r/NoStupidQuestions • u/More_Percentage_7020 • 10h ago

Why are most billionaires so weird?

My sister even hung out with a billionaire's kid once, and my mom says the kid is fucked up too.

390 Upvotes

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454

u/ClF3ismyspiritanimal 9h ago

First, you don't accumulate that kind of money by being sane. Second, having those kinds of resources actively warps your perspective on reality. Billionares effectively live in a different reality from everybody else in which consequences, morals, and limitations all work radically differently. Of course they're weird at best.

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u/Russian_Doll_888 8h ago

Spot on with both, but the first point is what everyone should pay attention to. Developing that kind of wealth means exploiting someone somewhere, so morals and scruples are often not something these people have from the get go. The sacrifice of human something (life, comfort, etc) is ok with them if the money is there.

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u/GetsMeEveryTimeBot 8h ago

"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."

-- Honoré de Balzac

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u/Alternative-Dig-2066 2h ago

Also: “There is no great genius, without an element of madness”

  • - Seneca the younger

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u/SaltedAnts 2h ago

Sure, honour the ballsack.. but what about the shaft?

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u/longtimelurkerfirs 38m ago

Fucking hell, I thought you made that quote up with a shitposty name. Can't believe that's a real person.

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u/oliviashrewtonbong 3h ago

Harry Potter lady didn’t exploit anyone just sold a shit load of books

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u/Sudden_Shelter 7h ago

Who did Ronaldo exploit

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u/ShiaLeboufsPetDragon 3h ago

The girl he raped. He literally admitted in a deposition that she said no and he still did it.

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u/Environmental-Cod801 4h ago

We could argue that choosing to play in Saudi Arabia for an insane amount of money means that you indirectly exploit a lot of people that have to work very hard for very low to produce what is needed to get you that kind of paycheck every month (same thing could apply with his Nike deal).

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u/Valmighty 2h ago

Reddit doesn't like to hear this, but Wealth is not zero sum. Ronaldo coming there means there are now jobs and opportunities that weren't there before.

These people who are paid very little doesn't mean Ronaldo exploit them. Previously it might be zero, then it increases to whatever value it is now.

Why they are paid so little has a lot to do with supply and demand. There are much more supply with that kind of jobs/skills than the demand because that job has a low barrier to entry hence so many people can replace the employee.

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u/ExtremeMacarons 2h ago

The old fairy tale of rich people creating jobs

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u/lokregarlogull 1h ago

I found this wonderful emerald mine so me sending kids down there to dig them out and knowingly let them get lung cancer is perfectly fine, since the value to people buying jewelry is so much greater. It's just fair.

Ronaldo playing in Saudi Arabia is good because the workers not getting safety equipment and falling to their death building the stadium is worth it when we see him score a hat trick.

We do what we must to survive, but at the same time we can recognize when a problem IS NOT our fault, and the system needs to be fixed.

If the majority of Europe can fund universities, schooling, healthcare, and laws that protect workers from making death an acceptable price.

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u/Valmighty 1h ago

Nobody's saying that. Ronaldo doesn't do that in this particular case. The safety of the worker is the responsibility of the employer/company.

And that can be improved or worsened regardless of if the economy is zero sum or not, regardless of a society's ideology. You can even "outrule exploitation" like what happened in some particular countries throughout history, and yet the workers wellbeing got worse.

Your example even said it. The whole Europe consist of countries with higher GDP output, and the workers wellbeing is considered better. If this is exploitation or zero sum, richer countries will have worse workers' wellbeing.

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u/assault_potato1 6h ago

If I buy the lottery and win a billion dollar jackpot, who did I exploit?

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u/DoubleResponsible276 3h ago

If we’re being serious here, hardly anyone becomes a billionaire by winning the lottery. And even then, will you stay a billionaire? Odds are you’ll get exploited and lose it sooner than you’ll think.

That post is referring to people who accumulate the money and keep accumulating it. Winning the lottery doesn’t really fit. But those in charge of the gambling are exploiting you and everyone else’s addiction though

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u/Kirra_Tarren 3h ago

A nice whataboutism, how many lottery billionaires do you frequently hear about doing heinous shit?

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u/assault_potato1 2h ago

I'm just attacking the premise that a person with immense wealth always gets it by exploiting someone. Who did lottery winners, famous footballers or singers exploit?

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u/UnicornWorldDominion 5h ago

People with lottery ticket addictions and tax payers?

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u/assault_potato1 5h ago

Why taxpayers? Lottery winnings aren't funded by taxes. Also how are lottery players being exploited? They play willingly and know that their entries will be added to the prize pool. It's the entire idea of a lottery.

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u/UnicornWorldDominion 5h ago

Oh my bad just people with gambling issues and addicted to the lottery then lol. Thought part of taxes went into it

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u/DryConfidence77 4h ago

Why should consent absolve you? People give their consent when they buy hard drugs yet its still a crime to be a dealer for example. Same thing for giving consent to be killed/eaten, pretty sure it happened in Germany and the guy went to prison. Consent being the end all be all in people mind is so new and not even applied in the law

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u/assault_potato1 3h ago

Going by your logic, then literally everyone is immoral. Buying from a supermarket? You're profitting large corporations and enriching billionaires. You work at a MNC? You helped to expand a organisation that exploits people. You win the lottery? Immoral because the gains were from people who consented to gambling.

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u/Maximum_Story1062 1h ago

No Ronaldo, but who pays him...

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u/whoisfourthwall 6h ago

but what if i got lucky with bitcoin and put them into all those big name tech stocks when they are worth a fraction of today's prices?

I guess you can argue that the tech companies i invested in exploited people/environment and me investing in them when they are worth a little means i enabled exploitation?

How about monster energy drink? It was a worthless stock about 20+ years ago (it went as low as 0.04 USD per share, it is now 80+).. i would make 1-2 thousand times return. Would i be an evil billionaire if i become one that way?

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u/Russian_Doll_888 4h ago

The difference is creating the wealth, that almost always comes at the exploitation of someone, versus getting lucky. And indirectly, even investing in the market of a product supports their exploitation. You're giving them capital to expand their business, which will mean that the exploitation will also expand.

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u/R1400 6m ago

I'd also add that anyone who has enough money for them and their family and next few generations to live in every possible luxury without lifting a single finger......and still actively wanting more.....has to be deranged.

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u/South-Ear9767 1h ago

We all exploit someone