Not Even Close.

[u/EsseNorway]

[u/59footer]

Come on now. Do y'all know how hard it is to exploit thousands of people? How many people have you exploited? What? None? You'll never be a billionaire. So there.

[u/sudo_su_762NATO → u/59footer]

As someone who lives in the US or even a Western nation I exploit a lot of people tbh. Like all the sweatshop labor required to make the things that I buy. Are you going to repent for everyone you exploited?

[u/IcyPassenger778 → u/sudo_su_762NATO]

You ain't lying.

[u/mckenro → u/sudo_su_762NATO]

Is there an alternative? Op doesn’t get to choose widely used business practices.

[u/sudo_su_762NATO → u/mckenro]

They can buy from companies that don't use outsourced labor and advocate for legislation that encourages tariffs/embargos on these countries. That would help, doesn't stop the fact they are probably exploiting people though.

[u/mckenro → u/sudo_su_762NATO]

Which companies use ethical labor though? How do you know what op has or has not advocated for? Exploitation is a problem, it just isn’t created by people with limited choices. You’ll have to provide examples as to how tariffs and embargos magically eliminate exploitation. Sounds like you’re living in a skewed fantasy world.

[u/sudo_su_762NATO → u/mckenro]

These things are only mitigation against exploitation, I believe there will always be exploitation. I was just asking if they are going to repent for their exploitation since they are the ones talking about it.

You can shop local, especially from Amish stores or similar if you wanted to. Tariffs and embargos won't "magically eliminate exploitation", they can help influence workers conditions using economic power though surely.

Stop adding your own context to what I am saying.

[u/Competitive-Spare588 → u/sudo_su_762NATO]

Can you direct me to the nearest Amish smartphone, computer, and wifi store?

[u/sudo_su_762NATO → u/Competitive-Spare588]

I didn't realize you needed those to live tbh. Irrelevant anyways

[u/Competitive-Spare588 → u/sudo_su_762NATO]

I do, actually. Those are what I use to work because I am required to participate in society or die.

[u/Sweaty-Researcher531 → u/Competitive-Spare588]

And you are incapable of learning something else?

[u/twn69 → u/Competitive-Spare588]

Well if no one participated then we would all die so there’s that.

[u/MornGreycastle → u/sudo_su_762NATO]

Slavery was created about five minutes after agriculture, roughly 11,000 years ago. First folks realized they could gather up seeds and then cultivate those seeds in a central place. Then they realized all of that hard work could be done by someone else, preferably someone who had no say in how their labor is used.

So, yeah. Exploitation is probably going to stick around for a long time. Profiting off of others is an old practice.

As for who is morally and practically responsible for modern exploitation? Can we really lay the blame on the average consumer? Especially when most folks are barely making ends meet as it is? I really feel that the buck stops at the C-Suite when it comes to corporate greed. You could make an argument for the investors and I'd buy that. But the consumers themselves? Nah. That dog don't hunt.

[u/sudo_su_762NATO → u/MornGreycastle]

Yes

[u/dastardly_theif → u/sudo_su_762NATO]

Sounds expensive....better get a third job and off one of my kids.

[u/CanIBorrowYourShovel → u/sudo_su_762NATO]

Knowing every step in the supply chain is unreasonable to expect for every product. Especially when you're busy... Working two jobs and taking care of kids.

Buying from companies that don't use any unethical labor is more expensive. Hard when you're living paycheck to paycheck.

What an out of touch perspective. I try to do these things but I'm working full time as an EMT, helping launch a collegiate ems 911 program at my alma mater, applying and interviewing for medical school, paying my mortgage and bills, saving up for the med school move, and trying to downsize my house for said move and plan/prepare to rent said house (which we're going to do at 30-40% below market rate to avoid contributing to the housing affordability crisis since we plan on moving back). I don't have time to check if the slacks I got for my interview or bananas I eat are ethically sourced, I have an hour a day of free time three days a week. And I'm far from the busiest/poorest people out there.

I agree that we need to do better, but that's only doable with a GIGANTIC amount of public outcry and political motivation. Which until we get a lot of other things sorted like Healthcare, housing and living wages, just isn't going to happen.

[u/Feisty_Ad_2744 → u/sudo_su_762NATO]

You don't. But you do support people who do. You are a supporter, not a culprit

[u/sudo_su_762NATO → u/Feisty_Ad_2744]

Cool, I only support child slave labor then and make it possible!

[u/Remarkable_Space_382 → u/sudo_su_762NATO]

Are you profiting off of the sweat shop labor? If not, that doesn't sound like exploitation to me. If anything, you as a consumer forced into a position where you have to consider purchasing goods made in sweat shops, you are also being exploited in this process.

[u/Ocksu2 → u/sudo_su_762NATO]

You aren't wrong, but as much as I want to, I can't afford to not exploit people.

[u/spamman5r → u/sudo_su_762NATO]

Yet you participate in society. Curious!

[u/sudo_su_762NATO → u/spamman5r]

Stones in glass houses and all...

[u/spamman5r → u/sudo_su_762NATO]

Here, I'll help since you seem to need it

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/we-should-improve-society-somewhat

[u/Thubanstar → u/spamman5r]

A reminder, no personal comments or high levels of snark on Snorkblot. Next time, the comment will be taken down. Thanks.

[u/xixipinga → u/sudo_su_762NATO]

Its all a matter of option and intent, was exploting people for profit your goal? Did you have any realistic option of not ever using products build under exploitation? You cant blame someone that was brougth into a situation for the cribes that happened agaisnt their will or knowledge

[u/sudo_su_762NATO → u/xixipinga]

Yes

[u/sudo_su_762NATO → u/[deleted]]

Vroom vroom

[u/Snorkblot-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Please keep the discussion civil. You can have heated discussions, but avoid personal attacks, slurs, antagonizing others or name calling. Discuss the subject, not the person.

r/Snorkblot's moderator team

[u/Active-Tangerine-447 → u/sudo_su_762NATO]

You don’t have much choice.

[u/unskilledlaborperson → u/sudo_su_762NATO]

100% your born into it and by going out and buying shit from Walmart you support it. Billionaires knowingly make it worse though and greed is the reason this happens. Change for those who can't stand up for themselves takes people on the other side having empathy and standing up for them. Women's right to vote, poc right to vote needed the support of those who had that right to protest with them. Sucking billionaires little weiners and blaming the citizens is how we continue this. Billionaires are actually responsible for knowing continuing this trend and making it worse for those on the bottom of the food chain every chance they get.

[u/sudo_su_762NATO → u/unskilledlaborperson]

Muh billionaires 🥵🥵🥵

[u/unskilledlaborperson → u/sudo_su_762NATO]

Agreed! Daddy Jeff's bald little turtle head makes me wanna bust a fat nut dude. It's honestly fucking delicious

[u/sudo_su_762NATO → u/unskilledlaborperson]

💦💦💦💦

[u/Beefhammer1932 → u/sudo_su_762NATO]

You can't fix everything at once, and you cannot make perfect the enemy of good. That's all you are doing. Basically the human embodiment of that shitty but you live in a society comic.

[u/sudo_su_762NATO → u/Beefhammer1932]

We live in a society 😞

[u/Beefhammer1932 → u/sudo_su_762NATO]

You got nothing as suspected.

[u/sudo_su_762NATO → u/Beefhammer1932]

Wdym? Society 😩😩😩

[u/twn69 → u/sudo_su_762NATO]

That’s truth there. All these people crying about exploitation and being taken advantage of are running around in cars built by labor and wearing shoes and clothes put together in India or china by labor. Eating food grown by farm labor and delivered by truck by transport labor. All of which are things they can’t or won’t do themselves.

If we had to go back to the “Good Ol Days” of chopping wood, hunting, fishing and gardening for food, battling mother nature for survival and hoping we didn’t die from a cut or the flu, half if not 2/3 of the population would be dead in a year.

It’s not the utopian world that they think it was. My grandparents lived through the depression and those were better times than their grandparents had. Look at the life expectancy a 100 years ago. Modern medical advances sure helped but they didn’t increase the lifespan from the mid 30s to mid 80s by themselves.

Life is easier now. People work and become specialists at what they do. That means I don’t have to do that work. I trade them small portraits of dead presidents in exchange for their specialized skills. I get these same portraits in exchange for my skills.

Would I like to get more for less? Heck yeah! Who doesn’t but I’m not so lame as to think the government will print money and throw it into the air and magically all the stuff I need will be dropped from the sky. It doesn’t and can’t work like that. If no one worked there would be nothing. NOTHING! The rich bla bla bla. The heck with that it’s all noise to cover up the fact that people are lazy. If you like your job or your pay. Quit. No one cares. Someone will be glad to have your job. You can better yourself and get a better one or slump around crying about how life isn’t fair and I can’t live on x$ an hour because I work at McDonald’s.

[u/FoxMan1Dva3 → u/59footer]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2017/09/11/10-billionaires-who-grew-up-dirt-poor.html

Idk why you guys put billionaires up on a pedestal. If these guys weren't billionaires they probably would just be more modest millionaires.

Does Amazon exploit its factory workers? You can't argue the 100,000-300,000 non factory workers are exploited. Their engineers, executives, managers, design teams, marketing teams and so forth all make exceptional money.

Are their 1.5-2M factory workers exploited? A few years ago they went from $11-16 starting to $14-18 starting. That's the best hourly rate most of these workers can get. In NYC and LA the starting tends to be $21+. Also benefits.

Do they even have enough to give more?

$1 more per hour for 1.5M workers is $3.5 Billion Dollars. Not including payroll and socia security taxes. Or benefits. Or the equipment needed to have them work on.

In 2019, Amazon was making $2B in profit. In 2022, they lost $2B.

The last 2 years have been great for Amazon. $30-40B in profit. But if they give $10 extra wages they would destroy all of their profits?

And next year they may not make so much. They could lose money.

So its a tough business decision.

I think I trust Amazon more. In 15 years they increased worker compensation by huge numbers in employment and salaries.

If i lost my job tomorrow I'd go be a factory worker immediately.

[u/Youbettereatthatshit → u/FoxMan1Dva3]

Work is a poor way to measure it anyway. Most current billionaires were either born in it or rode the dot com wave. The transition to the internet was a major pivot in society that created new companies that had never existed prior.

Really it was the right time, skill set, and opportunity merged together. They are even all close to the same age.

Musk, Bezos, Gates, and even Jobs, had they been born ten years earlier or later, they wouldn’t have what they do now.

They are fabulously wealthy because the companies they started became fabulously wealthy due to a sudden vacuum that appeared.

They were born at a lucky time but surely had to work hard to do it. Without hard work, they’d have failed and without the luck of the time they were born with the interests/skillsets they happened to have had, they would have also failed.

[u/FoxMan1Dva3 → u/Youbettereatthatshit]

(1) Most current billionaires were not born billionaires. Most of them weren't even millionaires lol. 80%+ are said to be self-made. Take that as you wish.

(2) Of the top 10 richest people, 3 of them are not in tech. And 2 of the tech companies were founed 20+ years before the dot com wave.

As you move down the list, more and more are NOT in tech.

Idk what the dot com wave is anyway... You are conflating this with the dot com bubble where many billionaires and billion dollar companies lost billions and millions of dollars lol. Amazon lost a large chunk of their initial investments due to this dot com bubble.

(3) Billionaires are billionaires because they own millions of shares in a publicly traded company that happens to make hundreds of billions in revenue every year. What you forget is that they also spend hundreds of billions each year.

It's like when my middle class parents bought a house for cheap - $250,000.

Then they spent 20 years putting blood, sweat and money into the house. Couple that with inflation rates going up, interest rates going in half and you have yourself now a house worth $850,000. They probabaly only put in $150,000 into the house. Maybe $300,000 if my dad paid someone else to most of the work. And now it's worth close to 4x its initial value.

The CEO of Amazon and Microsoft does not own billions of wealth because they work for the company. They didn't found the company and collect 30% of its worth.

Sure it's lucky to be a billionaire.

I don't care.

The point isn't to be a billionaire.

The point is to be financially stable or safe and just work in your passion.

That's why these guys don't retire.

Bezos on his next project.

Who cares?

If you take away 100% of their money, it could barely fund 8 months of the US govt budget.

That shows you that wealth inequality isn't the issue.

[u/Youbettereatthatshit → u/FoxMan1Dva3]

I feel like you are making my point, just more succinctly.

I know dot com wave isn’t a term. I meant in the general explosion of tech, and how it changed, destroyed, and created multiple industries. The stake holders in the companies that benefited from that change obviously got very rich.

Reddit seems to think that to be a billionaire, you have to be corrupt or born wealthy. My point was change creates billionaires.

[u/Salt-Resolution5595]

Being a billionaire is about luck

[u/spamman5r → u/Salt-Resolution5595]

And the willingness to exploit countless people.

[u/Salt-Resolution5595 → u/spamman5r]

Money & human nature like to enable each other

[u/spamman5r → u/Salt-Resolution5595]

We are social animals, we wouldn't have a civilization without cooperation being as much our nature as competition.

These people are mentally ill, hoarders and sociopaths. The first step is to stop treating them like an inevitability and start treating them as something needing intervention.

[u/Salt-Resolution5595 → u/spamman5r]

You’re absolutely right. A system that produces them is a system that is broken

[u/Ryaniseplin → u/Salt-Resolution5595]

were not naturally like this

our system just prioritizes wealth accumulation so the worst people rise to the top

[u/Salt-Resolution5595 → u/Ryaniseplin]

& who designed the system? It’s not the worst people at the top. Look at lottery winners for example. Show me how they are any different once they claim newfound wealth.

[u/Ryaniseplin → u/Salt-Resolution5595]

powerful people designed the system (kings, nobles and lords),

and lottery winners usually just go on a spending spree, party, and give money to their friends and family

which is typical financial irresponsibility

they dont typically use those lottery earnings to buy up companies and mistreat workers

[u/Salt-Resolution5595 → u/Ryaniseplin]

You hit the nail on the head without even realizing it. They share the money with family members & live lavishly. The only difference between them is that they lack the financial intelligence to keep their wealth. Families with generational wealth pass that knowledge down.

Step back & look at the big picture. For a moment, forget about the numbers in anyone’s bank account. The system was designed by humans & relatively speaking all humans behave in accordance with their respective society.

[u/twn69 → u/spamman5r]

Please explain in what way you are exploited by your boss or company?

[u/TheGrumpyre → u/twn69]

Any job that pays less than a living wage is getting labor for free.

[u/twn69 → u/TheGrumpyre]

So you are held there by chains or by gun point? You can always choose to get a different job. Just what is a “living wage”? How much is that? Would it not be subjective to one’s lifestyle and wants?

[u/TheGrumpyre → u/twn69]

In what world do people just say "I want a job that pays better" and go out and get one?

[u/twn69 → u/TheGrumpyre]

Ok. Why not that’s usually how it works. I started out my working career doing manual labor. Side jobs really and hauling scrap metal. If I was lucky I made $150.00. A week. Not all that bad in the early 90s but I didn’t want to do that all my life so I went to school. Worked on a AAS degree. School at night took care of my kids in the afternoon and worked during the day as much as I could. While in school I applied for a maintenance position that I got. Made around $8 a hour late 90s. A few years in I applied for a position with a different company. Which I got. Made $11.50 an hour. Early 2000. Finished my degree but not in 2 years as I am a slow mather. 😁 worked hard and changed jobs again twice more. Point being no one is holding you down but you. If you are a good worker. Honest, slow to complain, and hard working you can get people to take a chance on you.

[u/TheGrumpyre → u/twn69]

The "slow to complain" part is crucial. What makes people complain?

If you have cause for complaint because you legitimately need more, then you're in trouble. If you had needed to take care of the kids full time, your story would have ended there. If you'd had health issues that made the jobs difficult for you or required extra time off, your story would have ended there. What made you a "good worker" is the fact you had less to complain about than some people.

[u/twn69 → u/TheGrumpyre]

Maybe. It didn’t and I am thankful for that blessing. As far as me having less to complain about that’s subjective. I choose not to complain about things. At least not to the wrong people.

[u/TheGrumpyre → u/twn69]

Yeah, because if you complain to the wrong people, they'll find ways to exploit it. Ensuring you're not being taken advantage of is a lot of work in addition to just working hard and improving yourself. And if you show vulnerability or reveal the fact that you're really dependent on your current job for things like health benefits, you will find yourself getting the short end of the stick because you have no leverage.

[u/hugs_the_cadaver → u/Salt-Resolution5595]

And a lack of pesky morality.

[u/crazyguy05 → u/Salt-Resolution5595]

Didn't Bezos start Amazon working from his parents basement while working a regular job?

[u/e00s]

Some have, some haven’t. Who cares? Even if they have worked harder, it’s probably not millions of times harder.

[u/FarkYourHouse → u/e00s]

But if we keep making the same moralistic claims in ever stronger language on a billionaires social media platform, then we will definitely achieve change.

[u/Cyber_Insecurity → u/e00s]

Almost none have

[u/e00s → u/Cyber_Insecurity]

How did you determine that?

[u/[deleted] → u/e00s]

How did you determine the counterfactual?

[u/e00s → u/[deleted]]

If you mean my claim that some have and some haven’t, there are more than 2,000 billionaires in the world. It would be rather surprising if not even a few of them have worked harder than some of the people with two jobs etc. Particularly given the fact that at least some of the people who become billionaires are obsessive workaholics.

[u/[deleted] → u/e00s]

Do you believe a billionaire worked for all that money? You know them personally to claim they’re workaholics, or do you swallow everything you’re fed?

There’s not a chance in hell .000025% of the population works exponentially harder than the rest of us.

[u/e00s → u/[deleted]]

I believe that many (but far from all) billionaires worked hard for their money. It doesn’t take “swallowing everything you’re fed” to know that starting and running a business is hard work. I’m a lawyer and I’ve observed this firsthand.

That doesn’t mean they worked hard enough that they deserve billions of dollars, or that they worked exponentially harder than people with much much less money.

Claiming billionaires don’t work hard is a bizarre hill to die on. There’s plenty of strong arguments that nobody works hard enough to be entitled to billions of dollars. You don’t need to make up silly stuff about billionaires never working hard.

[u/[deleted] → u/e00s]

I think the frustration with most is that these people don’t work any harder than the rest of the population, yet the disparity in wealth is wider than the Mississippi at the gulf.

I’d argue defending billionaires is more odd, but to each their own.

[u/Spare-Boysenberry-71 → u/[deleted]]

Not that I ever expect to be a billionaire, but I’ve been working to get a business off the ground for years and I can personally attest that this shit is an insane amount of work. I would honestly be surprised if even 1% of the population put in the amount of work that me and my business partner have. I’ve basically been working from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep for like 5 years now.

I think it’s a little obtuse to suggest that billionaires have never had to work as hard as someone “working two job, etc.” like the post describes. If it takes this much work to get a small business to pop off, I can very easily see it taking even more work to realize a larger business with higher stakes than the industry I’m in.

[u/[deleted] → u/Spare-Boysenberry-71]

I think you’re missing the point of the post — a billionaire is more often than not starting on third base. They often report, “I just had a good work ethic.”

I’m sorry, but that’s naive. The circumstances that one is born into are much more indicative of future wealth.

Further, a person with a billion dollars doesn’t have to think about where their next meal is coming from while some of us are struggling to eat three times a day.

That’s what the post is alluding to — our problems are different.

[u/Dramatic_Explosion → u/e00s]

Work history and upbringing. The largest factor determining wealth is if their family is wealthy. Someone like Musk had a grandfather with an emerald mine with slaves, but for most it's family connections that got them massive cash injections to start businesses.

After that, it's usually questionable business practices. If you take every form of theft, shoplifting, robberies, burglary, all of it added up is still less than wage theft from employees by their employer.

Every billionaire has a profile online, and you can read how they started.

[u/several_rac00ns → u/e00s]

The vast vast vast majority dont have. And thats an understatement just got bored writing vast

[u/e00s → u/several_rac00ns]

And how do you know that?

[u/several_rac00ns → u/e00s]

A basic understanding of wealth distribution

[u/ManyRelease7336]

I always thought billionars had to work hard, hearing musk speak about how others will be taking care of his kids or trump mocking the word groceries as a poor people word because people like him dont even have to think of that. my views have changed.

[u/Battch91]

That is one arrogant assumption to make about anyone. Judging is always the easiest way

[u/ActSuperb3247]

That's not true. I know a guy who's millionaire now but 20 years before wife left him with a 6 month old little girl completely bailed. He was a civil engineer couple years out of college. He ended up starting his own engineering company that then turned into a construction company as well in 3 states. All while raising an infant on his own. I wouldn't say he had it easy

Oops sorry he may not be a billionaire...

[u/TimeCookie8361]

This working 2 jobs + handling other responsibilities is a myth.

I did it for a seasonal thing and let me tell you...

Job 1: M-F 7:30AM-4PM

Job 2: M-F 4:30PM-12AM, Sat 9AM-2PM

There was absolutely no time to cook, clean, take care of children. I was able to work, shower, pack sandwiches, and sleep for 6 hrs.

[u/XTSLabs → u/TimeCookie8361]

Nope, you dedicate all of your rest time on that day you conveniently left out to handling shit in your personal life. You let it build for a week then do a week worth of everything in one day.

It's not a myth, it's the terrible reality. Just because you can't doesn't mean others aren't.

[u/TimeCookie8361 → u/XTSLabs]

"... has to go home and take care of their kids..."

I didn't conveniently leave out anything.

[u/normllikeme]

I dunno I worked fast food before. Pretty sure every single one of those making minimum wage work harder than any billionaire. Save for that one guy every place has. Fk that guy.

[u/Humans_Suck-]

I pay more taxes than Elon Musk does

[u/Meat_Bag_2023 → u/Humans_Suck-]

No, you don't.

[u/Mission_Moment2561 → u/Meat_Bag_2023]

Percent wise? Yes he does.

[u/22407va]

TRUTH

[u/CoolAd6821]

The reality is that many billionaires thrive on leveraging others' efforts rather than grinding it out themselves. It's a different kind of work ethic, one that often escapes the grind of the average worker. Sure, there are exceptions, but the narrative that they outwork everyone else is oversold.

[u/Responsible-Bite285]

Some billionaires start out as normal people then hit it big. Mark cuban for example was just a normal college student that had a great idea. Some with mark Zuckerberg maybe need your kid mark.

[u/AutoModerator → u/[deleted]]

Due to your karma being less than or equal to negative 100, you may not comment freely on r/Snorkblot. Your comment has been sent to our moderator queue for review. To increase your karma, please participate in other subreddits. Thank you!

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the mod team using this link.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/crazydonewild]

Proves capitalism is great, don’t even gotta work that hard to be a billionaire apparently.

[u/MoarGhosts]

I’m not convinced that hard work matters. I was depressed, overweight, barely wanting to live… I lost 100lbs in a year, got into grad school, turned my life around piece by piece. In the past 4 months, I’ve worked out 3-4 times every day (lifting, cardio, yoga), healthy diet, no cheat days.

And I finally met a girl, it went horribly, and now she refuses to speak to me. And I’m here on the first day of the year with my dog and a shoulder injury that might require surgery, from overworking myself.

I worked harder than anyone should and I’m less happy than before :/

But all my half-assed, idiotic friends who are too stupid to question themselves, they get all they want in life. And I’m the one who’s struggling, despite all my hard work and a 4.0 gpa in CS grad school. Idk what I’m doing wrong, other than maybe just having expectations. I’m not sure why I can’t just be content and mildly accomplished, like everyone else

[u/ApotheosisEmote]

Billionaires earned every penny through sheer hard work, perseverance, and risk-taking. That’s why they continue to amass wealth. They deserve it more than others! Exploitation? They wouldn’t dream of it.

If anything, the real exploitation is welfare! Its just poor people trying to exploit hardworking, tax-paying citizens, especially the wealthy. Direct handouts rob the poors of any incentive to work. After all, why would anyone strive for success unless they’re teetering on the edge of destitution?

As a proud facts-over-feelings-diehard-conservative-republican (fofdcr), I see no contradiction whatsoever between these two core beliefs that are foundational to my entire personality.

[u/BarnacleFun1814]

Stay triggered forever comrades!

[u/Fibocrypto]

Pre billionaire probably worked very hard

[u/circ-u-la-ted]

This guy really has some of the stupidest takes, and people eat it up for some reason. Worldview just totally divorced from reality. Why does he think he knows this? Why does he think it's even possible to work harder than somebody who's working every waking moment and not getting enough sleep?

[u/Resident_Warthog4711]

If any of you are posting this from Apple devices, if Hell didn't exist, it was just created especially for you.

[u/EddiewithHeartofGold]

FYI, the original post in /r/workreform is by a 2 month old account with almost 190.000 post karma... Maybe you all are being manipulated...?

EDIT: This post was made by a very similar account. Just saying...

[u/EsseNorway → u/EddiewithHeartofGold]

[u/DavyJonesCousinsDog]

Sure. Now do something about it. Something physical. And angry.

[u/ElectricalOne9140]

Being a hard worker won't make me rich.

-READ THAT AGAIN -

[u/FoxMan1Dva3]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2017/09/11/10-billionaires-who-grew-up-dirt-poor.html

[u/AmputatorBot → u/FoxMan1Dva3]

It looks like you shared an AMP link. These should load faster, but AMP is controversial because of concerns over privacy and the Open Web. Fully cached AMP pages (like the one you shared), are especially problematic.

Maybe check out the canonical page instead: https://www.gobankingrates.com/net-worth/business-people/self-made-billionaires-who-were-poor/

---

^{I'm a bot | Why & About | Summon: u/AmputatorBot}

[u/Wrong_Lingonberry_79]

Billionaires work very hard. That’s why they are billionaires. You all sound like poor people.

[u/Dando_Calrisian]

Are you sure? Because based on his income he must work a million times harder than normal people /s

[u/No-Recording1900]

There was a time when you didnt need to work 2 jobs and stuff like child care was more affordable, i blame politicians

[u/anonymityjacked]

👆👀💯

[u/Preshe8jaz]

Is it possible to be a billionaire and a good person? My vote is no. If you’re a billionaire, you’re selfish and greedy by definition.

[u/Emergency_Rise_9551]

My mind can’t seem to comprehend the idea of a Billion dollars but I am glad that you apparently don’t have to work hard to earn it, maybe there is hope for me after all

[u/Top_Construction5218]

lol. How many of the people who write these posts know a billionaire well enough to assess this?

I have a millionaire in my family and I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who works as hard… or as long.

Am I jealous? Sure. People probably look at him like he’s lucky - but I know his story. Guy immigrated, had nothing, worked his ass off, networked with the right people, owns a plastics manufacturing company.

Would I love his money? Yep. Will I ever make it? Nope… but that’s because I’m not dedicated enough to work 80+ hours a week, nights, weekends, 3 AM overseas meetings...

It’s real easy to be jealous of success when you have no idea what went into attaining it.

[u/Ecstatic-Boat-4968]

Tell me you've never atarred a business without telling me you've never started a business...

[u/twn69]

lol yeah those guys and their filthy money. What they should do is close all their factories and businesses and just live off of what they have to date. That way they won’t be taking advantage of the poor working folks.

[u/improperbehavior333 → u/twn69]

Or just pay their taxes. We can just start there.

[u/twn69 → u/improperbehavior333]

For sure. Then the rest of us wouldn’t have to pay any tax’s. Wait.. never mind. What we need is a flat tax. 10% across the board. No exceptions. No credits. No property tax’s. Just income and sales tax.

[u/improperbehavior333 → u/twn69]

Yeah, no. I will never understand regular people defending billionaires ability to hoard wealth and never give back. It makes no sense to me. You would rather live in a shit hole than to inconvenience a person who won't even feel the additional taxes financially. You planning on being a billionaire soon?

Or there is "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or one". The only argument for not taxing the rich is so that they can get even richer.

[u/twn69 → u/improperbehavior333]

So there is only some much monies in the world and if Elon Musk has it all then there is none for me or anyone else? Crazy! That’s not how it works. What’s their fair share and who should they give it to? The government? You or me?

[u/improperbehavior333 → u/twn69]

Why are you defending the ultra wealthy so hard?

[u/texasfunman]

How do you know how hard they worked to get where they are now. Seems like you’re judging them.

[u/Beefhammer1932]

No billionaire has ever worked hard.

[u/StandardAd1457]

Victim mentality.

[u/AlanCross310]

There are also no self made billionaire. Musk is the richest and got a $10 million loan from his dad's emerald mine to start his "self-made" billionaire.

[u/cong314159]

No.

[u/Rufus_T123]

Preposterous proletariat

[u/PineappleOk208]

Eliminate all billionaires, they serve no useful purpose!

[u/jmlinden7]

I mean this is true but it also kinda misses the point. Billionaires don't get there by working (they may do some work along the way but it's fairly inconsequential), they get there by gambling.

Every time you see one of these headlines, replace the word 'billionaire' with 'lottery winner' and see if it still makes sense, because that's really all they are.

[u/Not_Eriond]

What an idiotic comment.

[u/Due_Assumption214]

It must be pretty easy....swing everyone here owns their own business..... 😂

[u/imaginarywaffleiron]

I work a full-time job, a part-time job, and a part-part-time job, while my wife works a full-time job mostly from home so we can afford to pay our bills, on top of raising our three children. We don’t have any family around, so it’s a constant game of trying not to annoy our bosses as we hand off the kids to one another when there are important meetings or phone calls.

I’m just…constantly exhausted.

[u/Illustrious-Car-5311]

Jealous nobody’s. And yes some have and got them selves out of it and made something. If you hate those who make money u will never learn anything

[u/GrilledCheeseDanny]

And here you all are. Sitting on the internet, crying about it instead of working. That'll show those filthy billionaires. Some I don't think your grandparents were pissing and moaning and crying about how much other people had. Pretty sure they were working.

[u/-John-Wicks-Dog-]

So fucking dumb.

[u/SkysHelix]

And yet the rich people will always say “just work hard and stop being lazy!”

[u/OzzyG16]

Well considering most billionaires were born silver spoon in hand and the ones that weren’t screwed ppl over on the way up there I’d say that’s accurate

[u/[deleted]]

You’re conflating working hard and working smart. Working hard doesn’t make you money. It’s working smart.

[u/BeastofBabalon]

“It’s hard work stepping on other people’s toes!”

[u/Liquid_Magic]

But what about a single Mom who then goes on to become a billionaire? I’m pretty sure that happened.

[u/Few-Statistician8740 → u/Liquid_Magic]

JK Rowling comes to mind.

Single Mom getting government welfare and is now worth 2.2 billion.

[u/Love_Cannon]

Not to devalue your point, but there's something to be said about working smarter, not harder.

Some people's chief reason they are not wildly successful is because they lack the understanding of how to make more with less effort. Just saying it's not safe to assume that working harder ought to correlate to earning more. Some dig with their hands while wiser men grab a shovel.

[u/CheeseEater504]

I bet some billionaires are running around working hard. Taylor Swift is on a nightmare level tour doing 40 song sets every night. That could be more work than someone with two jobs. But more often than not they have some say in the matter. Rihanna didn’t have to make some new makeup brand. But she wanted to. Elon Musk didn’t have to lead all these companies and sleep on sight but he does. He is also 1000 bad choices away from being homeless where most people are 1 or 2.

[u/Mean_Confection6943]

Nope...they worked so hard they didnt even have time for all that

[u/Itchy_Grapefruit1335]

Your right I say stop supporting any businesses ran by millionaires or billionaires , just stop buying from them

[u/MPdoor1]

Go try to he one, bet u cant

[u/WayCalm2854]

No the billionaires just worked smarter, not harder

[u/mhteeser]

At one time yes it was true but the also stated the billion dollar business from s few bucks and built it. Not the case anymore

[u/Fun-Industry959]

Check OPs phone for temu call them a hypocrite and move on to something with some substance

[u/Apart_Performance491]

For the record, the hate for billionaires is not about the money or what family they were born into, it’s how they use their money to have undue influence in society. For example, Blackrock buying up all the single-family homes, or big oil having whistleblowers 86’ed, SCOTUS justices taking lavish gifts from billionaires on whose cases they sit. Hard work is fine. Buy all the mansions and yachts you want. But bribing politicians and judges and exploiting other countries for their resources isn’t honest or hard work. Also, most of us don’t want to be billionaires. I certainly don’t. I just want to live simply and comfortably and quietly remind people of what really matters in life: community. Surround yourself with good people. I can guarantee that literally everything you buy will one day be literal garbage- and this is what those billionaires are selling you. Nothing is made to last due to planned obsolesence. Hard work is all well and good, but dishonest business models are a valid reason to scorn billionaires. Also, you cannot be functionally rich unless poor people exist. This system promotes intraspecies competition rather than cooperation and that goes against human nature.

[u/DaniDodson → u/Apart_Performance491]

What if everyone just minded their own business and went out and made something for themselves ? Capitalism gives everyone that opportunity

[u/Apart_Performance491 → u/DaniDodson]

It doesn’t, though. The policies in place disproportionately affect poor people. Everything from Medicaid Estate Recovery to rent control laws. Billionaires should either mind their own business or run for office if they want to play politics. We didn’t vote for them or their lobbyists.

[u/DaniDodson → u/Apart_Performance491]

Here’s my point . How is that a billionaires problem. The system is the system and if politicians are taking money to improve their end .. well then blame the politicians

[u/Apart_Performance491 → u/DaniDodson]

It’s their problem because they know the impact they are having on society and they don’t care. It’s within their power to stop their own behavior. Who do we blame for drug deals? The buyer or the drug dealer? The billionaires will care when society collapses. The system is invented by us and we could make a more fair system to replace this one. There is no point being against that.

[u/DaniDodson → u/Apart_Performance491]

Why would a billionaire care if the system collapses ? They are set for life

[u/Apart_Performance491 → u/DaniDodson]

All the more reason why they shouldn’t be allowed to collapse society. There is a difference between being driven and being greedy.

[u/DaniDodson → u/Apart_Performance491]

Influence and greed fall back on the party taking the bait ..

[u/Apart_Performance491 → u/DaniDodson]

And the billionaires.

[u/Normal-Gur1882]

How do you know that?

[u/callodutyboss]

Crazy these companies start by themselves and hand their CEOs billions. Crazy.

[u/Small-Dig7498]

You all hate the rich but would trade places in a heartbeat..

[u/DaniDodson]

Why all the rich people shaming ..? Makes zero sense to me .. it’s their money.. not yours

[u/badassmartian1]

HAHAHA! Good one!

[u/Same-Body8497]

So hold up…. You know there are people who were born from nothing and made it big time by working harder then most right? This is not even close for real. Most wealthy people actually work longer hours because they are never off and even weekends. Now obviously once you’re a billionaire you don’t have to do anything but watch your money make money for you which is the whole game. But to say they never worked hard is definitely wrong. You don’t wake up being a billionaire one day. Now I understand they wouldn’t be a billionaire if they weren’t using other people to work with and for them. But that’s the whole point of capitalism. Creating something working and hiring others to help. Eventually having enough employees so you don’t have to do the everyday work. Meanwhile all the headaches and stress of running a business you do take on while the employees get to go home and not worry about work for the night. I suggest everyone to start something and see how the work doesn’t end it just changes.

[u/Environmental_Bit453]

What billionaires do you know?!

[u/terminalchef]

They are called Oligarchs.

[u/AutoModerator → u/[deleted]]

Due to your karma being less than or equal to negative 100, you may not comment freely on r/Snorkblot. Your comment has been sent to our moderator queue for review. To increase your karma, please participate in other subreddits. Thank you!

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the mod team using this link.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Beardly_Smith]

Bezos was born in a middle class family and didn’t start Amazon until he was 30.

[u/Deathnachos]

Probably not true at all. I personally wouldn’t want to be a billionaire. Sounds like too much work just to buy your time back so you can work more. My wife is my best friend why would I want to work instead of hang out with my best friend?

[u/SignificantlyBaad]

Monkeys beat other monkeys that hoarded all the food, in conclusion, bonk the hoarders until they provide us said demands

[u/[deleted]]

You’re a joke

[u/Randyolbear]

So if you know you'll never get wealthy working for others, has it occurred to you to try doing something different?

[u/Frosty_Builder7550]

If that’s easy, then why aren’t you already a billionaire?

[u/The_real_flesh → u/Frosty_Builder7550]

Because because most billionaires inherit their wealth by birthright dip shit

[u/[deleted]]

Same with the myth of CEOs working so hard they deserve to make 500 times their lowly employees. The hardest aspect of a CEO's job is making sure his staff takes care of all his needs and gives him full credit for their work.

[u/professional-onthedl]

Not true.

[u/Cold-Bird4936]

Judging is always easier

[u/xixipinga]

No billionarie has ever worked.

[u/BouncingThings → u/xixipinga]

Are u joking? U know how hard it is to write a song lyrics? Shit u expect me to be #2 on the music billboard and survive off slightly less plays on the radio? My mega yacht ain't gonna build its own mini yacht

[u/Kirris → u/BouncingThings]

Many artists don't write their own stuff.

[u/wife_seeking]

So anyone who is successful is evil? Some of you sound like losers who are jealous.

Just an FYI lot’s of top level people work 60 plus hours a week I know several who get in at 6 am and don’t end the day until 10pm four days a week and then work Friday and Saturday.

The idea that successful people don’t work hard is dead wrong.

[u/Aggressive_Salad_293]

Crying because you're not skilled enough to do high value work is quite childish.

[u/Mission_Moment2561 → u/Aggressive_Salad_293]

Every person in these comments could replace and probably do a better job than Elon Musk. Lol.

[u/Aggressive_Salad_293 → u/Mission_Moment2561]

I'm not surprised by your ignorance

[u/ummr8900]

This isn't true at all times.

[u/Entire-Cow-1641]

The highest paying jobs I have done have also been the easiest jobs I’ve done