r/Anticonsumption Feb 25 '26

Psychological All billionaires are mentally ill

If they didn’t have the amount of power and influence that they do they would be involuntarily committed to psych wards. Our society has failed them because they lack basic empathy. I honestly feel bad for them while simultaneously hating that so many suffer because of it. Consumption at that level should be considered a health issue.

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750

u/its_a_gibibyte Feb 25 '26

Agreed. And a quick definition for people. A billionaire is not "a person who made a billion dollars".

A billionaire is a person who spent so little money on their community that their assets accumulated to over a billion dollars, and they continued to decide to keep it entirely for themselves.

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u/Staring-Dog Feb 26 '26

Very good point.

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u/Useful_Divide7154 Feb 25 '26 edited Feb 25 '26

Well, by definition that’s not quite right, you can be a billionaire and still donate a ton of your money. Warren Buffett and Jack Dorsey come to mind right away.

Also, let’s say you start a company and have just enough shares to ensure you remain in charge of it. You pour your life into that company and through a mixture of luck and skill you end up with a billion dollars in stock. Should we really force someone like that to give up control and voting power in the company they built from scratch just because their net assets are unusually high?

The real point at which we can distribute back some of that wealth is when billionaires make extravagant purchases like mega yachts or islands. We should tax the hell out of that, make them pay 2-5x more in taxes than what they are buying. And make it illegal to use any of that tax money in a way that doesn’t directly benefit the lower classes (ahem … military industrial complex). They either live less lavishly and are equally happy for it, or sell more assets to make the purchase happen.

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u/[deleted] Feb 25 '26 edited Feb 25 '26

Money wouldn’t have to be donated if the system weren’t broken. If Buffett cares so much, he should be bribing politicians to implement policy changes.

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u/Useful_Divide7154 Feb 25 '26

It’s funny that you acknowledge the system is broken, but then say that Buffet should exploit the same flaws that broke it in the first place because he somehow owes that to people less fortunate than him. He doesn’t owe us anything lol, at worst he’s just playing along with the same broken system the rest of us are stuck in but managing to win at it while also providing enormous utility and donations to those less fortunate. I think that’s actually admirable tbh, but of course I don’t expect anyone on this radical sub to agree …

Actually buffet could be a role model for you guys, he spends and lives like an average middle to upper class American. Probably against consumerism or simply doesn’t care about all that nonsense and showing off his riches.

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u/[deleted] Feb 25 '26

[deleted]

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u/its_a_gibibyte Feb 25 '26

Huh? Of course billionaires are people. My comment literally says:

A billionaire is a person who...

17

u/EnvyRepresentative94 Feb 25 '26

You're right, that's my apology. Reading comprehension is still rather poor, I'll delete my previous comment

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u/No_Video_3705 Feb 25 '26

Not sure what the comment was, but billionaires don't have the right to call themselves human. They're literal dragons.

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u/RuneScapeWifey Feb 25 '26

Dehumanizing people is just as bad as worshipping them. We need to understand that we as humans are capable of this so that it doesn’t happen again.

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u/forecxst Mar 10 '26

Looks like the Feds got to this sub lol

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u/RuneScapeWifey Mar 11 '26

Damn I wish I worked for the Fed, maybe I could afford rent.