I like this one because when I was really into MMOs it was interesting to see the birth of exploiter philosophy within the game. Then the positions that the exploiters would always take when it was suggested we crack down on cheating was that they were being unfairly persecuted and their mere presence benefits everyone.
Even after the exploit was patched they usually got to keep their ill-gotten gains because they would turn what ever it was into intangibles or launder everything.
It was just a complete microcosm of capitalism. Which can all be summed up by their creedo, "exploit early and exploit often."
Even funnier, Steve Bannon had ties with WoW gold farmers.
Many think the poor to be parasites, but they are actually the opposite.
After all, what is the mark of a parasite? It makes the host think that it is benign, of no harm whatsoever, and in some cases it even convinces its host that it provides a benefit. All the while it visits the most harmful deprivations upon the host, right up to sucking the lifeblood from it until it dies a horrible death.
No other tranche of human society matches those attributes more effectively than the wealthy.
I agree, but I'd take it a step further and say the ultra rich are even worse than parasites. Parasites serve a purpose to the stability of their ecosystems. Billionaires just consume.
They do hoard wealth, but in another sense they're constantly making money moves: shifting their capital here and there, to extract more value from various local economies.
Hoarding would actually be an improvement. Like a dragon sitting on a pile of gold. But they're more like rampaging dragon that is never satisfied with its booty
They extract value from things until there is no more wealth, like mining an ore vein dry or bottling all the water from an aquafer. They hoard that value for themselves and leave nothing of value for others.
Those who subsist off the philanthropy of the workers who build their houses, produce and prepare their food, and subscribe to their pointless rents.
And these good Samaritan workers do this for a fraction of the value produced, all so that these poor wealthy elites don't have to engage in real, productive labour.
Have a heart. It's a certainty that they would starve without our charity!
Exactly. They use those to build this lie that they are this grand untouchable class of super beings, but if the OceanGate 2 scandal showed us anything, they are not invincible. They are mortal just like us.
I am from a family in the 3rd quartile, nobody ever said I could grow up to be a Doctor. Most told me to 'go to state school and get a shitty office job and be happy with it'. In my college all the kids studying to be med students were driving used BMWs/Mercedes and paying several grand extra a year for parking, new dorms, and the like.
Although, just a little asterisk and footnote moment, it is technically possible to gain some level of wealth, like really really upper middle class, through means that are not directly predatory. Incredibly unlikely, but possible.
There are some professions that are very well compensated because they're still so hard to hire and retain for, but I'd argue they're still undervalued on the whole for what they return for investors.
Also all of us in the global North are supported by a chain of exploitation of labour and nature that wraps around the entire globe, which isn't our individual fault, but is part of the reason for our relative prosperity.
You used to be correct. Now, the IT have been traded for dice of errors. There is no correct result for anyone, though a few of the result will appear to be correct long enough to sucker the viral tricking the trade of humans for AI.
I'd argue that even very wealthy people who actually do something, like pro athletes, are getting paid correctly. If you're one of the best in the world at what you do, then you should get paid a lot. It's just that the exploiter class is still taking the lions share of the value they create... And "entertainment value" is dubious at best imo. But the exploiter class pays well for people to keep us distracted... I guess: don't hate the players, hate the game-owners
Wait, elite are wealthy? I thought I was a “Coastal Elite Libtard” because I live in a coastal state, am educated, sit at a desk, and earn more than median wage even after adjusting for high cost of living. I worked hard for that college education (many years ago before inflation took it out of reach), now i have to be wealthy too?
Dammit, MAGAts have much simpler criteria and cheaper land, maybe I need to swerve hard right and land in a flyover state
Well it’s a fun platform but it’s a little annoying the mindless witch-hunt you know. It’s not like some of us had a choice in how much money and properties we are born with.
Less replace the rich with pro-capitalists and never assume automatically.
After all there are a lot of poor people that are very aggressively pro capitalist and a lot of wealthy and well off people that advocate daily for socialism in politics and equality concepts.