Damned Billionaires

[Fake Messiah]

What do you say about a topic that covers the extravagant lives of billionaires?

Theists already call us the communists, so why not play along?

Zuckerberg’s superyacht lands in Seattle as Meta announces big local layoff



Hours after news of Meta’s 1,400 job cuts in King County broke Tuesday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s 390-foot megayacht quietly floated into Seattle.

The $300 million vessel called Launchpad wasn’t exactly greeted by a welcoming committee. GeekWire reports that the yacht drew crowds — and insults — as it traveled from Shilshole Bay through the Locks toward Lake Union.

The yacht, to put it lightly, is a behemoth. But you know what they say: The bigger a man’s yacht, the bigger his bank account.

Zuckerberg did not appear to be onboard, according to GeekWire. Private jet trackers show he’s possibly in Monterey, Calif. His Instagram shows him working out in a camouflage vest in an ominously dark gym that doesn’t scream “yacht vacation.”

While Meta is headquartered in Menlo Park, Calif., the company maintains a significant presence in the Seattle area, once boasting a local head count of 8,800 employees.

If that head count is still accurate, Meta laid off about 1 in 6 of its King County employees Tuesday. Those affected include 259 employees across two Seattle offices, 699 workers at a Bellevue office and 206 at a Redmond office, plus 231 remote workers statewide. Engineering and product manager roles were hit the hardest.

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/zu...employees/

This costs $300,000,000. It costs $90,000 per day to operate. It comes with a support vessel to haul toys and a submarine that costs an additional $30,000,000. The helipad yacht that follows along costs another $100,000,000.

[The Grand Nudger]

I say eat the rich.

[Paraselene]

They taste like boiled chicken.

[AFTT47]

I can't agree with this sentiment. People who succeed suck? That sounds like a philosophy of failure.

The system (at least in the US) may be too skewed towards rewarding the successful at the expense of the not so successful and particularly at the expense of the unsuccessful. I believe we need to be much more compassionate. But that is the fault of the system itself, not the people who benefit from it.

Before anyone claims that billionaires use their power to maintain the status quo, well yeah, that's a general problem with human beings in general, not billionaires in particular. People may be generally well intentioned but most are susceptible to temptation. Locks are a minor deterrent to determined thieves. They are mostly there to keep honest people honest.

Warren Buffett has been saying for years that it's a travesty that he pays less taxes than his secretary. He's a liberal. But a guy doesn't become a multi-billionaire by paying more taxes than he is assessed. The problem is the system - not the billionaires.

[The Grand Nudger]

Belligerent feudal lords have always considered themselves self made. Where's your fiefdom you lazy bum? The only thing we can be sure a billionaire has done successfully is steal their employees wages.

[Paraselene]

They're also good at rolling around in their money. Can't discount that.

[AFTT47]

So Elon Musk's contributions of Tesla and SpaceX account for nothing? Please don't pretend that either company would have succeeded without him.

Jeff Bezos did not contribute anything with Amazon or Blue Origin?

The world would be better off without Microsoft and Bill Gate's dastardly scheme to vaccinate the world's children against deadly diseases?

Google didn't advance the internet? We'd be better off without Larry Page and Sergei Brin?

I'll admit that the world would be far better without Facebook and that Mark Zuckerberg sucks in every way imaginable.

[Paraselene]

Better off is subjective.

[Fake Messiah]

I say eat the rich.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

I can't agree with this sentiment. People who succeed suck? That sounds like a philosophy of failure.

The system (at least in the US) may be too skewed towards rewarding the successful at the expense of the not so successful and particularly at the expense of the unsuccessful. I believe we need to be much more compassionate. But that is the fault of the system itself, not the people who benefit from it.

Before anyone claims that billionaires use their power to maintain the status quo, well yeah, that's a general problem with human beings in general, not billionaires in particular. People may be generally well intentioned but most are susceptible to temptation. Locks are a minor deterrent to determined thieves. They are mostly there to keep honest people honest.

Warren Buffett has been saying for years that it's a travesty that he pays less taxes than his secretary. He's a liberal. But a guy doesn't become a multi-billionaire by paying more taxes than he is assessed. The problem is the system - not the billionaires.

I don't disagree that the system, not the ultra-rich, is the issue. Even Adam Smith argued that the wealthy should pay proportionately more in taxes - those who benefit the most from society would be obligated to do more to support that society. But when you've got Musk money (or Bezos money or Zuckerberg money), then the billionaires become a significant part of the problem because money = political influence. Anyone who thinks policy makers aren't for sale hasn't been paying attention.

Boru