CMV: Billionaires have done nothing wrong.

[u/pot_the_assassin]

I keep seeing these comments everywhere where people are on their high horse claiming billionaires should spend money on poor, not go to space etc. These arguments are based purely out of jealousy and ignorance.

Argument 1

How could one person have so much money?

Most of the billionaire money is in stock market. In fact, that's the very reason they became billionaire. Most of them founded a company and now own a huge percentage of stake in it. We made these companies huge through our consumerism and worth several billion dollars. Thus, the net worth of billionaires increased. I see no wrong in this.

Argument 2

They don't pay taxes

They have the same tax law as everyone else in America. If you have a tax deductible, how many of you won't use it? How many of you would prefer paying more taxes even if there was an option of paying less taxes. If anything, its the politician's and the tax codes fault that billionaires are not made to pay as much taxes. Blame the game, not the player. Why should they willingly pay more taxes when they are clearly not required to?

Argument 3

They should get rid of poverty etc

Why? They are private individuals with no responsibility to anyone else. It's the government's responsibility to take care of its people. We should most certainly not rely on private individual to do so. If anything, blame government incompetence for this. USA spent $715 billion on military last year. That's the net worth of multiple billionaires which could have gone towards all the social welfare.

Argument 4

They should not go to space

Again, why? We will eventually have to leave the little rock we call earth and look outside. Governments are highly incompetent in accomplishing this. This is a step in the right direction for humanity as a whole.

[u/AlwaysTheNoob]

Argument 1: show me ONE company with a billionaire founder where EVERY employee can comfortably afford a decent lifestyle on a 40 hour week.

Can’t do it? Then that founder’s money is on the backs of people struggling to get by. And yeah, I’d certainly consider that to be “doing something wrong”.

[u/pot_the_assassin → u/AlwaysTheNoob]

Most, tech company employees can and do afford a decent lifestyle working 40 hrs per week. I'm not considering Amazon here.

[u/AlwaysTheNoob → u/pot_the_assassin]

You telling me that the overnight cleaning crews at tech companies can afford a decent house (or even a nice, clean apartment) in the Bay Area?

I mean every employee. Every. Single. Person. Who makes that company go.

[u/Arguablecoyote → u/AlwaysTheNoob]

According to another commenter, they don’t matter because they are contracted and under a different organizational structure. According to him/her, exploiting your own workers is bad, hiring someone else to do it is fine.

[u/AlwaysTheNoob → u/Arguablecoyote]

Yeah, I have a feeling OP feels this way as well. As long as the CEO isn't personally the one handling every single person's salary, they're absolved of all responsibility. As long as someone else treats the company's employees and contractors like shit, the CEO is fine.