these two things aren't mutually exclusive, your can play your part and eat billionaires.
this post was submitted on 21 Mar 2024
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In the end we are just gonna have to eat these billionaires wont we
I'd be happy if they were just dead. The real question is how do effectively wipe out their wealth..
We don't need to take it. Just make it not exist. I've been thinking about this a bunch lately.
hivemind?
Basically. If we all decide at once to ignore their "wealth". Bam. They are no longer wealthy and their power goes poof.
Unless they have a private army of drones of course.
or I think the desire to earn personal assets of that level should really be classified as a mental disease, like gambling addiction. And be treated accordingly
Threat of violence is the core of all power. Even wealth is just a way to account for how much you can leverage violence over another.
I upvoted, but is c/Memes just Lemmy general now?
Is this not a meme? I thought this counted. Lmk if it doesn't belong.
If you wanna get technically, according to Richard Dawkins, author of The Selfish Gene (1976) which first coined the term "meme", a meme is "a unit of culture—such as “tunes, ideas, catch‐phrases, clothes fashions, ways of making pots or building arches.”
So yes, your post would count as a meme, but so would pegging
(˵ ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°˵)ﾉ⌒♡*:･。.
To be honest, pegging has given birth to some real dank memes.
the vast majority of pollution is created by the richest people in the world.
99% of the planet could produce zero pollution for the rest of our lives and it wouldn't even make a dent in the amount of pollution created by the billionaire class.
The general public has sadly been guilted into the idea that dealing with the vast majority of pollution is their problem. Don't get me wrong, there is some personal responsibility, but much of it is out of our hands.
Take a look at the Cargill family, 14 billionaires. From the wiki about the current CEO:
In 2019, former U.S. Congressman Henry A. Waxman, in a report by Mighty Earth, called Cargill "the worst company in the world" and noted that it drives "the most important problems facing our world" (deforestation, pollution, climate change, exploitation) "at a scale that dwarfs their closest competitors."
Do you think that is because they use every cent to burn coal and oil in their backyard, or
do you think it is because they produce and sell products to consumers which can not be produced without harm to the environment?
99% of the planet could produce zero pollution for the rest of our lives and it wouldn’t even make a dent in the amount of pollution created by the billionaire class.
How do you think they would create that damage to the environment if nobody would buy their products?
How do you think they would create that damage to the environment if nobody would buy their products?
Selling to other billionaires and governments...
They would sell $165 billion worth of meat, 22% of all meat products consumed in the US to a handful of billionaires and the US government? Ignoring the international business.
Billionaires would never touch that meat. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/jan/10/zuckerberg-cattle-hawaii-beef-environment
China or Russia would probably buy it. Or the US military.
You think that after 99% of the US population decided to stop supporting climate change by not buying meat from billionaires, those 99% would still allow them to continue? Not for their own taste and convenience but for some billionaires profits?
How can you possibly think the US military, or any sovereign country, will magically spend an extra $165B a year on meat a year if all of the current consumers magically go vegetarian? Who exactly is going to eat a bunch of extra meat? There will just be fewer meat sales, period, ignoring a short term price drop if everyone magically goes vegetarian on the same day.
I'd be very interested in the source for this...
America’s richest 10% are responsible for 40% of its planet-heating pollution
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/08/17/business/rich-americans-climate-footprint-emissions/index.html
The emissions of the middle class are also a huge problem and will have to drop to 0 as well.
Systemic issues require systemic solutions, not individual efforts. The current state of our society is a clear manifestation of this principle. It's time to address the root cause which is capitalism.
Capitalism is too broad of a term to make any type of useful argument. Democratic socialism is still a capitalist way of doing things when it's miles apart from corporatism. Both still fall under Capitalism umbrella, however one is definitely worse than the other.
Ultimately, commerce will never cease, resources will always cost, etc. Just update your terminology and you'll find much more reception to your point.
It's not too broad a term at all. Capitalism is an economic system where the capital owning class holds power in society. Whatever flavor you have leads you down the same path in the end. Ultimately, commerce should not be equated with capitalism. Just try thinking more broadly instead of trying to carry water for a deplorable system that's killing us all.
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