You’re the one who wanted to dismantle the banks. Being ignorant of how they enable development isn’t a position worthy of respect.

There are many more non billionaires than billionaires. There are some 750ish billionaires in the US.

Median American has a net worth of about 200k. So, 5,000 median Americans gets you about a billion.

Divide the American population (~333 million) and lo and behold, worth about 66,666 billionaires.

So, in other words, blaming billionaires is easy but really…

Then you should read about how actual development works.

My point is that the majority of stuff that is harming or will harm the most needy in the world is because of our individual choices.

Cobalt mining, climate change, sweatshops etc are because of our complacency and are only solved if we as a people have more empathy and consider the consequences of our lifestyles.

But that’s a harder banner to rally around than “boooo billionaires.”

Oh wow has Lemmy gotten big enough that now people bring it up in every comeback post the way people do with Reddit? Awesome. That’s gonna so fun.

I literally have no idea what you’re trying to say.

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Yes and the billionaires, while still having loopholes, still give back way more to society than we do.

Unsure what point you’re trying to make.

We don’t need to eat beef.

And banks have been instrumental in one of the largest rises in human living standards in history so dismantling them seems pretty cruel to those who don’t yet live as well as we do.

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I do abstain from beef. Which is difficult as hell as I rock weights at the gym and beef is incredibly protein efficient. But it’s the least I can do. So I eat a boatload of chickpeas and chicken.

My smartphone is a shitty ancieng refurbished one as that’s the most ethical I could find.

I haven’t bought sweatshop clothes in years. So yeah, my fashion sucks as it’s mostly thrift shop but I dont feel evil. (Though, my boxers are falling apart and it’s getting kind of desperate. Sadly, because other people don’t give a shit there are very few ethical underwear options.) Similarly, every piece of non electric furniture in my place is second hand, except for my bed frame.

Gave up on cars more than a decade ago. Finally got a second hand one but bike, bus and train almost everywhere.

I’ve taken a 30 - 40% pay cut to work in the non profit sector. Which makes it unlikely I’ll ever buy a house but my work helps put kids through school.

My individual decisions don’t make a difference but it’s like voting. If others lived similarly, the world would be significantly better. We can all do better, it’s just harder than whining about billionaires online.

Yeah not as much in the rich world.

There are some folks sure but for the majority of people wasting time on Lemmy, I doubt that’s the case. And yes, we can make up a heartbreaking example and just as easily I could point to a billionaire like Bill Gates who has done more to improve the world than most governments achieve. Or, as much as I dislike him, Elon Musk or more accurately, Statlink, without which Kyiev would have fallen months, maybe years ago.

The point though is that it’s super easy to rail about billionaires but in reality serious change comes from the people. We’re the ones who make sweatshops a thing, who eat so much beef that it’s a huge contributor to global warning, who fly and drive everywhere for vacations etc. But that would take self reflection and maybe cause an ounce od shame so instead, “boooo billionaires.”

Indoor plumbing has actually done wonders in the developing world.

It’s weird though, when the argument is billionaires should give up their stuff, that’s fine but when it’s we who might have to make sacrifices, that’s morality preaching? Seems incredibly conveniently selective.

I get that no one likes thinking of themselves as complicit but that seems a pretty poor foundation for ideology.

Lol, I love “bootlicking” on Lemmy, as far as I can tell it’s used the same way trump uses rigged, that is to say “I don’t like it!”

I mean, on climate change, farming is one of the biggest contributors and as fat as the fat cats are, the 333 million non billionaire Americans eat a boatload more beef than the 750ish billionaires. Meanwhile, in terms of say, children losing their limbs mining the cobalt for our phones, the 333 million are way more responsible. Same story for sweatshops. Same for air travel, oil consumption etc.

But man, actual change on our part would be hard. Way easier to rail about billionaires online and feel snugly superior rather than actually doing the work.

Except there are many more non billionaires than billionaires. There are some 750ish billionaires in the US.

Median American has a net worth of about 200k. So, 5,000 median Americans gets you about a billion.

Divide the American population (~333 million) and lo and behold, worth about 66,666 billionaires.

So, in other words, blaming billionaires is easy but really…

Somehow, all these pleas on behalf of the downtrodden never include us actually making any sacrifices or change, just the rich.

Weird how it’s easy to agitate for change when it involves zero sacrifice on your part.

Globally, they still are. Almost half the world doesn’t have one. And children still lose their limbs mining the cobalt etc.

I guess the question could be better phrased as “and what are you personally giving up to ensure that as many people as possible are fed?”

Does this also apply to say, smartphones?

What?

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There were mass movements that translated to electoral victory… In other words, democracy function led exactly as it should.