Where Do Billionaires Come From?

[georgephillip]

Instead of arguing over a redistribution of income, restructure markets in such a way that vast private fortunes never come into existence in the first place.

You cannot restructure markets in such a way that vast private fortunes never come into existence in the first place without removing the ability of a family like mine to go from just above poverty level to the top 10% in 5 years.

You didn't build that.

You didn't build that

"'You didn't build that' is a phrase from a 2012 election campaign speech delivered by United States President Barack Obama on July 13, 2012, in Roanoke, Virginia.

"The sentence 'If you've got a business—you didn't build that' was publicized by his political opponents during the 2012 presidential campaign, as an attack by Obama on business and entrepreneurs.[1][2][3]

"The Obama campaign responded that the criticisms were taking the phrase out of context, and the word 'that' in the phrase was referring to the construction of "roads and bridges" in the previous sentence"

You didn't build that - Wikipedia

I built my farm from a hole in the ground

I also built my biz from nothing

I owe no banks, have no loans, raise my own food, etc etc

I'll wager i'm one of the most self made men on this BB

But i still don't the phenomenal ego to believe in the myth of self made men

We are a collectivist society, our interconnectability is undeniably a HUGE factor

This is why some entity w/ $$$ that legislates his OWN rules applicable to HIS OWN biz pisses me off

We are NOT a meritocracy because these faction(s) exists

~S~

I'll wager i'm one of the most self made men on this BB

But i still don't the phenomenal ego to believe in the myth of self made men

We are a collectivist society, our interconnectability is undeniably a HUGE factor

Imho, the last true "rugged individualist" probably died off around the time the first tribe formed; today, we are political animals:

Grundrisse 01

 

[Gdjjr]

"If we buy the right-wing story, the super-rich got their money from their great contribution to society.

Can you cite your source? I think what you'll find is multi-faceted. *Providing* a product or service to a market (consumers) sometimes "contributes to society" but, often as not it "contributes" an ROI (Return On Investment) to one and/or many.
All men are created equal- that doesn't guarantee an equal outcome. Everyone is wired different.
Oh, I'm not "right wing".

 

[Questioner]

I'm sure they "get" their money the same as anyone else does, the only difference is that they get a lot more of it. The main ways people get money are though transfers (e.x. inheritance, government, lottery), salaries (e.x. working a steady job), or deals (e.x. negotiating with deals others - such as through stocks and bonds). The rest isn't rocket science

If arguments aren't predicated on basic needs, such as material needs being met, and merely on comparison, then the "wealth" discrepancy is psychological - merely imagining "what others have" in comparison to what one has - even the poor have their basic material needs met, if obesity levels are any indicator.

 

[Grumblenuts]

It's a bad choice for parents to tell their kids they could be a millionaire or billionaire some day. The odds are .000000001 percent unless the parents have alot of money. But with a college education kids can do fairly well. Eat right, practice your faith, live a spotless life. Happiness is not found in the pursuit of money. Happiness to me is the 20 inches of snow forecasted here. A mere dusting. Wish it would go down south once. 20 inches would send the south into a panic worth watching.

Happiness comes from within- it's a bad choice to say differently. I have a 34 year old son who making 200k/year, legally, he attended 1 semester of pre-college and one semester of regular college. He and his brother were brought up with knowing I supported whatever they chose to do as long as it's productive. Neither eats like I do and I'm not religious- living a "spotless life" is impossible- leading someone, especially a kid, to believe it's possible is irresponsible setting the kid up for failure w/o the tools to deal with it.

Happiness, from many of the responses here, comes from stuff like taking away your part-time worker's healthcare benefits (as Jeff Bezos did) when you can easily afford not to. Taking from those with less because you can. Being like The Emperor in Star Wars, in other words.

People like Luke Skywalker criticized and wanted to get rid of The Emperor. I gather he was just being envious and jealous though.

 

[Gdjjr]

One thing is certain about billionaires, they are psychopaths. They could alleviate much suffering, but they don’t.

That moron Bezos is using his massive wealth not to help the poor or sick, but to build a space station on Mars because he thinks our time is limited on Earth. What a fucking jack ass.

Sociopath might be a better word. And to call Bezos a moron is kinda dumb. How much money do you have?

 

[gipper]

One thing is certain about billionaires, they are psychopaths. They could alleviate much suffering, but they don’t.

That moron Bezos is using his massive wealth not to help the poor or sick, but to build a space station on Mars because he thinks our time is limited on Earth. What a fucking jack ass.

Sociopath might be a better word. And to call Bezos a moron is kinda dumb. How much money do you have?

LOL. Yeah...rich people can’t be morons! LMFAO.

Why do dumb Americans worship wealth?

 

[georgephillip]

Where Do Billionaires Come From?

Their parents.

Bill Gates is a good example. Even though his parents were not among the richest one percent, they had an income that allowed Bill to acquire ten thousands hours of computer programming experience before he left for Harvard, and he's made good use of government since he moved on:

Should We Have Billionaires?

"Many of the country’s billionaires, starting with Bill Gates, owe their vast fortunes to these government-granted monopolies.

"As I, and others, have argued these can be extremely inefficient mechanisms for supporting innovation and creative work.

"Not only are they redistributing income upward, they also slow economic growth, and in the case of prescription drugs and medical equipment, impair people’s ability to get health care."

Assuming that everyone could become a "billionaire" is an unrealistic expectation to begin with - that's not the American dream, but of course a loser in life who has no morals, ambitions, or personal accountability could do more than waste his time envying others - if they don't, then their self-created poverty is on them.

Assuming that everyone could become a "billionaire" is an unrealistic expectation to begin with - that's not the American dream

A far more realistic expectation would be to structure markets in such a way than no one becomes a billionaire parasite.

 

[Ame®icano]

Where Do Billionaires Come From?

Their parents.

Bill Gates is a good example. Even though his parents were not among the richest one percent, they had an income that allowed Bill to acquire ten thousands hours of computer programming experience before he left for Harvard, and he's made good use of government since he moved on:

Should We Have Billionaires?

"Many of the country’s billionaires, starting with Bill Gates, owe their vast fortunes to these government-granted monopolies.

"As I, and others, have argued these can be extremely inefficient mechanisms for supporting innovation and creative work.

"Not only are they redistributing income upward, they also slow economic growth, and in the case of prescription drugs and medical equipment, impair people’s ability to get health care."

Assuming that everyone could become a "billionaire" is an unrealistic expectation to begin with - that's not the American dream, but of course a loser in life who has no morals, ambitions, or personal accountability could do more than waste his time envying others - if they don't, then their self-created poverty is on them.

Assuming that everyone could become a "billionaire" is an unrealistic expectation to begin with - that's not the American dream

A far more realistic expectation would be to structure markets in such a way than no one becomes a billionaire parasite.

With that mindset, you are the parasite.

 

[Gdjjr]

explain this>>>

All men are created equal doesn't mean equal outcome. There are so many factors that are being played in a market economy that focusing on what some don't have vs what a few do have is not a good gauge.
That said, tax laws and structures are meant to limit/restrict participation by all but a few. It seems that when one becomes wealthy, by whatever means, one automatically becomes despised/envied and used as tool by politicians (law/tax structure writers) to pit the less fortunate against the more fortunate- so, are we to blame those who took advantage of the imperialist/elites in DC's fucking ignorance or try to beat them at their own game, which is what the super rich do-
Yes, I call DC law/tax structure writers fucking ignorant- citizens as well. ALL rules/laws are made to be broken. Some people are paid to do just that by finding what the rule/law doesn't say and doing it- they're called accountants and lawyers. Some people come by it naturally, they're called innovative (and enemies), and some emulate the former, they are called learners and doers.
Politicians (law/tax structure writers) are sociopathic fucking idiots that are easily bought and the super wealthy recognize that flaw in their character and take advantage of it. Let's not pretend any here who envy their status (and wealth) wouldn't do the same damn thing.
NO form of gov't or economy will prevent weak immoral sociopaths from seeking to *better* their plight in life- however, capitalism "provides" an opportunity- it is up to the Individual to find it and use it to their benefit. Not everyone is cut out to be at the top, and if everyone was at the top, well, inverted triangles can't remain standing-

Want to "blame" something/somebody for all the Billionaires? Try this on for size.

The Federal Reserve is responsible for the growth of gov't, the loss of liberty, the rise in inequality, and the boom and bust cycles. All those who support peace and prosperity should join the effort to *audit and end the fed*- Ron Paul

Now, there wouldn't be Billionaires or even many millionaires if the *money* wasn't there. But, then there's be 100aries and 1000aires- but, without the money to be taxed there would be a lot less tax and a lot less graft and corruption.
Taking from one to give to another is a Robin Hood fantasy played out by sociopaths- still, taking what isn't earned is theft.

 

[anynameyouwish]

Do the richest among us owe their wealth to hard work and high IQs or government monopolies like patents and copyrights, minimum wage laws, or campaign finance contributions?

Should We Have Billionaires?

"The basic story is that if we have a market economy, some people can get very rich.

"If we buy the right-wing story, the super-rich got their money from their great contribution to society.

"If we look at it with clearer eyes, the super-rich got their money because we structured the economy in a way that allowed them to get super-rich..."

"This is a point which seems very obvious, but for some reason is largely ignored in policy debates.

"Most typically these debates take the market distribution of income as a given, and then ask the extent to which we might want to redistribute to have less inequality...."

"But it is completely absurd to treat the market distribution of income as given.

"The market is incredibly flexible and it can literally be structured in an infinite number of different ways."

Instead of arguing over a redistribution of income, restructure markets in such a way that vast private fortunes never come into existence in the first place.

where billionaires come from.....

over the chocolate drop mountains
past the sea of vanilla milk shakes
there is an island....Billionaire Island.....

on this island grows a rare and large plant.....the Billionaire Plant!

it has green leaves and large yellow flowers....


and every few years one reaches maturity and a billionaire drops off the flower....

and is whisked away by a brisk wind that carries it to far off lands where it buys yachts and mansions and political positions......

 

[Gdjjr]

LOL. Yeah...rich people can’t be morons! LMFAO.

Why do dumb Americans worship wealth?

How much money do you have? BTW, I don't worship anyone, though I do advocate for Individual Rights and Liberty.
Why do dumb Americans envy? The opportunity is yours to do with as you see fit. You have the right to envy but you don't have the right to force your envy into play.

 

[Gdjjr]

A far more realistic expectation would be to structure markets in such a way than no one becomes a billionaire parasite.

Explain your structure- there's a saying: if you don't have a solution to a problem you're a part of the problem.

 

[DBA]

These European Socialists nuts are envious. They are not only envious of billionaires, they are jealous of us Americans who don't live in shoeboxes with our washer and dryer in the kitchen where a dishwasher should be. We don't live like rats in a cage, in urban jungles, unless of course we make the concious choice to do so.

 

[Gdjjr]

I heard a snippet of an interview with the founder of Netflix this morning and it made me curious (not envious)

Netflix was founded on August 29, 1997, in Scotts Valley, California, by Marc Randolph[21][22] and Reed Hastings. Randolph worked as a marketing director for Hastings' company, Pure Atria.[23] Randolph was a co-founder of MicroWarehouse, a computer mail order company, and was later employed by Borland International as vice president of marketing. Hastings, a computer scientist and mathematician, sold Pure Atria to Rational Software Corporation in 1997 for $700 million in what was then the biggest acquisition in Silicon Valley history. They came up with the idea for Netflix while commuting between their homes in Santa Cruz and Pure Atria's headquarters in Sunnyvale while waiting for government regulators to approve the merger,[24] although Hasting has given several different explanations for how the idea was created.[25]

Hastings invested $2.5 million in startup cash for Netflix.[26][11] Randolph admired the fledgling e-commerce company Amazon and wanted to find a large category of portable items to sell over the Internet using a similar model. They considered and rejected VHS tapes as too expensive to stock and too delicate to ship. When they heard about DVDs, which were first introduced in the United States on March 31, 1997,[27] they tested the concept of selling or renting DVDs by mail, by mailing a compact disc to Hastings' house in Santa Cruz. When the disc arrived intact, they decided to take on the $16 billion home video sales and rental industry.[24] Hastings is often quoted saying that he decided to start Netflix after being fined $40 at a Blockbuster store for being late to return a copy of Apollo 13. But this is an apocryphal story that he and Randolph designed to explain the company's business model and motivation.[24]

Netflix was launched on April 14, 1998, as the world's first online DVD rental store,[24][28] with only 30 employees and 925 titles available, which was almost the entire catalogue of DVDs in print at the time,[29] through the pay-per-rent model with rates and due dates that were similar to its bricks-and-mortar rival, Blockbuster.[30][24]

Netflix - Wikipedia

 

[007]

A far more realistic expectation would be to structure markets in such a way than no one becomes a billionaire parasite.

Explain your structure- there's a saying: if you don't have a solution to a problem you're a part of the problem.

He'll probably refer you to look at Venezuela... you know, that shining beacon of socialistic utopia south of us.

 

[anynameyouwish]

A far more realistic expectation would be to structure markets in such a way than no one becomes a billionaire parasite.

Explain your structure- there's a saying: if you don't have a solution to a problem you're a part of the problem.

He'll probably refer you to look at Venezuela... you know, that shining beacon of socialistic utopia south of us.

actually.....you would be the one to refer to venezuela.....

When sane and rational people talk about SOME SOCIALIST programs (education, health care) to benefit ALL CITIZENS AND the NATION, we generally point to social democracies like Norway, Finland and Denmark.

but you, being a conservative, REFUSE to even look at these social democracies and always point to venezuela.....

 

[Ame®icano]

Instead of arguing over a redistribution of income, restructure markets in such a way that vast private fortunes never come into existence in the first place.

You cannot restructure markets in such a way that vast private fortunes never come into existence in the first place without removing the ability of a family like mine to go from just above poverty level to the top 10% in 5 years.

You didn't build that.

You didn't build that

"'You didn't build that' is a phrase from a 2012 election campaign speech delivered by United States President Barack Obama on July 13, 2012, in Roanoke, Virginia.

"The sentence 'If you've got a business—you didn't build that' was publicized by his political opponents during the 2012 presidential campaign, as an attack by Obama on business and entrepreneurs.[1][2][3]

"The Obama campaign responded that the criticisms were taking the phrase out of context, and the word 'that' in the phrase was referring to the construction of "roads and bridges" in the previous sentence"

You didn't build that - Wikipedia

Using Wikipedia to correct the meaning of the words. LOL

Everyone heard what he said, you don't need to "explain" what he actually said. Even your attempt to revise the meaning of his words still doesn't work. If in that phrase he was referring to "roads and bridges", than someone must have paid for it. Who paid for it?

 

[007]

A far more realistic expectation would be to structure markets in such a way than no one becomes a billionaire parasite.

Explain your structure- there's a saying: if you don't have a solution to a problem you're a part of the problem.

He'll probably refer you to look at Venezuela... you know, that shining beacon of socialistic utopia south of us.

actually.....you would be the one to refer to venezuela.....

When sane and rational people talk about SOME SOCIALIST programs (education, health care) to benefit ALL CITIZENS AND the NATION, we generally point to social democracies like Norway, Finland and Denmark.

but you, being a conservative, REFUSE to even look at these social democracies and always point to venezuela.....

If you're such a proponent of socialism, and find these other countries to be superior to America's system, move.

 

[gipper]

LOL. Yeah...rich people can’t be morons! LMFAO.

Why do dumb Americans worship wealth?

How much money do you have? BTW, I don't worship anyone, though I do advocate for Individual Rights and Liberty.
Why do dumb Americans envy? The opportunity is yours to do with as you see fit. You have the right to envy but you don't have the right to force your envy into play.

You need to understand what envy is and what it isn’t. Criticizing the wealthy is not envy.

NEWS FLASH: the wealthy can be morons...wealth worshippers don’t know this.

 

[Ame®icano]

Three people now own more wealth than the bottom fifty percent of us in this country, link below. If this seems to be ok with us, then what's wrong with them eventually having sixty percent and on and on. What really great, wonderful things have these folks done to make them so deserving of this wealth. How many children were helped by Dr. Salk, who didn't patent his polio vaccine so he could be a billionaire? Other link below

The 3 Richest Americans Hold More Wealth Than Bottom 50% Of The Country, Study Finds

How Much Money Did Jonas Salk Potentially Forfeit By Not Patenting The Polio Vaccine?

How many children were helped by Dr. Salk, who didn't patent his polio vaccine so he could be a billionaire? Other link below

According to Forbes, Salk sacrificed about $7 billion by not patenting his vaccine.

Why Jonas Salk Didn’t Patent His Polio Vaccine

"On April 12, 1955, Edward R. Murrow asked Jonas Salk who owned the patent to the polio vaccine. 'Well, the people, I would say,' Salk responded. 'There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?'

"By the time of his chat with Murrow, which aired on the day the polio vaccine was announced as safe and 90 percent effective, Salk was already more messiah than virologist to the average American.

"Polio paralyzed between 13,000 and 20,000 children annually in the last pre-vaccine years, and Salk was the face of the inoculation initiative.

"Appearing on television to present the vaccine as a gift to the American people was a public relations masterstroke."

Salk did the great thing.

Now tell me, if he did patented his vaccine and potentially made billions, how many children would not receive the vaccine?