It's funny how these billionaires are supposedly so smart and so successful, and yet nobody will *ever* say...

[ck4829]

"Thanks to these billionaires influencing our politics, we finally have universal healthcare"

"Thanks to these billionaires influencing our politics, we eradicated measles/polio/HIV/cancer"

"Thanks to these billionaires influencing our politics, we have free college"

"Thanks to these billionaires influencing our politics, we have a truly responsive and participatory democracy that is the envy of the world"

"Thanks to these billionaires influencing our politics, we have eliminated childhood hunger"

"Thanks to these billionaires influencing our politics, we no longer have the 'freedom' of going bankrupt from medical bills"

"Thanks to these billionaires influencing our politics, we really are #1 in education/healthcare/infrastructure/anything really"

"Thanks to these billionaires influencing our politics, we no longer have to put off health checks or therapy because of a fear of the cost"

"Thanks to these billionaires influencing our politics, we finally have Putin facing accountability in the Hague"

"Thanks to these billionaires influencing our politics, we have housing for all"

I am confident that these phrases will never appear out of our media, because they will never happen because billionaires influenced our politics. I am so confident in this that you can save this, bookmark this, print it out, posters and lurkers alike, keep it handy because the first person who shows me a something that does in fact demonstrate one of these things, I will PayPal or Zelle them MONEY.

The hunt is on.

[Turbineguy]

1. Thanks to billionaires we have poverty and homelessness

[magicarpet]

3. ... poverty and homelessness...

... you ain't seen nothing yet,... wait until Project 2025 is fully implemented.

[ReRe]

18. You're right!

They could wipe poverty and homelessness away in this country (if not the world),

and have billions LEFT!!! How many effing billions does one need for God's sake!

[Turbineguy]

26. Now the great thing about having lots of money

is the damage you can do to society.

[ReRe]

29. Well

that's about the only thing one could construe, isn't it?

Evil MFers!

And I betcha a wide majority of the 1% are aboard the "great replacement theory" humvee,

which is getting ready to roll down the the streets of our country.

There used to be a song (guess there still is) from an old Broadway play that went:

"Money makes the world go 'round, the world go 'round, the world go 'round...".

I think money is going to make the world STOP!

[MadameButterfly]

36. They are mentally ill. If you have everything you could ever want or need materially and still

you want take money from struggling people to have more instead of experiencing the joy of giving, loving, making the world a better place...you don't have a clue what happiness, life, is all about.

[ReRe]

38. That is so true

They really do live in another world up there. Life is so full down on the ground where the majority of us live.

[TwilightZone]

2. Billionaires are not a monolithic bloc. Many have donated to many of those causes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_%26_Melinda_Gates_Foundation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacKenzie_Scott#Philanthropy

Warren Buffett has donated 30% of his wealth and plans to donate nearly all the rest in his lifetime.

George Soros has donated more than $30 billion to various causes.

Michael Bloomberg, more than $10 billion.

Other billionaires committed to the Giving Pledge.

https://givingpledge.org/about

Blanket statements are rarely accurate, and not everything has a binary answer.

[ck4829]

5. It's ten ways to prove me wrong. Question is - will they?

[BigMin28]

6. Billionaires

Do donate to their pet causes, with much control. Have you ever heard one truly advocate for anything that would help people. No. They concern themselves budgets and tax cuts that help them.

[Farmer-Rick]

9. Exactly

They pick and choose what horror of society they will give their excess stolen loot to. They really don't just hand it out to hungry people or to make for a better society. They pick the charities that help them.

Like the Pete Peterson foundation. A tax deductible charity that wants to eliminate social security as we know it. It was founded by dead billionaire Pete Peterson and his son. It is still trying to end Social Security. They may get their way.

[jfz9580m]

10. How evil do you have to be to attack the elderly poor?.nt

[in2herbs]

33. And they only donate when the tax consequence is beneficial to them. nt

[travelingthrulife]

27. Nice tax break for them though.

[orangecrush]

31. But not enough

To make one of the things on that list happen.

[Magoo48]

4. You're so right.

They are a socioeconomic indictment of our extraction capitalism, and they are an embarrassment to those believing in our common welfare.

[Xoan]

7. GREED IS A DISEASE.

[dchill]

20. It's also observably degenerative.

[rubbersole]

8. If their main concern was helping others...

...they wouldn't be billionaires.

[OldBaldy1701E]

14. BINGO!

https://i.postimg.cc/d0Td8Mn8/temp-Image-FQz6d-Y.avif

[SCantiGOP]

11. Thanks to these billionaires

We just elected a demented felon to the Presidency.

[republianmushroom]

16. Many billionaires also donated to VP Harris.

[dchill]

19. "When you have so much money, you can bet on both teams."

That's the name of that tune.

[republianmushroom]

22. Do you think Taylor Swift donated to both teams ?

[dchill]

24. I do not.

[ReRe]

32. Well good on 'em

but couldn't they have grabbed a bunch of other billionaires to fork over a buck or two also?

They've all got telephones just like you and me. Billionaires all run around in their own

orbit up there, after all.

[ananda]

12. Well, they're fucked too; they just don't know it yet.

This will be what is called a Pyrrhic Victory.

[lastlib]

13. I have told a few people this:

"If you're so RICH, why aren't you SMART?"

You might think I have a bit of contempt for rich people. You're probably right.

[OldBaldy1701E]

17. Because it is not about 'smarts'.

It is about greed and sub-human devolution. One just cannot have that much money without a level of socioeconomic damage to others to get it. The small businesses and those who just do their thing have no chance against someone who does not care about the fact that they are a fellow human being and once that detachment from humanity is achieved, it fuels their ever-growing horde.

(You may notice I have some contempt for them as well. I feel it is deserved. I bet you do, too. For the rest, I can tell you this... you want to understand where we are coming from, go work retail/food service in a very exclusive part of town. You'll be begging for the guillotines within a month. The level of entitlement and lack of humanity is nauseating.)

[lastlib]

21. To your last point.....

I did investment-related work for 27 years, encountered MANY fairly wealthy individuals. A HUGE percentage of them were absolute assholes, so yeah, I could grease up a guillotine or three (or five--for efficiency's sake....) You are spot-on with that.

[Jarqui]

15. What the billionaires don't look at is

they weaken the country as they pad their bank accounts

[dchill]

23. Actually, it's a twofer - they're just scavengers.

Tearing down democracy is part of the plan. They're SO smart.

[Jarqui]

28. It is one thing to fight for your people - to defend a Constitution

But another to fight for an authoritarian who doesn't give a crap about you
See desertion assessment of Russian forces ....

Would not surprise me to see another Weather Underground pop up as Trump veers out of control.

[PortTack]

25. Ive never been so happy to be on the losing side of things!

[orangecrush]

30. Damn straight

[live love laugh]

34. Why should they? It's up to the people to make them pay, and

a large swath of The People are uneducated and brainwashed.

[ck4829]

37. And this is how it starts. We can label it and organize around it. Call it the billionaire challenge.

The way I see it is: I have money. People like money. Someone points out to me that one of those ten things is clearly taking place because of Musk, Bezos, and company. I give that someone that money.

[Blue Full Moon]

35. All the money in the world

All the money they wasted on getting trump elected would have covered most of what was on that list. The money doesn't flow down it goes up. We have got to quit buying and giving them our money to use against us. But the billionaires look at it as we have their money and they should be allowed to do as they please to us.