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[-] sqgl@sh.itjust.works 110 points 1 month ago

11 years ago...

The Pitchforks Are Coming… For Us Plutocrats — By NICK HANAUER

See also his Wikipedia page in the section on his controversial TED talk where he said:

Businesses and the rich do not create jobs. Jobs are created by a feedback loop between customers and businesses that is set in motion by consumers increasing their demand....

If lower income tax rates for the wealthy really worked we would be drowning in jobs, and yet unemployment and underemployment is at record highs

TED refused to publish the talk.

[-] mfed1122@discuss.tchncs.de 48 points 1 month ago

They refused to publish it? Wow, thank you for finally giving me a concrete reason to hate TED talks. They've always seemed like the biggest fart-sniffing conventions I can imagine. And it drives me nuts how people all present with a certain cadence, intonation, tone of voice. Like some kind of learned artificial dialect, the "good public speaker" dialect/accent. A perfectly fitting marker of the incestuous masturbation so prevalent among the kinds of people who give TED talks. I'm not saying they're all bad, so no offense to anyone's favorite TED speaker. There's been decent ones, but its largely exactly the kind of elite Ivy League parasite that, remarkably, manages to be despicable to both conservatives and many liberals. No wonder TED didn't publish something that might make their own speakers feel bad.

[-] Seleni@lemmy.world 14 points 1 month ago

So the thing is, there’s TED Talks, and TEDx Talks, and the second one you can just buy your way on to and say whatever the fuck you want to. That’s the one usually used by rich yahoos to peddle their snake oil.

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[-] tatterdemalion@programming.dev 7 points 1 month ago

They're all Steve Jobs wannabes. They copy his presentation style as much as possible, short of wearing a black turtleneck and jeans.

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[-] dumnezero@piefed.social 6 points 1 month ago

TED is a platform for basic "Ecomodernism" (Green Capitalism), its entire philosophy is Business As Usual with slow change via technological innovations.

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[-] lime@feddit.nu 13 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

interestingly, his later ted talk about basically the same topic is available on the TED channel.

[-] bitjunkie@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago

"TED is complicit with oligarchs"

[-] 0x0@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

This is the only TED talk worth watching.

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[-] xxce2AAb@feddit.dk 77 points 1 month ago

Yeah, but if these people were truly masters of long-term thinking, they wouldn't be spending all their time ruining the economies upon which their wealth is predicated.

[-] kamenlady@lemmy.world 17 points 1 month ago

They're so busy building survival bunkers....

[-] guy@piefed.social 26 points 1 month ago

I fully approved of this. Then just cement over all the exits when they have closed the hatches and forget about them

[-] xxce2AAb@feddit.dk 17 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I think it's very civic-minded of them to hole up in a static position so we know where to find them.

50% they're going to leave for mars because it's a tax-free haven.

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[-] dangling_cat@piefed.blahaj.zone 52 points 1 month ago

I think we have passed the point of no return. Like, we are going to have our very first trillionaire, and everyone seems okay with it.

[-] mitch@piefed.mitch.science 29 points 1 month ago

Yeah, but if I tax trillionaires, what happens when I myself become a trillionaire?!

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[-] masquenox@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 1 month ago

I don't know... the way people cheered Luigi tells me that most people are not okay with it - but that's never stopped the media and their political handlers before.

[-] Korhaka@sopuli.xyz 5 points 1 month ago

The biggest problem is there is only 1 Luigi.

[-] masquenox@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 month ago

I mean... there is more where he came from. But I'd say that's not the important thing.

Compare the public's reaction when Alexander Berkman shot capitalist Henry Clay Frick back in 1892. There was a lot of sympathy for when capitalist (and Nazi) Hanns Martin Schleyer was offed by RAF in 1977. I'd say the magic spell that capitalists once enjoyed has been thoroughly broken - and that's unprecedented.

[-] nonentity@sh.itjust.works 46 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Financial obesity is an existential threat to any society that tolerates it, and needs to cease being celebrated, rewarded, and positioned as an aspirational goal.

[-] MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 16 points 1 month ago

That's capitalism. I find the more of a capitalist someone is, the more they worship money and the more they idolize anyone with a lot of it.

It also seems to be the case that the further you are from capitalism and it's ideals as a person, the more you're willing to emphasize with those less fortunate and want to help them to succeed.

Weird huh?

[-] nonentity@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 month ago

Capitalism doesn’t hold a monopoly on financial obesity, it can manifest in many economic models.

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[-] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 44 points 1 month ago

I think we are very close to being past the point of society accepting these people in any form. Too much damage has already been done while the ultrawealthy laughed it away.

[-] UsefulInfoPlz@lemmy.world 28 points 1 month ago

I wish i felt that way. Maybe in 20 years, but right now these people are still on a high pedestal in the eyes of the majority. They’ve mastered the art of giving “just enough” to keep the masses at bay. It will take a catastrophe of epic proportions with billions dead or suffering and these rich mf’ers sitting high in their ivory towers before the masses will open their eyes. Even then we’ll be told to “pray” and they will give us a few more scraps to naw on (all while they “prey” on us to further widen the gap between us and them).

[-] MeatPilot@lemmy.world 19 points 1 month ago

Think I've seen how this pans out.

[-] otacon239@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago

If I remember right,

Tap for spoilerImmortan Joe’s face gets ripped into pieces at the end.

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[-] mitch@piefed.mitch.science 14 points 1 month ago

This is something that, of all people, Ivanka Trump has kvetched about in private — her infamy, her dad's infamy, her company's infamy, her wealth's infamy, and not to mention, her husband's infamy — has essentially procluded them from any social circles in NYC. They reportedly left politics because every single one of their friends would refuse to engage with them anymore.

One simple thing that brings me joy in a dark world is that Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump can't make a single friend.

[-] ObtuseDoorFrame@lemmy.zip 7 points 1 month ago

This was delightful to read, thank you for typing it out : )

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[-] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 35 points 1 month ago

"Oh, those rich people better look out. Something real bad is going to happen to them" is a thing I've been hearing since the 90s.

The only "bad thing" I can think that's remotely qualifying is that US billionaires are being left behind by their East Asian peers, as their home country is run into the ground. And idk if "feel bad because you're not in first place anymore" is the thing being implied.

[-] TranscendentalEmpire@lemmy.today 20 points 1 month ago

The only "bad thing" I can think that's remotely qualifying is that US billionaires are being left behind by their East Asian peers, as their home country is run into the ground.

Nah, billionaires have class solidarity that transcends nationalist sentiment. Which is why they are so afraid of anyone trying to gather class solidarity amongst the lower classes, they know how powerful it is.

Billionaires from East Asia and billionaires from the West all vacation in places like Dubai, have their own private islands, and multiple homes and banks all over the world. Nationalism to them is just a tool to keep class consciousness away from their employees.

[-] mfed1122@discuss.tchncs.de 11 points 1 month ago

Not to mention, a billionaire is no longer a citizen of any country in any way that truly matters. They can easily go elsewhere, be safe from whatever is going on in their "home", and so on. The only country I know of that has ever actually thrown its power at its billionaires is China. So unless the billionaire currently lives and works in China, they essentially have no nationality.

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[-] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago

Nah, billionaires have class solidarity that transcends nationalist sentiment.

In America, at least, we're seeing a rising tide of white nationalism among the mega-rich. There was a point in which I'd agree with you. The Clintons would break bread with anyone whose checks didn't bounce (Donald Trump, for instance). But your Musks and Thiels and Lutnicks and McMahons are going in a very different direction.

Billionaires from East Asia and billionaires from the West all vacation in places like Dubai

Even Dubai ain't what it used to be. Consider the kidnapping and murder of Rabbi Zvi Kogan.

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[-] qarbone@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago

I'd think it's more like horse racing. They want to see their "horse" "win" but aren't that fussed at the end of the day. Because they'll all be glue eventually, and what matters is the fun they had.

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[-] Deceptichum@quokk.au 33 points 1 month ago

The t is silent.

[-] ceenote@lemmy.world 30 points 1 month ago

I think the ultra wealthy are just trying to buy time until they can put automated turrets and drone death squads in their mansions.

I'm not trying to argue that it's a sound strategy, it's just what I think they're aiming for.

[-] Korhaka@sopuli.xyz 4 points 1 month ago

It takes 1 guy to make a killdozer that will get past those turrets and is immune to drones.

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[-] vala@lemmy.dbzer0.com 29 points 1 month ago

Sorry, I could afford to buy a "t".

[-] SLVRDRGN@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago
[-] badelf@lemmy.dbzer0.com 18 points 1 month ago

I hope you realize Orange is amassing domestic military to protect billionaires and himself.

[-] workerONE@lemmy.world 16 points 1 month ago

Nothing's going to happen to them. They have the upper hand and everything that happens will be slightly tilted in their favor, at least. I don't see any major victories ahead for us. This isn't a defeatist attitude, it's the recognition of truth that makes revolutionaries do what they do.

I'm just saying, if things go as usual the billionaires will be just fine, it's the rest of us that need help

[-] Huschke@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago

Also, they planed for the worst. They all have their little (or rather not so little) islands they can retreat to.

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[-] lugal@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 points 1 month ago

Change your diet for the climate, eat the rich 👏👏

[-] Bluefalcon@discuss.tchncs.de 9 points 1 month ago

Childrens cartoons (epi The Burger) are starting to point it out. Time to eat the rich. And eating them may be the nicest thing we could do.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wonderfully_Weird_World_of_Gumball

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[-] Boo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 month ago

Taxes for billionaires are just a health insurance for their necks

[-] hOrni@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago

Fuck that, I don't want them to get of free just by paying money. That's what they always do. I want full blown billionaire killing Olympics.

[-] embit@feddit.org 5 points 1 month ago
[-] Wilco@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 month ago

If something happens to one of them and I happen to be in the area ... I didn't see anything.

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this post was submitted on 08 Sep 2025
1247 points (100.0% liked)

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