociopaths.
I rationalize it as: It’s not “dehumanizing” when it’s punching up.
Me too. Totally
The only possible process to use to acquire enough wealth, in cash or ownership, to be a billionaire is exploitation. Exploitation of employees, customers, renters and the public in general. Hard work, frugal expenditure and a strong skillset is insufficient - such qualities can make someone a millionaire but never a billionaire. Billionaires are psychologically unable to pause or cease. Their appetite for exploitation is never satiated. Accruement of their wealth goes way beyond wanting to enjoy its benefits - they must continue to steal, defraud, scam and lie.
Matt Stoller's book Goliath says that antitrust law is about preventing concentrated political power, and billionaires are an extreme example of the problems with such concentration.
This is an interesting perspective, and a great way to discuss billionaires with people. Citizens United was a death blow to our society as these corporations ceased to have to pretend to play by the rules.
Hear hear!!!!
Tax them out of existence.
Correct. Billionaires are parasites. They make no positive contribution to society. Your post made me think of Hannah Arendt’s writing about the “little Eichmanns.” We’ve been trained in America to think of “bad people” as only those who personally harm others, through crimes like assault. But Musk pointing-and-clicking on his screen and destroying thousands of lives is theft, at a minimum. We should treat them accordingly.
Hear Hear! Trump is the Marie Antoinette of our time. Let them Eat Cake is the motto of today's billionaires.
They’d say “let them eat shit” though.
Fascism is political narcissism I’ve heard it described
Imagine if someone had sighted in their scope a few months ago. This timeline is so aggravating.
Interestingly enough I learned in Rutger Bregman's book HumanKind that humans are the only species to blush...it's uniquely human and it serves an evolutionary function, which exposes shame/embarrassment/empathy/etc. In his book he states that research shows that humans in extreme positions of power/wealth blush little to not at all. Indeed, billionaires have lost their humanity. When we say that they act without shame, we mean this very literally. They no longer know what it means to be human.
[My comment seems not to be posting. Pls excuse if a duplicate.]
What we should do is stop buying in to the propaganda that it's billionaires who are the problem. Each and every one of them is fully controlled by a tiny handful of trillionaires.
A trillion is a THOUSAND billions. The "billionaire question" is a red herring. May I suggest getting used to the fact that most of the political-type things we read are nothing but manipulative distraction.
This isn’t just a critique of wealth; it’s a reality check. Billionaires are not quirky rich folks with yachts and Twitter addictions. They are post-state sovereigns, extra-legal entities with more power than most governments, who treat nation-states like vending machines and people like margins. They are not citizens but market forces in human form, optimizing for profit, not humanity.
Whether Musk buys political offices like second homes or Trump uses trade policy to spike portfolios, these men don’t influence the world; they rewrite its source code while pretending to be players in a game the rest of us are stuck surviving. It’s not that they lack empathy; empathy has no utility function at their altitude.
The question isn't, “Are they good people?” It’s, “Why the hell are we letting gods cosplay as men?”
ALSO: https://twvme.substack.com/p/the-post-state-sovereign-is-real
"Hear me out?"
You had me at, "Billionaires aren't people."