Funny (political, religious) pictures

PatrThom

PatrThom

Not a picture, more of a vignette.
My wife, making dinner and listening to YouTube on headphones, unable to skip the ads. She stops and pauses for a moment, and then asks, "What is a Patriot generator? Can I burn Republicans in it for power?" "No, dear. That's not how it works."

--Patrick
 
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PatrThom

PatrThom

As a GenXer, I don't see "That person has a ridiculous amount of money/wealth" as warranting an automatic fire-up-the-BBQ reaction, it is more what they do with their undue influence which decides whether I start strapping on my apron. If a billionaire wants to string my county with fiber and set up their own ISP that undercuts the cable monopolies, all out of their own pocket, I will happily cheer them on assuming they're not doing something like using slave labor (or something like that) to do so. HAVING a big pile of money is not a problem. SITTING on it and keeping everyone else from getting any and using it to make sure your pile of money stays taller than anyone else's, though? Time to melt some butter.

--Patrick
 
Frank

Frank

PatrThom said:
If a billionaire wants to string my county with fiber and set up their own ISP that undercuts the cable monopolies, all out of their own pocket, I will happily cheer them on assuming they're not doing something like using slave labor (or something like that) to do so.
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If only this world existed.
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
Instead rich companies take billions to string fiber and make an infrastructure and instead do nothing with the money except line their own pockets and the government just lets them get away with it.
 
MindDetective

MindDetective

PatrThom said:
As a GenXer, I don't see "That person has a ridiculous amount of money/wealth" as warranting an automatic fire-up-the-BBQ reaction, it is more what they do with their undue influence which decides whether I start strapping on my apron. If a billionaire wants to string my county with fiber and set up their own ISP that undercuts the cable monopolies, all out of their own pocket, I will happily cheer them on assuming they're not doing something like using slave labor (or something like that) to do so. HAVING a big pile of money is not a problem. SITTING on it and keeping everyone else from getting any and using it to make sure your pile of money stays taller than anyone else's, though? Time to melt some butter.

--Patrick
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As a Gen X-er myself, I feel that any single person with billions has not earned it (As in, it is mathematically not possible to earn that much with grit and effort alone). I also think they have an undue influence with that money that prevents them from being treated as an equal citizen under the law.
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

Dave said:
Instead rich companies take billions to string fiber and make an infrastructure and instead do nothing with the money except line their own pockets and the government just lets them get away with it.
Click to expand...
www.techdirt.com

The FCC Is Trying To Stop Discrimination In Broadband Deployment. Telecoms And Republicans Are Big Mad About It

For decades, big ISPs like AT&T have refused to upgrade low income and poor communities to fiber, despite billions in subsidies, regulatory favors, and tax breaks that were supposed to accompli…
www.techdirt.com www.techdirt.com
MindDetective said:
I feel that any single person with billions has not earned it (As in, it is mathematically not possible to earn that much with grit and effort alone).
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I 100% agree with this part, which is why my concern is to watch what the person does with it. A person who wins the lottery, gets a big inheritance, sells an idea for billions, finds a gold mine, gets elected to office, whatever, does not instantly deserve decapitation solely due to their bank account exceeding some arbitrary threshold or because they suddenly have sway over others. it's what they then DO with that influence that matters. Call me an idealist, but I believe that an unequal citizen with undue influence is still capable of using that influence for the betterment of society rather than automatically becoming an oligarch. And yes, I know there is research showing that people who accumulate such influence tend towards becoming oligarchs, but I also believe the looming threat of guillotines can act as an influence to remind them that they only get to steer that ship, so to speak, for so long as the crew is happy with where things are going.

--Patrick
 
figmentPez

figmentPez

Staff member
PatrThom said:
As a GenXer, I don't see "That person has a ridiculous amount of money/wealth" as warranting an automatic fire-up-the-BBQ reaction, it is more what they do with their undue influence which decides whether I start strapping on my apron. If a billionaire wants to string my county with fiber and set up their own ISP that undercuts the cable monopolies, all out of their own pocket, I will happily cheer them on assuming they're not doing something like using slave labor (or something like that) to do so. HAVING a big pile of money is not a problem. SITTING on it and keeping everyone else from getting any and using it to make sure your pile of money stays taller than anyone else's, though? Time to melt some butter.
Click to expand...
I'm fine with someone inventing a perpetual motion machine that gives everyone free energy, too, but I don't think that is any more likely to exist than a billionaire who doesn't do grossly immoral things to acquire and maintain their wealth.

EDIT: Also, I take "eat the rich" not as literal cannibalism, but as in "take the wealth the rich have immorally obtained, and use it to enrich society as whole". If there happens to be some billionaire whose money comes completely from their own work, and fairly doing business with others, with no immorality ever, then I'm pretty sure they'll be just as well off with 500 million as they are with the full billion*.

*exaggerated numbers just to illustrate how much money you can take away from rich people, while still allowing them to be far beyond what any normal person could reasonably work for in multiple lifetimes.
 
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Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

figmentPez said:
I'm fine with someone inventing a perpetual motion machine that gives everyone free energy, too, but I don't think that is any more likely to exist than a billionaire who doesn't do grossly immoral things to acquire and maintain their wealth.

EDIT: Also, I take "eat the rich" not as literal cannibalism, but as in "take the wealth the rich have immorally obtained, and use it to enrich society as whole". If there happens to be some billionaire whose money comes completely from their own work, and fairly doing business with others, with no immorality ever, then I'm pretty sure they'll be just as well off with 500 million as they are with the full billion*.

*exaggerated numbers just to illustrate how much money you can take away from rich people, while still allowing them to be far beyond what any normal person could reasonably work for in multiple lifetimes.
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I want to go on the record saying I'm not against actually cannibalizing the rich
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

figmentPez said:
If there happens to be some billionaire whose money comes completely from their own work, and fairly doing business with others, with no immorality ever,
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I fully expect that "billionaire money" only comes from the work of others, unfair business deals, and plenty of immorality, but I also assume that billionaire lineage must eventually fall to either someone with a conscience who finally does something good with it, or else to someone of such supreme incompetence that they squander all of it. Either way, it returns to the masses. And if neither of these occurs "in time," so to speak, then societal pressure will build until...
PatrThom said:
...some sort of coercion/correction will occur, whether it be through politics, protest, or piracy.
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--Patrick
 
MindDetective

MindDetective

PatrThom said:
I fully expect that "billionaire money" only comes from the work of others, unfair business deals, and plenty of immorality, but I also assume that billionaire lineage must eventually fall to either someone with a conscience who finally does something good with it, or else to someone of such supreme incompetence that they squander all of it. Either way, it returns to the masses. And if neither of these occurs "in time," so to speak, then societal pressure will build until...

--Patrick
Click to expand...
Thus the "Eat the rich" memes. It is a symptom of the "pressure will build until..."
 
Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

PatrThom said:
I fully expect that "billionaire money" only comes from the work of others, unfair business deals, and plenty of immorality, but I also assume that billionaire lineage must eventually fall to either someone with a conscience who finally does something good with it, or else to someone of such supreme incompetence that they squander all of it. Either way, it returns to the masses. And if neither of these occurs "in time," so to speak, then societal pressure will build until...

--Patrick
Click to expand...
The existence of Elon Musk shows that neither of these scenarios actually happen.
 
D

Dubyamn

PatrThom said:
www.techdirt.com

The FCC Is Trying To Stop Discrimination In Broadband Deployment. Telecoms And Republicans Are Big Mad About It

For decades, big ISPs like AT&T have refused to upgrade low income and poor communities to fiber, despite billions in subsidies, regulatory favors, and tax breaks that were supposed to accompli…
www.techdirt.com www.techdirt.com

I 100% agree with this part, which is why my concern is to watch what the person does with it. A person who wins the lottery, gets a big inheritance, sells an idea for billions, finds a gold mine, gets elected to office, whatever, does not instantly deserve decapitation solely due to their bank account exceeding some arbitrary threshold or because they suddenly have sway over others. it's what they then DO with that influence that matters. Call me an idealist, but I believe that an unequal citizen with undue influence is still capable of using that influence for the betterment of society rather than automatically becoming an oligarch. And yes, I know there is research showing that people who accumulate such influence tend towards becoming oligarchs, but I also believe the looming threat of guillotines can act as an influence to remind them that they only get to steer that ship, so to speak, for so long as the crew is happy with where things are going.

--Patrick
Click to expand...
You don't get to be a billionaire and a good person. Either you give away a huge chunk of the money and still live a life of incredible luxury or you're a bad person.

That's not even getting into the way that everyone of those pieces of shit act. Just the mere act of hoarding wealth for no material benefit to yourself while people starve should be fucking illegal.
 
Tinwhistler

Tinwhistler

I'll never have a billion, or a hundred million.
But let's say I won the lottery and had a hundred million left over. I could cut every man, woman and child in my town a check for $900, and that'd be nice, but then the money is gone, and pretty much guaranteed that most of those people only saw transitory benefit.

I'd much rather hoard the 100 million, invest it, and start an endowment that could have 3.5-4 million a year (or possibly more) pumped into it from the proceeds of that investment, which would be able to run in perpetuity and provide some kind of long lasting tangible benefit to my community.

Unfortunately, most obscenely wealthy folk don't do that. Wealth=power, and most times they want to wield that power.
 
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D

Dubyamn

Tinwhistler said:
I'll never have a billion, or a hundred million.
But let's say I won the lottery and had a hundred million left over. I could cut man, woman and child in my town a check for $900, and that'd be nice, but then the money is gone, and pretty much guaranteed that most of those people only saw transitory benefit.

I'd much rather hoard the 100 million, invest it, and start an endowment that could have 3.5-4 million a year (or possibly more) pumped into it from the proceeds of that investment, which would be able to run in perpetuity and provide some kind of long lasting tangible benefit to my community.
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I actually don’t think that being a millionaire has the same moral implications that being a billionaire has.

But is does prove my point. You can live a life of absurd wealth with $100 million without ever having to work again. The idea that people are sitting on billions is utterly disgusting.
 
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