cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/28102
US military leaders previously warned Trump that they were ‘not ready’ to respond to Iran’s anticipated retaliation and required additional time to prepare
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Rich people don’t give poor people stuff, even if it means they get more stuff too. They aren’t rational actors. They have what should be already, and will one day be, classified as a mental illness.
Oh, it’s so much worse than that. They are rational actors. Terrifyingly rational actors.
Once you get past a certain amount of wealth, the only purpose of money is status, prestige, and power. Imagine you gave Elon Musk two choices, two different worlds he could live in:
A world where he had 200 billion and everyone else had 10 million.
A world where had 100 billion and everyone else had 100,000.
He would choose the first option. Why? Because status. In a world where everyone was independently wealthy, he wouldn’t have people fawning over him all the time. Few people would willingly work for him, as they already had all of their their needs met. In order to really enjoy his billions, he needs millions of poor desperate people he can exploit for labor and adoration.
Milton figured this out in Paradise Lost way back in the 17th century.
“Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.”
I don’t disagree with anything you said, except your classification of those actions as rational. I think framing the world and responding to it the way you described is completely irrational.
You need to get past the idea that everything on social media is a formal debate.
I didn’t do anything different in my response to you than you did to me but OK
In order for them to feel like they’ve won at life, someone has to lose. It’s not enough for them to just succeed…people have to also suffer.