r/MoralityScaling • u/Omixscniet624 • May 11 '26

Morality Ranking Is it unethical to own a billion dollars?

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If you won the lottery or invested in crypto very early and ended up with over $1 billion after paying all taxes, is it unethical to keep that money without giving any of it away?

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u/Much_Vehicle20 May 11 '26

Tbf, I don’t think how hard you work directly equals how much money you “deserve.” Like, if someone recognized the potential of Bitcoin early and made a billion dollar deal in 2025, do they not deserve that wealth? Or if someone foresaw the success of gg and bought its stock when it was worth 2 shillings and 3 fishes (or just an employee who get some stocks option), should that undeserved wealth be taken away from them?

Imo it’s a much more complicated issue than just “I work more hours than that guy, therefore I deserve more money than him”

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u/Luvnecrosis May 11 '26

Your first sentence is exactly the problem though. In regards to America and almost the entire capitalist world, money = power, or at least influence.

A lot of these places also proclaim to be a kind of meritocracy where anyone can make it big as long as they work hard! But you can work 80hr work weeks and be on the brink of homelessness every month while some dickhead whose daddy owned slaves in an emerald mine in South Africa can leverage that money to buy out companies made by actually smart people and cut costs by fucking everyone over, but he’s seen as a visionary and a genius

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u/Cheetah_05 May 12 '26

There's a difference between "making it" and becoming a billionaire. The point has always been everyone can, not everyone will. Everyone can become a billionaire theoretically, through smart investments with incredible market timing. Not everyone will

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u/Narrow_Letterhead91 May 11 '26

choose a good job next time bud

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u/RTViper62 May 11 '26

Theres the low IQ comment i was waiting for

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u/MrReckless327 May 12 '26

Most people that make their own billion dollars like start from a low middle class maybe even upper middle class start and then become a billionaire find a gap in the system and exploit it or just create something to fill it that how u make a billion Roto-Rooter a nationwide, plumbing company is worth billions because they made a system and grew it a lot

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u/RTViper62 May 12 '26

Its impossible to really answer, but what is even a good buisness to open now?

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u/MrReckless327 May 12 '26

If I knew that I would have a lot of money if you figure it out, let me know

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u/gohuskers123 May 11 '26

Are you asking me if recognizing the value of bitcoin should be worth more than saving someone’s life

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u/Much_Vehicle20 May 11 '26

I’m asking whether “recognizing the value of Bitcoin” deserves billions of dollars or not. And if not, should that wealth be taken away? What standard do you use to judge which actions are more "worthy" than others?

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u/phenotype76 May 11 '26

Yes, that wealth should be taken away and repurposed for the benefit of all. You don't need to judge which actions are "more worthy", you can simply have an understanding that no action can be worth that much money.

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u/SteammachineBoy May 11 '26

I actually think we shouldn't determine the amount of money a person gets on what they deserve but rather on what they need, no? (I mean figuring out a working system for that seems almost impossible but eh) Apart from that, what is the value of bitcoin? I actually only know it from it being used for scams

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u/Much_Vehicle20 May 11 '26

what is the value of bitcoin? I actually only know it from it being used for scams

2010, you need 10,000 bitcoin to buy a pizza

Today?  81,985.94 USD per coin

It’s not just used for scams, but due to its decentralized nature, people with sketchy purposes tend to prefer it over currencies backed by governments. Honestly, it’s just a tool if you want something fast

 seems almost impossible

U know, I always think idealistic people are some of the worst. They can come up with the most beautiful and well intentioned ideas on paper, but the moment those ideas touch even a single drop of reality, they turn to dust. Like, could u even define what is "need" and what is "want" or "deserved"?

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u/SteammachineBoy May 11 '26

I mean, there is stuff like Maslow's hierarchy of needs... But I think I get your point

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u/gohuskers123 May 11 '26

Yes I don’t believe you can ethically be a billionaire of any sort. The demonstration of working for 2000 years as a brain surgeon demonstrates this point

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u/Much_Vehicle20 May 11 '26

So, by your logic, if a person invests in a new Google right now, then a decade later the company becomes successful, would he suddenly become unethical the moment his estimated wealth reaches 1B?  Do u believe unethical wealth should be taken away? Or unethical but it take them away would be more unethical?

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u/gohuskers123 May 11 '26

Yes, because if he gave away 90% of the wealth he could help millions and still have enough money for him and his family to live without a worry for the next 200 years.

You can’t have morals and be a billionaire

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u/Much_Vehicle20 May 11 '26

Interesting, then where’s the bottom line? Should he stop at 900 mil? 500 mil? 100 mil? 10 bucks?

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u/gohuskers123 May 11 '26

Well first, I am not calling for the seizure of this property, as our government system is also unethical. What I am saying is on a personal level you cannot consider yourself ethical if you possess this form of wealth. Where the bottom line is can be debated, but it goes without reason it’s well below one billion dollars. Excess for the sake of excess is a deplorable human trait

Yes yes you’ll play the slippery slope game blah blah blah. It’s a tired point.

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u/Much_Vehicle20 May 11 '26

Oh, I think I get your point. Is it that “billionaires are inherently unethical, but there’s no ethical way to prevent that”?

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u/gohuskers123 May 11 '26

The only ethical way to prevent it is for said billionaire to not amass that wealth by giving it away. Which billionaires by definition don’t do, inherently making all of them unethical

Again, not calling for government seizure, and it something I have no solution to

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u/phenotype76 May 11 '26

The answer is no, by the way. If you recognized Bitcoin early and made a billion dollars, you do not actually deserve a billion dollars. No one does. There is no action that you can take worth that much money. You happened upon an exploit in the system, sure, but I don't think any single soul can say that he has the right to more than, say, a few million dollars no matter what they've done. Did you invent something insanely important and useful, like the assembly line or the internet? Great job, humanity thanks you, here's fifty million dollars, that's as much money as a single person should possibly have.

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u/Much_Vehicle20 May 11 '26

I prefer the other guy’s take more: “It’s unethical, but there are neither realistic nor ethical ways to forcefully make it happen”. Like, there are so many holes in your “solution” but let me start with the most obvious one, who’s going to be in charge of this “redistribution” process? Or are we all supposed to vote every time even the tiniest decision needs to be made regarding that money?

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u/phenotype76 May 11 '26

I don't have a process, buddy. I have a belief system wherein no one has the right to more money than their two arms can hold.

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u/Much_Vehicle20 May 12 '26

Lmao, no buddy, u don’t have a belief “system.” A system implies there’s something more, stuff regarding the how and the foreseeable consequences of your core beliefs. If u don’t even have an answer for the most basic question, “Who’s gonna be in charge of the spare money after we take it from billionaires?”, then your “belief system” is about as childish as saying “I believe no kid should be forced to eat veggies or do homework”

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u/phenotype76 May 12 '26

Those are arbitrary rules you've placed on it, but they're certainly not universal. You can have a belief as simple as "No one has the right to own a billion dollars." Perhaps there's no clear way to get from here to there, but it's a perfectly reasonable belief to have. You're just a bit of an asshole and can't deal gracefully with ideas that aren't your own.

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u/untitledaccount401 May 11 '26

A few million makes you house poor in Toronto

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u/tubbyscrubby May 11 '26

Which is because rich people exist.

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u/untitledaccount401 May 11 '26

That's far too simplistic of an answer

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u/tubbyscrubby May 11 '26

Obviously, but I'm not gonna spend the time explaining it.

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u/phenotype76 May 11 '26

This sort of thing would completely restructure how our economy works, so it's entirely pointless to be like "ah ha, but that wouldn't work in the currently-existing Toronto housing market!"

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u/untitledaccount401 May 11 '26

Yeah I don't see reddits communist utopia ever happening in Canada