this post was submitted on 22 Jan 2024
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[–] Pat_Riot@lemmy.today 98 points 2 years ago (2 children)

The existence of a trillionaire nearly guarantees that poverty is never going anywhere

[–] skeezix@lemmy.world 26 points 2 years ago (1 children)

That’s what people don’t seem to get: you can’t have extreme rich without having extreme poor. That’s a baked-in side effect of our current strain of capitalism.

[–] creamed_eels@toast.ooo 7 points 2 years ago (1 children)

“We can’t not have poverty, it’s just not biblical”

-paraphrasing this one idiot nationalist christian whose slimy name escapes me atm

[–] TokenBoomer@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

I sea what you did there, and I love it.

[–] pinkdrunkenelephants@lemmy.cafe 10 points 2 years ago (4 children)

We need to build a parallel economy the rich are banned from.

[–] JCreazy@midwest.social 5 points 2 years ago (4 children)

It's really hard to do when they have politicians in their pocket

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[–] Pat_Riot@lemmy.today 4 points 2 years ago

We need to change this reality to that same end

[–] chuckleslord@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

"Sounds like that economy needs.... freedom" -America

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[–] GlitzyArmrest@lemmy.world 91 points 2 years ago (5 children)

I highly doubt that poverty will ever be eradicated, unless we do something like shoot billionaires into the sun once they reach a billion.

[–] lechatron@lemmy.today 36 points 2 years ago (2 children)

"Congratulations on reaching a billion dollars! Here is your reward, a one way trip to the Sun!"

[–] stoy@lemmy.zip 7 points 2 years ago

Nah, I'd rather see something like:

"Congratulation, we have noticed that you are only earning money as a way to get a better highscore, this means that you gathering further wealth for your own sake is pointless.

This means that any further wealth you gather will be sent to the usefull projects and organizations where it can do the most good.

But don't worry, your wealth highscore will still be recorded as normal.

By reaching this milestone you can take pride in knowing that you have done amazingly well, and as a mark of this milestone, you will get a statue of yourself in the 'Hall of financial heroes' to truly know that you are a great person."

No need to waste their skills by killing them, just let them keep working doing what they love, but have their work benefit society instead of lining their own pockets.

You obviously need to stroke their ego and play them up as much as possible, but that is a small price to pay to keep the money train going into society.

[–] Cheems@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Should just cap out. Like once you get to a certain point the rest of that money is a tax rate of 100% then that money goes into making things better for everyone or a ubi

[–] Witchfire@lemmy.world 6 points 2 years ago

We used to basically have that

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[–] anarchy79@lemmy.world 73 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Poverty will never be eradicated, what kind of nonsense is that? The poverty is a feature of capitalism, not a bug.

[–] JCreazy@midwest.social 23 points 2 years ago (1 children)

So eliminate capitalism=eliminate poverty

[–] Kbobabob@lemmy.world 9 points 2 years ago
[–] paddirn@lemmy.world 57 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Right, I’m sure there’s actually plans to eradicate poverty… more likely there’s plans to eradicate the impoverished.

[–] assassinatedbyCIA@lemmy.world 48 points 2 years ago (1 children)

The current system we operate in requires poverty to function. It requires people to be desperate so that they work for the oligarchs and, it requires the absolute destitute to exist to serve as a warning to the masses. If poverty didn’t exist our capitalist world would simply create it.

[–] return2ozma@lemmy.world 9 points 2 years ago (1 children)
[–] TokenBoomer@lemmy.world 6 points 2 years ago (2 children)

These countries are not under developed, they’re over exploited.

Truth

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[–] BestBouclettes@jlai.lu 9 points 2 years ago

The means to solve it almost overnight are there. Homelessness and such are political choices more than anything.

[–] cyborganism@lemmy.ca 25 points 2 years ago (1 children)

If a dollar was deposited into you account every SECOND, it would take approximately 32 years to get to just one billion dollars.

Elon Musk has 180! And he's the SECOND richest guy on Earth. The richest being Bernard Arnault at 211!!!

It's absolutely grotesque to be this filthy rich.

Also, inb4 "It'S pApEr VaLuE, nOt ReAl MoNeY iN tHe BaNk". Who cares? You could sell it all and become an international hero by ending all famine, bringing healthcare to everyone and giving shelter to everyone who needs it.

[–] dis_honestfamiliar@lemmy.world 13 points 2 years ago (1 children)

To add to this, don't forget they can borrow against this paper value. Since it's a loan, they don't pay taxes on it.

[–] Meltrax@lemmy.world 13 points 2 years ago

Even better - it's a debt. It lowers their income to below 0. It's a tax break.

[–] Cosmicomical@lemmy.world 23 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Lol i love the precision of this forecast: 229 and not 230

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[–] drmoose@lemmy.world 21 points 2 years ago (1 children)

It only makes sense that we collectively eat the first trillionaire.

Tbh I'd guess that it's unlikely that we'll have a trillionaires at all. Hiding wealth will become easier and easier and I don't think anyone wants that rep in "eat the billionaires" sort of public climate.

[–] lolcatnip@reddthat.com 2 points 2 years ago

We should have eaten the first billionaire. If we stay eating people we definitely didn't stop as long as there are any billionaires.

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 18 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Poverty will never be eradicated. At no point in human civilization have we managed to eliminate poverty, and as long as there are rich people needing to extract maximum profits from fellow humans there will always be poor people.

[–] Dyskolos@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 years ago

Poverty is needed for the rich to be rich. That's the basic foundation of the system. That was really a dumb report. Except the trillionaire-thing. We will witness that

[–] EdibleFriend@lemmy.world 17 points 2 years ago

229 years from now is gonna be some kind of mad max bullshit.

[–] JCreazy@midwest.social 17 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Speaking hypothetically here, what if millions of people just decided that they weren't to go going to give money to rich people and then those people decided to go to that rich person's house. Could the problem be fixed quickly this way?

[–] WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world 9 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

If even 10-20% of the workforce just refused to go to work until {list of demands} were met, most businesses and politicians would cave within days/weeks.

This is why it's important for capitalism to perpetuate poverty. If the majority had ample savings and were able to survive for months without a paycheque, they would be able to enact change comparatively easily and painlessly, they would be able to refuse and quit shit jobs, they would have time to invest in grass roots movements, campaigns, and protests.

[–] cosmicrookie@lemmy.world 16 points 2 years ago

229 years sounds too optimistic to me. I don't count on poverty ever being eradicated

[–] Alexstarfire@lemmy.world 12 points 2 years ago

We have far greater productivity than at any other point in human history and we still have tons of poverty, even in places like the EU and US. I believe we have the capability but not the willingness. Who's to say we'll ever have the willingness.

[–] zuck@lemmy.l0l.city 10 points 2 years ago

We tried nothing and we're all out of ideas

The kicker is this:

We use World Bank data27 to calculate the time needed to reduce (to below 1%) poverty at $6.85 a day. This is the higher of the three global poverty lines used by the World Bank; it is used because we believe it gives the most accurate picture of the numbers of people globally living in poverty.

I sure as hell could not survive on $6 a day - and we can talk about purchasing power, but resources have international trade prices and you're priced out of those resources if you're poor because of pecuniary externalities. At the current rate of wealth inequality growth, it will probably take so many years it might as well be "forever" to eradicate actual poverty and not the "at least you're not a slave" poverty definition they're using.

(note: I skimmed through it, so I could have missed something crucial)

[–] cerulean_blue@lemmy.ml 9 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

But, in 229 years, will a Trillionaire be classed as Poverty?

[–] thefartographer@lemm.ee 8 points 2 years ago

That 229 figure is bullshit. Either all the impoverished will perish, be killed, or move underground into a less opulent/more satisfying culture where rat burgers reign supreme well before then or the real number is "fuck off you poor piece of trash."

[–] tsonfeir@lemm.ee 8 points 2 years ago

At least we will know who to kill.

[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 8 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Poverty won't be eradicated ever. Not ever.

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[–] PatFussy@lemm.ee 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)

Hehe capitalism am I right guys?

Step 1: eat the rich

Step 2: ?????

Step 3: I didn't think this far ahead

[–] frezik@midwest.social 15 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

There are literal stacks of left wing literature about steps 2 and 3. Our problem is debating which of the five hundred paths to take is best, not finding just one.

[–] Cosmicomical@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago

Eating the rich woild be good regardless of anything we do afterwards, they are rich in potassium and other nutrients so I suggest we proceed with the dinner party

[–] ivanafterall@kbin.social 3 points 2 years ago

That's unfortunate.

[–] Hazmatastic@lemm.ee 2 points 2 years ago

Bold of the report to assume the species will even be around in 229 years

[–] werefreeatlast@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

I had stuff to say but yeah, all that is said. Agreed.

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