r/technology • u/Logical_Welder3467 • 18d ago

Society Google cofounder Sergey Brin has spent $102 million to fight California’s proposed billionaire tax—he could owe $13 billion if he loses

https://fortune.com/article/how-much-has-google-cofounder-sergey-brin-spent-to-oppose-california-billionaire-tax-102-million-owe-13-billion-if-loses/
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u/grooverocker 18d ago edited 18d ago

Time and time again billionaires show us that they're not even human anymore. Their prerogatives are so utterly divergent from humanity and simultaneously deleterious to our common good. It's like they're a different species.

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u/TallmanMike 16d ago

Yeah, let's dehumanise the section of society we personally feel a grievance with; that always works out so well for society.

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u/SwindlingAccountant 16d ago

This isn't a section of society. These are individuals who spend the equivalent of 25 cents to influence our entire country.

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u/Whole_Move7660 18d ago

How come is only billionaire? What about millionaires? Can you give us a list of what they done to us so we can understand what they taken? Like food? Money? Is there companies we shouldn’t support? Got to be specific guys.

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u/Xytak 18d ago edited 18d ago

A millionaire could just be a mid-50’s professional with a 401k these days. Not even remotely the same thing as a billionaire.

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u/InquisitorMeow 17d ago

Lemme know the last time the dude with a million bucks was invited to the White House.

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u/steakanabake 17d ago

joe rogan. joe rogan is a millionaire multimillionaire but still a millionaire.

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u/Whole_Move7660 17d ago

Why can’t you name a billionaire? We mad right? We should know more than Elon…

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u/InquisitorMeow 17d ago

I'm a bit confused, are you asking for a list of things a billionaire or their company has done that was harmful to the average person? Btw the dude who saved up to finally be a million net worth actually gets taxed on his income.

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u/Whole_Move7660 17d ago

Yes? Any kind of examples would be nice…

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u/InquisitorMeow 17d ago

Buddy there are literally wikipedia articles with lists of corporate scandals and bullshit. You want a recent example? Flock cameras, which people in both parties hate. 

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u/grooverocker 17d ago

I'm going to take the time to answer your question even though it strikes me as incredibly naive.

First and foremost, it's important that you realize there's a vast bulk of information on this subject. It's just not feasible to back every anti-billionaire comment with all the data and news articles and information available. That you seemly draw a blank when it comes to the egregious behaviour of billionaires is not the fault of my comment, it's your own lack of education on the subject.

So why not millionaires too? Well, it's commonly understood that when we're talking about billionaires , we're talking about a fraction of the one percent of the most wealthy people on the planet. The ultra wealthy. A term like "millionaire" fails to encapsulate what we mean by the ultra wealthy. After all, in a place like Canada a middle class family can become millionaires. Simply by owning a home or selling one.

Can I give you a list of what billionaires do that are detriments to humanity? Sure, but here I'll give you a condensed general overview. Because doing the labour of hunting for all the links to specific news , articles and examples is far beyond the scope of a simple comment.

  • Lobbying for fiscal and economic systems that disadvantage the poor and middle class.

  • Pursuing endless growth at the expense of the environment and the wellbeing of citizens.

  • Creating intelligence systems designed to be unavoidable, while mass gathering personal data of the poor and middle class for the purpose of control and persecution. A system that the ultra wealthier utterly not beholden to.

  • Taking undemocratic control of democratic institutions.

  • Destroying the environment for profit at a mass scale.

  • creating economic systems that advantage the ultra wealthy while binding countless average citizens into poverty.

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u/Whole_Move7660 17d ago

Why can’t you name those billionaires? What about the charity some of them? If you want more people to be mad you got to actually say what they done. I mean like bill gates bad but he did charity for gate foundation? Jeff bozo ex wife donated billions, you can’t just label every single billionaires bad. Is it just easier to say that?

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u/grooverocker 17d ago edited 17d ago

Maybe there's a language barrier here but your comments come across as deeply disingenuous. Why do I have to name all the billionaires?! Do you require every comment to be a thousand page encyclopedia before it's validated?! Get a grip.

The Sackler Family

Elon Musk

Miriam Adelson

Jeff Yass

Jeff Bazos

Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein

To name a few.

But honestly I think this is all lost on you. I don't think you have the reading comprehension to understand what's been said here. You certainly don't have the baseline knowledge of the issue, because a charity programme here don't counteract the systemic erosion of our democracies and general wellbeing at the hands of billionaires.

It's akin to pointing out that tobacco companies knowingly suppressed the addiction and health hazards of cigarettes... and you replying back with, "yeah, well, what about their charity work?"

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u/Whole_Move7660 17d ago

Yes. If you don’t name the things they done. How would we fix the problem? We just remove billionaires from the earth? Are they just not paying their taxes? Is that why we all mad? You’re not lost to me. I’m asking for examples and I look stupid cause I ask this. Like is universal that everyone should know all the evil billionaires in their hearts. I’m not on anything’s side.

Only on Reddit do I see users say they are the problem for the entire earth. In real life, no one’s going around saying that. Do you understand that Reddit feeds negative news so they get a ton of views and reactions? Well in real life, people aren’t talking about this. So is kind of hard to relate.

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u/SaiyanKnight23 17d ago

Dude, probably every middle class and lower of families says that the ultra rich are blight on the planet. They rarely do ANYTHING to improve peoples lives and are only in it to ruin them

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u/SaiyanKnight23 17d ago

Dude those charities are just for the tax right offs

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u/Whole_Move7660 17d ago

I don’t understand how you all know these but can’t tell me who billionaire it is. I know Elon bad….Tim cook? The Apple guy? Did he do anything? See? Is kinda hard. Can you name a few? Just a few and then I can visualize.

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u/DenseReality6089 18d ago

One i clined billionaire could fix many of the global issues we face, but they choose not to. Every single day they wake up and say "fuck this planet and this species". 

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u/Whole_Move7660 18d ago

How are they not doing their part? Doesn’t a lot of billionaires give to charity? Or is that fake? Like bill gates foundation isn’t actually real? Or Jeff bozo ex wife giving billions to charity is not actually doing anything?

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u/Macitron3000 17d ago

Stuffing money into charity for a tax break does not equate to paying their fair share in taxes to be used for infrastructure. Just in case there’s a human behind the screen here

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u/Whole_Move7660 17d ago

Ok so even if they do charity, donate FOOD, do scholarships, build buildings for the public. All for tax purposes? Damn. I got it now lol.

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u/jahi69 17d ago

Your entire problem is that you cannot grasp just how much a billion of anything is. A million seconds is 11.5 days. A billion seconds is 31.7 years. One billion is 1000x larger than one million. These people have enough money to be able to donate 99% of it and still be a billionaire and want for nothing. They need to pay their share of taxes and get their money out of politics.

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u/Staav 17d ago

An individual becoming a millionaire is a very significant life achievement for anyone. We're having individuals earning that thousands to tens of thousands of times over in a single year. If you can't see the outrageous excess with those kind of earnings, idk what to tell you.

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u/Whole_Move7660 17d ago

Ok so if they become billionaire then they bad

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u/SaiyanKnight23 17d ago

Dude.. I could be a millionaire in 40 years if i correctly save money in a roth ira and the s&p 500, not to mention 401ks. Its billionaires that are the problem

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u/Whole_Move7660 18d ago

Can someone just give me a list of things I should ask the billionaires for and their names? I don’t get how so many redditors keep saying billionaires but not actually tell any of us what they taken.

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u/NothingTooFancy26 18d ago

Universal healthcare

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u/Whole_Move7660 17d ago

That’s not the government being stupid? They that gullible? Damn

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u/NothingTooFancy26 17d ago

They government is bought and paid for by billionaires

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u/Whole_Move7660 17d ago

Is there anything we can do? So they definitely won’t tax them more huh