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The above list shows replies to the following message: |
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Msg. 42049 of 54434
(This msg. is a reply to 42048 by clo2) |
Not for me. Nope. This is just the way the American system [and to an extent similar western democracies] rewards individual success. Which is to say, very unequally. Bezos came up with his own ideas, took the risk of putting money into them, made them work as a business - things many people celebrate, including me. But good fortune is always a part of things. And others' will have added their own ideas to his success. And he will have benefitted from things he inherited from society as whole, such as a functioning legal system, running water, roads, security, education and healthcare. The privilege of belonging to a wealthy, democratic, albeit imperfect country [but which country isn't]. In the way we work things, he takes a vast share of the wealth and the income his idea and his good fortune have generated; while we tend to overlook the things he (and everyone else in a democracy like the US) has received. He also avoids paying taxes (if only via Amazon) and therefore he fails to contribute what many, including me, think of as a proper share to the common weal. If he was a brown or black man, in a non-race-based way, I would think the same thing. There are plenty of wealthy black people in America. That isn't black privilege either. It's the privilege of being American. To his credit, Bill Gates found a useful way to redress the balance between making a fortune for himself and sharing its benefits. But is it better to have a system in which individuals select the things upon which to focus their largesse? Or should a society make those decisions via a fully tax-funded government? I think the latter is healthier, at least for the bulk of the income these sorts of people generate [while also leaving them with enough to feel it was all worth it]. But at least Gates is giving a lot of it away. Big ships to me suggest private lives without much personal meaning. If I was him, I'd pay my taxes and be building lots of hospitals, public libraries and schools. But I don't see much to do with so-called white privilege in it. Just a system that generates, harnesses and rewards self-centred behaviour, and seems blind to the investment of society as a whole in any individual person's success. |
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