Board 8 > Do people actually believe Elon Musk can solve world hunger?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Referring to the moron at CNN first claiming that 2% of Musk's net worth (~$6 billion) could solve world hunger (which he later walked back to "could feed 42 million people). Do people actually believe this, neglecting to consider the fact that Musk's net worth is almost entirely in Tesla stock that he can't just magically liquidate without tanking the stock price?

Even if we take this at face value, $6 billion / 42 million is around $142 per person. If you ignore any administrative or logistical costs, and assume you can feed a person in the third world for $0.70/day (a number people have thrown around before), this would only feed these people for around 200 days.

Besides the fact that noone on the internet apparantly understands the concepts of non-liquid assets, and how you can't tax unrealized gains, is this recent trend of people shitting on Musk/Bezos an actual criticism of their wealth, or are these people just jealous that they are stuck working at McDonalds instead of revolutionizing science and technology fields?

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The very way of thinking that a single person should fix the world's problem is so flawed anyway
This is why we have organizations

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I feel like this conversation started with "if all the billionaries/1% whatever" did this it could solve world hunger, not literally one guy wealth.

Being presented as just an Elon thing has already corrupted the entire discussion.

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This is similar to all the "TAX UNREALIZED GAINS" arguments recently where people just have no concept of what money is or what stocks are. The argument here should be that the ultra rich should be taxed at a higher rate. Increase capital gains taxes over a certain threshold, increase taxes on luxory goods, increase income taxes over a certain threshold. I don't understand how people think taxing unrealized gains makes any sense.

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He can take a $6 billion loan leveraged against his stock


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If we simply ate Elon Musk we would not only solve hunger for a small group of people for a few days, but also have all that money and stock to solve it for a bunch more long term.

Seems like a reasonable choice.

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Menji posted...

He can take a $6 billion loan leveraged against his stock

I doubt anywhere would give a $6 billion dollar loan to him against his stock (since even hearing about that would tank the price of the assets), but even if he did, you do realize you have to pay loans back, right? With interest?

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Why don't the dumb McDonald's workers just give everybody big Macs

I'm sure there are social ills you could solve with a tiny fraction of Elon Musk's net worth, but world hunger has too many ongoing and logistical costs to be one of them. Might actually need an amount of money that would make a difference to him, or money from multiple people for that matter.

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Seriously, they have access to so many burgers

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I saw Supersize Me I'm not falling for that.

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the one thing we can all agree on is McDonalds workers are garbage people worthy of our derision

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No, just McDonalds workers that expect to make as much for flipping burgers as someone who does skilled work, and then argue on reddit that "I had to train for 3 shifts to work at McDonalds, THAT IS SKILLED LABOUR"

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BlAcK TuRtLe posted...

just McDonalds workers that expect to make as much for flipping burgers as someone who does skilled work,

Depends, maybe the skilled workers need more too!

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BT do you even have a job

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Why is anyone defending ultra rich people?

Some moronic hope that someday you might be one?

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Whiskey_Nick posted...

Why is anyone defending ultra rich people?

Some moronic hope that someday you might be one?

Why is anyone attacking rich people?

Some moronic fear that someday you might not be one?

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Nanis23 posted...

Why is anyone attacking rich people?

Some moronic fear that someday you might not be one?

Well, yeah. None of us in this topic are ever going to be a billionaire. Sorry to dash those hopes. We're scared of things like starving or losing our home or not being able to take care of the people we love. Not going from 5 billion to 3 billion.

PerfectChaosZ posted...

Well, yeah. None of us in this topic are ever going to be a billionaire. Sorry to dash those hopes. We're scared of things like starving or losing our home. Not going from 5 billion to 3 billion.

I know
But attacking rich people just because they are rich is idiotic
You want to hate Musk because you think he is shitty human being? Fine
But why hate him for being rich? Jealousy?

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You have to be a shitty human being to be a billionaire in the first place. There is no ethical course to amassing that much wealth.

Nah you can inherit it. It's what you do with it that makes you shitty or not.

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I don't think a billionaire has been an heir yet. And that means your family probably dicked over a lot of people anyway. We already know Elon Musk is a shitty person.

I see no reason to believe he couldn't if he put his talents toward it. With Elon Musk, not even the sky is the limit.
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I'm 100% certain a handful of billionaires could solve a country's hunger. It'd be a damn good start.

Nanis23 posted...

Why is anyone attacking rich people?

Some moronic fear that someday you might not be one?

Shit guys, Nanis destroyed me here. I am retiring from B8 forever.

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black turtle, i didn't know you watched CNN.

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HashtagSEP posted...

BT do you even have a job

I can guarantee you that I make more than at least 90% of the people on this board

pjbasis posted...

Depends, maybe the skilled workers need more too!

I love when people say this who have no concept of how to run a business, or how inflation works. If everyone makes more money, the price of everything will go up in equal measure because most businesses can't eat the increased labour cost and keep running. At this point all you are doing is hyperinflating your currency to accomplish literally nothing.

PerfectChaosZ posted...

You have to be a shitty human being to be a billionaire in the first place. There is no ethical course to amassing that much wealth.

Elon Musk has done about a million times more to benefit mankind than you have, or pretty much anyone else here. Agree or disagree with his politics, or whether you think he should be paying more in taxes (which he absolutely should), you can't minimize the benefits he has brought to society as a businessman and innovator. If you want to go after billionaires, at least pick the ones that have not done anything to advance society, like Rupert Murdoch.

I never understood the "REEEE I HATE RICH PEOPLE" mentality, and all I can assume is that people posting that are unemployed stoners pissed off that they don't live in a mansion

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BlAcK TuRtLe posted...

I can guarantee you that I make more than at least 90% of the people on this board

So that's a no then

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BlAcK TuRtLe posted...

I never understood the "REEEE I HATE RICH PEOPLE" mentality

Yeah there's a lot you don't understand

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BlAcK TuRtLe posted...

unemployed stoners pissed off that they don't live in a mansion

Caught me red handed

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I want rich people to pay their fair share in taxes. They do not currently.

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DoomTheGyarados posted...

I want rich people to pay their fair share in taxes. They do not currently.

Problem is that rich people are the ones making the rules, so guess how likely they are to change it.

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PrivateBiscuit1 posted...

Problem is that rich people are the ones making the rules, so guess how likely they are to change it.

Shocked Pikachu face etc

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I love when people say this who have no concept of how to run a business, or how inflation works. If everyone makes more money, the price of everything will go up in equal measure because most businesses can't eat the increased labour cost and keep running. At this point all you are doing is hyperinflating your currency to accomplish literally nothing.

Yeah, I'm done with this topic. Someone else can try to talk to him.

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BlAcK TuRtLe posted...

you can't minimize the benefits he has brought to society as a businessman and innovator

Sure you can. Most of the things hes been involved in have had little to not benefit to the average person.

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BlAcK TuRtLe posted...

I can guarantee you that I make more than at least 90% of the people on this board

So then "no."

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black turtle topic xd

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paperwarior posted...

Yeah, I'm done with this topic. Someone else can try to talk to him.

First time?

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DoomTheGyarados posted...

I want rich people to pay their fair share in taxes. They do not currently.

Agreed 100%, they need to increase tax rates and capital gains taxes at the upper end, but this is a political failure that started with the Reagan era "trickle down" Reaganomics. The problem here is your very reasonable stance is muddied and invalidated by all the people shouting "EAT THE RICH" through their cheeto dust and mountain dew caked teeth, or the people in this very thread that pretend they have added more to humanity than Elon Musk.

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I'm gonna skip reading this BT topic on the assumption that it's not worth a damn

The socialist way

E: oh I gave in and read a few posts and apparently this is a stealth bragging topic about how people don't understand stocks.

Well as the resident GOAT investor on Board 8, I just want to say Black Turtle is a dipshit

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Avoiding any discussions and regressing into little echo chambers, yes that is the socialist way apparently.

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Don't misunderstand. When I see "burger flipper" and "raising the minimum wage will cause so much inflation that it won't do anyone any good" being regurgitated yet again, I suspect there's no discussion to be had. When I see a cheap provocation, that confirms it.

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BlAcK TuRtLe posted...

I never understood the "REEEE I HATE RICH PEOPLE" mentality

Look, I can kinda get it. If you think about it from a self-interst point of view, it makes perfect sense.
If I can complain about the rich and somehow I will get 0.00001% of their net worth in some way, why not?
If their taxes can cover stuff instead of my tax, why not?
It's not like they need some kind of pity. And I can benefit from it. So...why the fuck not?

I assume this is what those people think deep down, even if they don't outright say it.
To them, we are probably the idiots that hate themselves. "Protecting rich people won't help them in any way, so why are they still doing this?"
And...that's kind of true.

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paperwarior posted...

Don't misunderstand. When I see "burger flipper" and "raising the minimum wage will cause so much inflation that it won't do anyone any good" being regurgitated yet again, I suspect there's no discussion to be had. When I see a cheap provocation, that confirms it.

Burger flipper is disrespectful, yes.
But if you think that raising the minimum wage will not cause inflation FOR SURE, then maybe you need to do a little bit more research
Experts are torn on this matter. Some say it will. Some say it won't. There is no clear consensus

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There's already been a lot of inflation and not a lot of minimum wage raises. At this point you have to ask "Has not raising the minimum wage actually be helping?" And the answer is yes, it's been helping the haves not pay people more.

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SwiftyDC posted...

https://twitter.com/lackingsaint/status/1454940535404351488?s=21

Nanis23 posted...

Look, I can kinda get it. If you think about it from a self-interst point of view, it makes perfect sense.
If I can complain about the rich and somehow I will get 0.00001% of their net worth in some way, why not?
If their taxes can cover stuff instead of my tax, why not?
It's not like they need some kind of pity. And I can benefit from it. So...why the f*** not?

I assume this is what those people think deep down, even if they don't outright say it.
To them, we are probably the idiots that hate themselves. "Protecting rich people won't help them in any way, so why are they still doing this?"
And...that's kind of true.

Nanis, I dont think youre an idiot that hates yourself. I think you dont understand the argument and hate poor people/poor people jobs.

Ask yourself two questions to find the answer: 1) who do you think works harder, your average full time McDonalds employee or Elon Musk? 2) If you could get Elons income doing his job or working at McDonalds, which would you choose?


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I don't know what Elon does all day, but I would much rather earn 6 billion dollars working at MickeyD's than 6 billion being a CEO

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Tbh thinking a full time McDonald employee works as hard as Elon Musk is almost as laughable as thinking Elon Musk shouldn't pay more in taxes.

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Most of Elon's money doesn't even come from his job, anyway. Most of it comes from owning shares of his companies.
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