[ggreer]

What? I can think of several off the top of my head.

J. K. Rowling became a billionaire by writing the Harry Potter books. Oprah Winfrey became a billionaire through her brand as a talented talk show host. Michael Jordan became a billionaire thanks to his basketball skills. None of those are even remotely exploitative.

[qqssccfftt]

> J. K. Rowling became a billionaire by writing the Harry Potter books.

And the hundreds of marketing people and the editors?

> Oprah Winfrey became a billionaire through her brand as a talented talk show host.

And everyone who makes her shows work?

> Michael Jordan became a billionaire thanks to his basketball skills.

And his coaches and trainers?

Without these people, none of those billionaires would've made it.

[gamblor956]

That's all true, but when you say "off the backs of others" that generally means by unfairly exploiting the labor of others without giving them anything back (see every dictionary, or https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/live...).

In the examples you have cited, all of those people were paid for their labor. In the cases of Winfrey and especially Jordan, many of those people were paid extremely well for their labor.

[ggreer]

If you consider voluntary association and compensation for labor exploitative, then I'm not sure what to say to you.

By your standard, anyone who participates in the economy is making money off the backs of others. My mother is now happily retired on the savings she accumulated working as a nurse. She couldn't have done that without all the people working at drug manufacturers, EMR companies, or health insurance providers. Did she make money off the backs of the hospital lab techs? Did she exploit the ER security guards? After all without those people, she wouldn't have made it.