People will say a lot of things about me when I die, but I am determined that ‘he died rich’ will not be one of them
I’ll just save time for my future self: He died complicit, supporting and enabling the system that creates inequality and blocks progress, and he directly stagnated technology by engaging in monopolistic practices.
Bill Gates quite obviously pays a lot for PR, and giving away wealth to those in need is obviously positive, but if he used his influence to call out Microsoft for using their technology/AI and infrastructure in war, called out the imperialism and destabilizing influence of the US empire, and so on; maybe I would have a more positive forecast for his legacy.
Also, I think he has no concept of what rich is anymore. There’s no way in hell he isn’t, at minimum, rich in assets when he dies. His house, assuming he dies and only owns one, will probably be worth more than most people make in a lifetime. Unless he takes out insane mortgages against it and donates them, he’ll still be rich. Even then, it’s still call living a life where you have access to a house like that rich, even if he effectively doesn’t own it anymore.
He’s definitely not living poorly. His legacy will still be “filthy rich”.
He’s not giving so much that he can’t live a life with more privilege and access to abundance than the overwhelming majority of people. He also wields more power and influence than most could ever hope for.
Capitalism exists in the form it does because government doesn’t exist. It’s a big lie. We are in the age of modern feudalism, ruled by corporations, oligarchs, and others that concentrate wealth, power, and influence.
I wouldn’t trust the government to reliably redistribute the money or to reliably tax the very rich.
We have a system that rewards greed, parasitism, and exploitation with wild success. Until that is solved, redistributing wealth will be unsuccessful — a temporary fix, at best.
The culture is already there. We have a great base called the constitution and its bill of rights — we largely already support concepts like democracy and human rights.
Humans and our units tend to be weak and vulnerable, we are easily manipulated, and we are easily corruptible. Capital has an greater influence on individuals (and especially our leaders and institutions) than forward momentum and the act of working towards solutions — making life better on this planet for everyone. Capital should not be a factor operating at a level above our ability to govern and direct our societies.
Humanity has to start to learn how thrive and also learn to live in balance with the planet. Consumerism is certainly out of control, but it’s reductive and unfair to single any single person, group, or entity. Humanity is largely kept in survival mode (and also in fear, hate, and division), scarcity is artificial with our current level of technology and organization, and the truth of our consumerism and its roots is veiled to us.
Nobody besides the oppressed, truly knows the extent of modern slavery, of modern child slavery, and of third-world exploitation.
In my eyes, the solution is direct democracy and socialism. Building up our communities, and making our society at large and especially our cities, self-sustainable.
I personally think that an international human bill of rights would be a wonderful goal to have to kick off a golden age for humanity.
Right now, most of us believe that those who have more deserve more and those who have less deserve less. We don’t see an issue with, say, someone getting most of their meals through Doordash while complaining they ‘need’ more money.
Until that changes, we can’t expect society to change. We don’t want it to change unless it directly benefits us. If we have to sacrifice anything so those who have less than us can have more, we immediately become conservatives in our rhetoric.
I’ll just save time for my future self: He died complicit, supporting and enabling the system that creates inequality and blocks progress, and he directly stagnated technology by engaging in monopolistic practices.
Bill Gates quite obviously pays a lot for PR, and giving away wealth to those in need is obviously positive, but if he used his influence to call out Microsoft for using their technology/AI and infrastructure in war, called out the imperialism and destabilizing influence of the US empire, and so on; maybe I would have a more positive forecast for his legacy.
I would be more than happy to be wrong.
Also, I think he has no concept of what rich is anymore. There’s no way in hell he isn’t, at minimum, rich in assets when he dies. His house, assuming he dies and only owns one, will probably be worth more than most people make in a lifetime. Unless he takes out insane mortgages against it and donates them, he’ll still be rich. Even then, it’s still call living a life where you have access to a house like that rich, even if he effectively doesn’t own it anymore.
He’s definitely not living poorly. His legacy will still be “filthy rich”.
He’s not giving so much that he can’t live a life with more privilege and access to abundance than the overwhelming majority of people. He also wields more power and influence than most could ever hope for.
Yeah instead of billionaires giving away their wealth to charity, I’d much rather tax them and let the government distribute that money.
You mean the government that uses that money for concentration camps and eradicating minorities?
Capitalism exists in the form it does because government doesn’t exist. It’s a big lie. We are in the age of modern feudalism, ruled by corporations, oligarchs, and others that concentrate wealth, power, and influence.
I wouldn’t trust the government to reliably redistribute the money or to reliably tax the very rich.
We have a system that rewards greed, parasitism, and exploitation with wild success. Until that is solved, redistributing wealth will be unsuccessful — a temporary fix, at best.
Right. The solution is a better government.
To get that, we need a better culture.
To get that, we need to rescind our consumerism.
The culture is already there. We have a great base called the constitution and its bill of rights — we largely already support concepts like democracy and human rights.
Humans and our units tend to be weak and vulnerable, we are easily manipulated, and we are easily corruptible. Capital has an greater influence on individuals (and especially our leaders and institutions) than forward momentum and the act of working towards solutions — making life better on this planet for everyone. Capital should not be a factor operating at a level above our ability to govern and direct our societies.
Humanity has to start to learn how thrive and also learn to live in balance with the planet. Consumerism is certainly out of control, but it’s reductive and unfair to single any single person, group, or entity. Humanity is largely kept in survival mode (and also in fear, hate, and division), scarcity is artificial with our current level of technology and organization, and the truth of our consumerism and its roots is veiled to us.
Nobody besides the oppressed, truly knows the extent of modern slavery, of modern child slavery, and of third-world exploitation.
In my eyes, the solution is direct democracy and socialism. Building up our communities, and making our society at large and especially our cities, self-sustainable.
I personally think that an international human bill of rights would be a wonderful goal to have to kick off a golden age for humanity.
The culture is not here, no.
Right now, most of us believe that those who have more deserve more and those who have less deserve less. We don’t see an issue with, say, someone getting most of their meals through Doordash while complaining they ‘need’ more money.
Until that changes, we can’t expect society to change. We don’t want it to change unless it directly benefits us. If we have to sacrifice anything so those who have less than us can have more, we immediately become conservatives in our rhetoric.