I lost interest in Adam’s videos ever since that Buying Bad/Renting Good video from a few years back (and thank god people don’t buy into that line of thought anymore).
JK Rowling is a billionaire, income solely (or almost solely) from book sales and licensing/merchandising. Set aside her thoughts/comments on trans people, regardless of what you think about them, and there’s nothing “bad” about her. She didn’t step on anyone, didn’t screw anyone — just made something that people loved.
i do very much agree with adam. i study buffett a lot and while he is a result of the flaws in our system, he has done a decent amount for corporate responsibility in america. not nearly enough to make up for the harm that berkshire does, but enough to make me view him in a better light than other billionaires. i wish he could see how donating to the gates foundation will not solve our problems.
Honestly I can’t stand Adam anymore. Even when he’s blatantly wrong he’s very condescending. ARE was fun for the first season but he ended up ruining my interest in what he has to say.
Billionaires shouldn’t exist. He’s actually very right in this video and it’s insane reading these comments. You Americans got fucked by your corporate class in the 70s who turned globalist.
During the great depression, Americans turned pro Socialist. Working class people formed unions, went on strike, demanded better wages and working conditions.
The American Dream is because of Socialism just as much as it’s about Capitalism. The new car, home, appliances, 2.5 kids, etc is because blue collar people had to fight for it.
In the 70s, China was broke. They had access to millions of workers who had never heard terms like ‘vacation pay’ though. They opened up trade with the US corporate class who now had access to all these new workers that had never heard of ‘collective bargaining’ and they didn’t have to pay shit.
Wal Mart got big by importing cheap goods from China.
The US corporate class destroyed American manufacturing by sending all your middle class factory jobs to places like China and India where they could get products made for really cheap, then simply ship them over to US consumers while closing domestic factories and laying everyone off.
Then Wal Mart swooped in and killed off smaller independent stores. Amazon got big the same way.
Back in the 80s there was a show called Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous. This episode is talking about a guy worth $10 million.
Seriously, the concept of billionaires was almost cartoonish yet now the US has about 720 billionaires while 50% of the US workforce makes less than 30k a year.
In the 50s, CEOs made roughly 20-50 times what they paid their workers. Nowadays CEOs make roughly 200-500 times what they pay their workers. Disney’s CEO makes like 1400 times what they pay their workers.
Socialism isn’t Communism yet the US Capitalist system makes it seem like they’re the same intentionally to keep people divided on the issue. Right wing people don’t like Communists. US media/Academia keep trying to make Socialists look like Communists though. The first ‘Socialists’ in the US were Virginia coal miners. It’s a blue collar ideology.
The only real way to deal with billionaires is to go back to taxing the obscenely wealthy at extremely high tax rates plus closing all the loopholes, removing lobbying, and taking money out of politics. None of that is going to happen as long as the general public and politicians simp for billionaires.
Since this guy keeps bringing up “saving money on taxes by donating”, let’s all remember that you lose more money donating than not donating, even taking taxes into account. Donations are not a credit, they are a deduction. They lower taxable income. So you lose 100% of your donation, as opposed to losing whatever % of your donation would have been taken in taxes.
I think a thing a lot of people miss is that, regardless of how innocently someone made their billions (such as JK Rowling, Notch etc), they still have hordes of cash in a world in which people are truly suffering. This doesn’t mean giving away cash to individuals, but aiding in the progress of endeavours that will prevent the problems many humans face, as opposed to funding space travel to fulfill a personal fantasy.
It’s something akin to being sat at a table and receiving 99% of the food offered, watching everyone else pass out from hunger and refusing to hand the food over.
If you view the Patagonia founder in a positive light as it relates to progressive politics and climate activism, this is ultimately a good thing. A fight fire with fire situation, in a system where the Supreme Court has found that corporations and their money are entitled to free speech in the form of campaign contribution and special interests. Republicans have really taken off with that mindset, with the most pro-business outcomes imaginable.
The reason there are people cucking themselves for billionaires is because they’re drunk on the koolaide of the mythical American Dream. This dream has only ever existed as a dream, not as reality. It’s been peddled and perpetuated _by the billionaires_ because it’s one way they keep people from rising up against them. “Oh, one day you could be like me. If you take it away from me, you’re taking it away from yourself.” Pure, unadulterated delusion. And some people slurp it down, straight from their Daddy Zuck’s or Bezos’s or Musk’s balls.
I agree that there shouldn’t be billionaires, I agree that tax loopholes should be closed, money shouldn’t influence politics, however he’s creating outrage porn and misrepresenting the situation with the Patagonia founder. There is no financial benefit in donating his shares to a non-profit trust, the reason he didn’t pay tax on that transfer is because he wasn’t paid cash for the shares, he doesn’t get a tax break. His family may have a seat at the board, but they’ve lost the ability to profit from that position, so they can vote, but all personal financial motive is gone. There are a dozen ways to achieve his political goals, and use tax loopholes to protect his wealth, and what he did was not one of them. If you want an example of a company that uses profit to influence politics and donations to create tax breaks, they’d copy the financial structure of literally EVERY other company. This is not some tricky accounting hack, from the perspective of personal gain, this is the worst move you could possibly do next to liquidating the company and donating all proceeds. Adam is painting the situation as if to say LOOK AT THIS NEW TAX HACK BILLIONAIRES ARE USING.
In order to make that much money you basically have had to fuck over several if not a fuck ton of people.
I lost interest in Adam’s videos ever since that Buying Bad/Renting Good video from a few years back (and thank god people don’t buy into that line of thought anymore).
He looks like Alton Brown.
JK Rowling is a billionaire, income solely (or almost solely) from book sales and licensing/merchandising. Set aside her thoughts/comments on trans people, regardless of what you think about them, and there’s nothing “bad” about her. She didn’t step on anyone, didn’t screw anyone — just made something that people loved.
Jeez, politicians making it easy to funnel cash to politicians. Color me surprised.
fuck Adam, guy is such a tool.
Holy shit I can’t stand this guy. What a hack.
Communist echo chamber never change reddit.
something something eat the rich
I hate this fucking guy so much
The comment section here is garbage fire
I can’t tell if this dude has a lot of hair or a lot of forehead.
“finally, a billionaire willing to smack back at capitalism” -washington post (“opinion” piece)
I should hope i don’t have to explain how this is a hilariously absurd.
GUYS GUYS WE CAN’T TAX BILLIONAIRES BECAUSE I DON’T WANNA PAY THOSE TAXES WHEN I AM A BILLIONAIRE!!!
“He was born poor, died rich, and didn’t hurt anyone along the way”
– Duke Ellington on Louise Armstrong
There are more accounts with no history complaining about anti-capitalists in here than actual anti-capitalists.
i do very much agree with adam. i study buffett a lot and while he is a result of the flaws in our system, he has done a decent amount for corporate responsibility in america. not nearly enough to make up for the harm that berkshire does, but enough to make me view him in a better light than other billionaires. i wish he could see how donating to the gates foundation will not solve our problems.
Honestly I can’t stand Adam anymore. Even when he’s blatantly wrong he’s very condescending. ARE was fun for the first season but he ended up ruining my interest in what he has to say.
Billionaires shouldn’t exist. He’s actually very right in this video and it’s insane reading these comments. You Americans got fucked by your corporate class in the 70s who turned globalist.
During the great depression, Americans turned pro Socialist. Working class people formed unions, went on strike, demanded better wages and working conditions.
The American Dream is because of Socialism just as much as it’s about Capitalism. The new car, home, appliances, 2.5 kids, etc is because blue collar people had to fight for it.
In the 70s, China was broke. They had access to millions of workers who had never heard terms like ‘vacation pay’ though. They opened up trade with the US corporate class who now had access to all these new workers that had never heard of ‘collective bargaining’ and they didn’t have to pay shit.
Wal Mart got big by importing cheap goods from China.
The US corporate class destroyed American manufacturing by sending all your middle class factory jobs to places like China and India where they could get products made for really cheap, then simply ship them over to US consumers while closing domestic factories and laying everyone off.
Then Wal Mart swooped in and killed off smaller independent stores. Amazon got big the same way.
Back in the 80s there was a show called Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous. This episode is talking about a guy worth $10 million.
https://youtu.be/rjM2TOplSco
Seriously, the concept of billionaires was almost cartoonish yet now the US has about 720 billionaires while 50% of the US workforce makes less than 30k a year.
In the 50s, CEOs made roughly 20-50 times what they paid their workers. Nowadays CEOs make roughly 200-500 times what they pay their workers. Disney’s CEO makes like 1400 times what they pay their workers.
Socialism isn’t Communism yet the US Capitalist system makes it seem like they’re the same intentionally to keep people divided on the issue. Right wing people don’t like Communists. US media/Academia keep trying to make Socialists look like Communists though. The first ‘Socialists’ in the US were Virginia coal miners. It’s a blue collar ideology.
If you’re curious on the [history](https://i.imgur.com/wpFgwqJ.jpeg) of the [rich tax rates](https://i.imgur.com/zIVZmHh.jpeg).
Weird how all the top comments are just commenting on the Adam’s appearance instead of, you know, talking about the substance.
Fuck billionaires and anyone who supports ’em.
The only real way to deal with billionaires is to go back to taxing the obscenely wealthy at extremely high tax rates plus closing all the loopholes, removing lobbying, and taking money out of politics. None of that is going to happen as long as the general public and politicians simp for billionaires.
Since this guy keeps bringing up “saving money on taxes by donating”, let’s all remember that you lose more money donating than not donating, even taking taxes into account. Donations are not a credit, they are a deduction. They lower taxable income. So you lose 100% of your donation, as opposed to losing whatever % of your donation would have been taken in taxes.
I think a thing a lot of people miss is that, regardless of how innocently someone made their billions (such as JK Rowling, Notch etc), they still have hordes of cash in a world in which people are truly suffering. This doesn’t mean giving away cash to individuals, but aiding in the progress of endeavours that will prevent the problems many humans face, as opposed to funding space travel to fulfill a personal fantasy.
It’s something akin to being sat at a table and receiving 99% of the food offered, watching everyone else pass out from hunger and refusing to hand the food over.
There is no such thing as a good billionaire.
Nothing wrong with having money, using that money though for political gain and power is wrong.
Also the Walton’s aren’t squeaky clean like Wal-Mart likes to paint them like is mentioned in the video.
https://www.mic.com/articles/79039/the-untold-story-of-alice-walton-s-dwi-incident
Tldr?
If you view the Patagonia founder in a positive light as it relates to progressive politics and climate activism, this is ultimately a good thing. A fight fire with fire situation, in a system where the Supreme Court has found that corporations and their money are entitled to free speech in the form of campaign contribution and special interests. Republicans have really taken off with that mindset, with the most pro-business outcomes imaginable.
The reason there are people cucking themselves for billionaires is because they’re drunk on the koolaide of the mythical American Dream. This dream has only ever existed as a dream, not as reality. It’s been peddled and perpetuated _by the billionaires_ because it’s one way they keep people from rising up against them. “Oh, one day you could be like me. If you take it away from me, you’re taking it away from yourself.” Pure, unadulterated delusion. And some people slurp it down, straight from their Daddy Zuck’s or Bezos’s or Musk’s balls.
Reading this comment section makes me really, **really**, glad I got over my ultrasocialist phase.
I agree that there shouldn’t be billionaires, I agree that tax loopholes should be closed, money shouldn’t influence politics, however he’s creating outrage porn and misrepresenting the situation with the Patagonia founder. There is no financial benefit in donating his shares to a non-profit trust, the reason he didn’t pay tax on that transfer is because he wasn’t paid cash for the shares, he doesn’t get a tax break. His family may have a seat at the board, but they’ve lost the ability to profit from that position, so they can vote, but all personal financial motive is gone. There are a dozen ways to achieve his political goals, and use tax loopholes to protect his wealth, and what he did was not one of them. If you want an example of a company that uses profit to influence politics and donations to create tax breaks, they’d copy the financial structure of literally EVERY other company. This is not some tricky accounting hack, from the perspective of personal gain, this is the worst move you could possibly do next to liquidating the company and donating all proceeds. Adam is painting the situation as if to say LOOK AT THIS NEW TAX HACK BILLIONAIRES ARE USING.
If you want to make America great again bring back the 90% top tier tax rate that actually made America great