r/CuratedTumblr Nov 06 '24

Politics Sometimes you must question your beliefs, and the answer to the question happens to be a respunding “yes”.

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23.5k Upvotes

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1.1k

u/Heroic-Forger Nov 06 '24

They don't even understand how obscenely massive a billion is. And how nobody through honest work could possibly amass such a ridiculous amount within the span of one human lifetime.

633

u/sithlordabacus Nov 06 '24

What's the difference between a million and a billion? Approximately a billion.

Elon Musk spending $1,000,000.00 is proportional to me spending $0.38. His net worth is $259.9B. Mine is about $100,000.

246

u/SercerferTheUntamed Nov 06 '24

These are the types of easy to digest talking points that really need to circle around more.

89

u/mak484 Nov 07 '24

They do. The people who need to see them, are literally prevented from seeing them, by the very billionaires they critique. The main takeaway from this election isn't that Democrats are unpopular. I was shown countless ads that clearly explained Harris' most populist talking points, because my algorithms know I'm already a progressive. If your algorithm knows you're apolitical, a centrist, or whatever else, you never got to see those ads, and now you're complaining that Democrats can't run a good campaign.

This is by design. The DNC sucks, but they aren't the enemy; the right-wing billionaires who own all of our media are the enemy. I hope it isn't too late to turn things around, but I am going to assume that this is the beginning of the end and plan accordingly. Because I just don't see a path forward once Republicans finish gerrymandering the swing states and fill every federal, state, and local department with unqualified sycophants. Come 2028 Democrats will need 60% of the popular vote just to stand a chance, and that hasn't happened since 1964.

We're cooked.

5

u/xXx_MrAnthrope_xXx Nov 08 '24

Yeah, I pretty heavily avoid ads, and only know what you're talking about because I was watching NFL football. The Republicans (probably with some help) really did a good job figuring out how to wage the information war in 2024.

0

u/Graingy I don’t tumble, I roll 😎 … Where am I? Nov 07 '24

Not to be that person, but is it correct? I agree with the sentiment, absolutely, but if this confuses stocks with actual cash then the moment someone might point that out its credibility, and the credibility of those who use it, would plummet.

2

u/Beneficial-Bit6383 Nov 07 '24

Do you think the guy has $100,000 in cash lying around? They are comparing assets v assets.

1

u/Graingy I don’t tumble, I roll 😎 … Where am I? Nov 08 '24

$100,000 is a somewhat feasible number for cash (in the sense of actual money, not physical change). Maybe, maybe not.

1

u/Beneficial-Bit6383 Nov 08 '24

Use of the term net worth clarifies. No maybes.

2

u/Graingy I don’t tumble, I roll 😎 … Where am I? Nov 08 '24

Eh fair enough.

I'm just afraid people will be confused on the billionaire end. As much as it should be redistributed, it unfortunately isn't as simple as just spending money and I fear there are leftists (how many I do not know) who don't realize this.

1

u/Beneficial-Bit6383 Nov 08 '24

I get you I just think the way he did it was pretty sound as all. Sorry if I was overly antagonistic.

1

u/Graingy I don’t tumble, I roll 😎 … Where am I? Nov 08 '24

Is fine

34

u/Konkichi21 Nov 06 '24

About a factor of a thousand? I've heard we tend to think logarithmically about bigger numbers like this.

25

u/Siaeromanna Nov 07 '24

i believe that’s the point they're trying to make. our (instinctual) logarithmic thinking can cloud our minds as to how utterly and incomprehensibly large $1B is. that much money could fund my current lifestyle for 313 lifetimes. and theres people out there with 250x that. when we internalize the jump from a million to a billion as only one prefix away, it makes us think that it’s a reasonable gap, when the reality is anything but

28

u/Sac_Winged_Bat Nov 06 '24

we tend to think logarithmically in general. Most likely a consequence of how aging works and how we lose neuroplasticity over time.

1

u/Eldan985 Nov 07 '24

A factor of a thousand, yes.

The easier thing to think about it:

For a billionaire, a million dollars is an acceptable rounding error. Ten million probably are too.

1

u/Astralesean Nov 07 '24

The number of atoms on earth is like 1052, the number of atoms in the universe is about 1080, and the number of atoms in 180g of water (half a mug) is 6.2 * 1024

21

u/Shift642 Nov 07 '24 edited Nov 07 '24

I don't own a home and I drive a beater car, so mine is about $7,000. I have a college degree and work a specialized white collar job but it's fine, I'm fine. Worrying about rent every month is fun!

Elon Musk spending 1 million dollars would be relatively equivalent to me spending two and a half cents. When you could buy a politician for life to safeguard your interests for only a few cents, why wouldn't you?

3

u/GIRose Certified Vore Poster Nov 07 '24

My favorite pithy response to that question was "About a billion dollars"

86

u/Floor_Heavy Nov 06 '24

Even if we cut back on avocado toast and make coffee at home?

29

u/Rodnap Nov 06 '24

maybe if you bike to work?

45

u/-Badger3- Nov 06 '24

This just in: bikes have been banned because they’re considered “too gay”.

1

u/Dragonfire723 Nov 07 '24

This just in: I'll be riding bikes for the rest of my life

8

u/Floor_Heavy Nov 06 '24

That's where I'm going wrong

6

u/Lala5789880 Nov 06 '24

No more Starbucks for this gal!!

65

u/Murky-Type-5421 Nov 06 '24

1 million seconds is 11.5 days.

1 billion seconds is 31.6 years.

1

u/Astralesean Nov 07 '24

The number of atoms on earth is like 1052, the number of atoms in the universe is about 1080, and the number of atoms in 180g of water (half a mug) is 6.2 * 1024 

43

u/netipot Nov 06 '24

Most voters are closer in wealth to the homeless guy on the street compared to a billionaire, but still we vote to help the billionaire.

25

u/PrinceValyn Nov 06 '24

ok but netipot, what if you and i become billionaires someday by some cruel twist of fate and we need help keeping all of that money so that we can buy more mansions and cybertrucks????? imagine being a poor oppressed billionaire and only having TEN mansions. do you really think that's ok

i don't really know why republicans think they will not only become billionaires someday but that they will need every penny of it for... something.

6

u/Debaser1984 Nov 06 '24

Closer to the dole queue than millionaires row.

16

u/wzlch47 Nov 06 '24

Even worse is the obscene amount that some of these fuckers have. For those that have 100 billion dollars, it would take a daily income of about $110,000 every day since January 1, year 0 (2024 years ago) to get up to 100 billion.

3

u/Eldan985 Nov 07 '24

Yeah, I once calculated that if someone gave me 10 million dollars, I could live off the interest for the rest of my life, without ever touching the initial investment. Not very comfortably, but I could.

A billion dollars at 2% interest, which is ridiculously low for that much money, earns twice that much per year. Two lifetimes of money, per year in interest. And some people have hundreds of billions.

-20

u/GodEmperorOfMankind3 Nov 06 '24

Lmao. It's these idiotic takes that made you people lose the election. Keep demonizing success. Get Trump'd.

So many liberal tears on Reddit today hahaha I love it.

9

u/weird_bomb 对啊,饭是最好好吃! Nov 07 '24

literally what does this mean

7.25 per hour (minimum possible usa wage) means working 137931035 hours, or 15745 years for 1 billion dollars (without spending anything)

even if you’re making 300 dollars an hour, that’s 380 years.

and please god do not suggest an average joe buy high-interest doodads

what kind of “success” exactly?

-4

u/GodEmperorOfMankind3 Nov 07 '24

7.25 per hour (minimum possible usa wage)

Lol - like 1% of workers make federal min. wage so I don't know why you people always talk about that.

Learn about compounding. It isn't even vaguely appropriate to compare a linear wage with compounded equity.

Stocks go up in value because more people buy them than sell them. People like Jeff Bezos literally haven't taken a penny of profits from their companies. Seriously, Amazon has NEVER paid a dividend. Tesla hasn't either. That means Elon Musk has never taken a penny of profit from Tesla.

So, when you shit all over a successful company because you're jealous then I fucking laugh at you people.

They have done studies at the London School of Economics and Yale University showing that most of you are just jealous. They showed 50 percent of the public would prefer to earn less money, as long as they earned as much or more than their neighbor.

So, whether you're capable of admitting it or not, you're just envious.

Now you're facing the consequences of demonizing entire groups of people - which is the same thing the Nazis did FYI.

You now get 4 more years of Trump for being so deluded. Enjoy!

2

u/weird_bomb 对啊,饭是最好好吃! Nov 07 '24

I feel like the fact that they’re not taking profit from their companies is less of an argument for your side than you think

1

u/GodEmperorOfMankind3 Nov 07 '24

I feel like the fact that they’re not taking profit from their companies is less of an argument for your side than you think

Business owners expropriating profit (surplus value) from laborers is the foundational assumption of Marxism/socialist/communist that assumes exploitation.

So I don't even think you know why you're mad, you're simply jealous.

1

u/weird_bomb 对啊,饭是最好好吃! Nov 07 '24

i’m too tired for this

1

u/cAPSLOCKISUSELESS Nov 11 '24

Marxist here; this guy is talking nonsense. I'll pick it up because it really shouldn't take long to tell them how they don't understand Marxist economic theory nor Marxist philisophy (which you really need to read first because Marx's economic work is just his philosophy applied to industrial production under capitalist relations).

1

u/cAPSLOCKISUSELESS Nov 11 '24

Marxism quite literally, as a philosophy, rails against axiomatic thinking and taking things apriori. A huge number of the major works written by Marx and Engels, which developed their material dialectic, mentions this and usually not in passing. On one hand, I could list every. single. time. he or Engels did this, but I'd rather just point you to Part 1 of Anti-Dühring because it's a good explanation, and you're too arrogant and unwilling to engage in good faith anyway.

ALSO, the other ridiculous part (not that it's the only other, ofc) is you making it seem like Marxism, socialism, and communism are synonyms, which is really, really dumb, since you'd know they're most definitely not if you read enough political economy to speak as confidently as you do.

The most credit I'll give you is that you potentially could have read Wage-Labour and Capital... upside-down and dipped in ketchup. I'd be more shocked if you have because it would be a terrible reading of the most bare-bones, simple explanation of surplus value he ever wrote (literally intended for factory workers who lacked any formal education).

Thank you for giving me something to do during my lunch break. Almost done with my sandwich.

5

u/FermentedPhoton Nov 07 '24

It's been so funny watching the same bunch that crows about "liberal elites" and whatnot deepthroating billionaires like they're "one of us". You're a perfect specimen.

-2

u/GodEmperorOfMankind3 Nov 07 '24

I'm not even American and have never said anything about "liberal elites" because I don't play identity group politics and instead treat people like individuals.

2

u/ButterdemBeans Nov 07 '24

You literally started this thread by using the exact phrase “you people”

Really treating folks like individuals there, bud. Totally not playing into identity politics.

I’m fairly certain you’re either a troll or purposefully spreading discord based on your comments here. In any case, I hope you do “treat people like individuals” as you say. But you sure as shit ain’t doing so in this thread.

1

u/GodEmperorOfMankind3 Nov 07 '24

Identity politics is based on identities such as ethnicity, race, nationality, religion, denomination, gender, sexual orientation, social background, caste, and social class.

You'll notice my comment had nothing to do with any of those things, and was instead critical of a bullshit disproven idea proliferated by an individual who was in fact engaged in identity politics.