I actually support the rich spending money on extravagant yachts. The problem is when rich people hoard money and just use it to get richer. When they spend it, that money goes to employing people. Do you have any idea how many workers it takes to build a yacht? Then you have to hire people to maintain and run the thing. It’s a massive transfer of wealth from the rich to the working class.
When rich people try to use their money to “improve society” they inevitably end up using it to influence politics and to try and control things. After all, if your goal is to use your money to help to improve the world as best you see it, you quickly realize that the best bang for your buck is by buying politicians.
For example, imagine someone genuinely does want to spend a billion dollars to help people get medical care. You could spend that billion on paying people’s medical bills, or you could spend a billion dollars lobbying for Medicare for all. If you’re trying to spend money to change the world in a direction you feel is best, politicians are the best bang for your buck. So you end up with politicians being bought by various rich people, each tasked with enacting what the rich people view as the best path for the world. One way or another, it means that the wealthy completely control the government, rather than the people. And while you’re probably in favor of Medicare for all, the rich people will be lobbying for whatever they think the world needs most. Their idea of charity might be spending a billion dollars to “protect babies” by lobbying against abortion.
I would rather the rich spend every penny they have on extravagant luxuries. Their ideas of charity are usually quite different from my own.
I actually support the rich spending money on extravagant yachts. The problem is when rich people hoard money and just use it to get richer. When they spend it, that money goes to employing people. Do you have any idea how many workers it takes to build a yacht? Then you have to hire people to maintain and run the thing. It’s a massive transfer of wealth from the rich to the working class.
When rich people try to use their money to “improve society” they inevitably end up using it to influence politics and to try and control things. After all, if your goal is to use your money to help to improve the world as best you see it, you quickly realize that the best bang for your buck is by buying politicians.
For example, imagine someone genuinely does want to spend a billion dollars to help people get medical care. You could spend that billion on paying people’s medical bills, or you could spend a billion dollars lobbying for Medicare for all. If you’re trying to spend money to change the world in a direction you feel is best, politicians are the best bang for your buck. So you end up with politicians being bought by various rich people, each tasked with enacting what the rich people view as the best path for the world. One way or another, it means that the wealthy completely control the government, rather than the people. And while you’re probably in favor of Medicare for all, the rich people will be lobbying for whatever they think the world needs most. Their idea of charity might be spending a billion dollars to “protect babies” by lobbying against abortion.
I would rather the rich spend every penny they have on extravagant luxuries. Their ideas of charity are usually quite different from my own.