[Retra]

Trump and Brexit are the result of people with too much money making terrible decisions for the rest of us. They're not evidence that rich people should have more power.

But incidentally, someone's ability to make a lot of money (or worse: inherit it) doesn't imply that they have any preferential ability to spend it in a way that benefits society. And when someone has the unchecked power to spend massive sums of money on themselves in ridiculous and frivolous ways, it's pretty clear that they have too much power. Because whoever should be making those decisions should certainly not be doing that.

Bill Gates rented a yacht for $5M/week. How is this not a clear waste? How much suffering could have been avoided at that cost? At least put it in some kind of public trust where such behavior can be properly considered corruption.

[heylook]

> Bill Gates rented a yacht for $5M/week. How is this not a clear waste?

Those $5M don't just get lit on fire. They transfer to some other set of people who can then decide what to do with it, and then onto some other set of people. Maybe the yacht's owner donates all proceeds to feed starving children.

[bittercynic]

It is still a waste in the sense that productive people spent their time building and maintaining a boat for the benefit of a few rich guys. It would represent reduced waste if the money was instead spent to hire those productive people to build infrastructure for their own communities.

Not trying to argue that luxury goods are pure evil, but there is a degree of selfishness in having luxury goods for yourself when there are people who lack the basics.

[diggernet]

So you advocate firing all the hard working folks who designed, built, maintain, repair, clean, and operate that boat, and take care of the passengers? They they too will lack the basics, and the money you just protected from "waste" will need to be used to provide for them.

[bittercynic]

Not advocating anything of the sort.

Only saying it would be /even better/ if the people currently spending fortunes on yachts spent the money building libraries and the like instead.

[qntty]

Somehow I don't think that's what she meant.

[Retra]

No, you pay them to do something else for someone else.

[auggierose]

I think you get that wrong. Trump and Brexit are the direct result of democratic decisions in countries with a long history of democracy. Denying that isn't helping.

[Retra]

Yes, democratic decisions resulting from massive propaganda campaigns, funded by some extremely wealthy personalities. Obviously the problem here is democracy, not the very few overtly corrupt and overly powerful people undermining it.

[auggierose]

And these overtly corrupt and overly powerful people exist within old democracies. You might have a nice and naive imagination of what democracy could be, but you shouldn't deny what it is RIGHT NOW.

[Retra]

What it is RIGHT NOW, is fixable. I don't know what you're trying suggest be done instead.