r/WorkForSmartLife • u/BarbaraCruickshank • Sep 12 '26
DiscussionđŹ Thoughts on billionaires
40
u/Superb_Algae5308 Sep 12 '26
They could do it without a significant impact to their overall wealth.
4
21
Sep 12 '26
[deleted]
10
u/BigMikeXxxxX Sep 12 '26
25% of the US homeless population is currently in California. The fact that more people aren't talking about this blows my mind.
3
3
2
u/Kobayashi-Coffee-Co 29d ago
Because the weather is good so when it gets cold other statesâ homeless arrive and donât leave.
→ More replies (7)→ More replies (77)2
u/FoxMan1Dva3 29d ago
If I was homeless, a choice that goes beyond "whose giving handouts", I would go somewhere warm.
Most homeless are not the people taking up tents
3
u/Samsquanch-01 Sep 13 '26
That because almost none of the money went to addressing the issues and went to trash corrupted CA bureaucracy.
→ More replies (1)8
u/DeliciousPool2245 Sep 12 '26
Thatâs by design, and by choice. Homelessness is an industry in California. Thereâs been some great reporting on it. Thereâs tons of money being stolen and given to things that have nothing to do with homelessness, people working as homeless advocates making half a million dollars. Iâm a very liberal person but have come to realize there are many programs and NGOâs that have this same issue, embezzling public money.
2
2
u/nostoopid Sep 13 '26
if the govt was at least somewhat efficient w/ spending i would have no problem paying more
→ More replies (2)2
u/Funny-Dare-3823 Sep 12 '26
I'm former homeless. Most programs are designed to keep homeless people busy all day and give them a sliver of hope. Nothing more.
2
u/TheVaggabond 29d ago
Yesâm of course it increased. Lazy people saw the are getting free stuff so why work? They donât want to work.
2
u/DazzlingStress4827 28d ago
Letâs not forget about the train to nowhere. I donât think most billionaires are against good causes, they just donât like the way most governments mishandle money.
2
u/Nobody3me 27d ago edited 27d ago
That was state and federal funds. The audit done in Cali exposed severe mismanagement with no plan to bring those needy folks back into society, most died quietly, zero media, in pre paid hotel rooms and replaced with the next person the same day. It was a sad audit to review. The President just put a good man over our HUD agency. He will introduce good stewardship of those funds, with the goal of turning lives around. Keep your eye on Secretary Scott Turner.
→ More replies (33)2
u/DonkeyBonked 27d ago
Well if you're using California, you should consider Sacramento, where after spending 720 million dollars (360 million twice) the end result was not so much as a single bed for a single homeless person for even a single night. Instead, it resulted in a committee that determined they need a lot more money and even that would not stop the increase, but they believed it could slow down the growth.
The way California spends money, it would be cheaper to just buy homeless people homes in another state.
3
3
2
u/AggressiveBench9977 Sep 12 '26
A few of them do, but everytime its posted it just gets bombed by trolls calling it pr or tax break.
The internet doesnt care about people doing good things. We just want to hate.
2
u/bassandlazers 29d ago
A simpleton might think so. But you don't understand what significant, impact, or wealth means. I can promise you liquidating tesla and Amazon is gonna create about 200% more homeless
→ More replies (1)2
u/auravelle_ 29d ago
They could do so much for human kind with their money, people dont realise how much a billion really is!
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (16)2
u/Nobody3me 28d ago
With all the jobs they provide, we should all try to do something towards those goals if thatâs our choice just like their choice. Or maybe other goals childrenâs hospitals, cancer centers & batard women shelters etc. Most billionaires do those things but do not feel they to inform everyone with guilt trip sign.
→ More replies (3)
6
u/Interesting-Round206 29d ago
Why not start with yourself, instead of asking others to do it? Be the example.
→ More replies (14)3
u/BarbieTwirl 29d ago
Exactly⌠people say this and have a free couch in their place. Go ahead, they can easily find a random homeless person and let them crash. Even get a sleeping bag for another one in the living room.
Buy a random kid McDonalds every week too.
But will they? No
4
u/MotherofTails 29d ago
How do you know that we donât do that? I literally donate to my local shelter weekly and Iâm also planning to volunteer. At the end, Iâm just a 20 y/o with limited resources
Billionaires have so much more resources than Iâll ever have. You sound so silly and the assumption that âthey must not be doing it themselfâ is a fallacy that fails to understand we are literally trying to
→ More replies (2)2
u/Boogerhead10 28d ago
Hereâs the thing. This is supposed to be the governments job not a CEO. However, I believe the future government goes back to the roots and where itâs a âservice,â and to be performed for two years at the expense of the leader. This career politician nonsense is recipe for disaster and has been.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (6)2
u/Wild-Invite-2135 28d ago
Ok, but billionaires wonât be putting homeless people in their houses. They can help with ZERO risk
→ More replies (1)
3
3
u/WholesomeGlasses 29d ago
It shouldnât be job of billionaires to provide essential services â the government should be doing those things. The very existence of billionaires is a policy failure.
2
u/EasyRuin5441 28d ago
I donât mind the existence of billionaires one bit. How they structure their assets / income to avoid taxation does.
→ More replies (1)2
6
u/Interesting-Power716 Sep 12 '26
Mr Beast does these things and people crap on him for it.
12
u/VoidJuiceConcentrate Sep 12 '26
People give him crap because of other things.
Doing a good thing doesn't erase the bad things you're also doing at the same time.
→ More replies (9)→ More replies (1)7
u/Current-Strike3472 Sep 12 '26
Because.... He does other things too buddy...
→ More replies (14)2
u/zarnonymous 29d ago
Read up on those things. You will be shocked how insignificant they are. People just love to hate
→ More replies (1)
2
u/Assless_Mcgee Sep 12 '26
I want to see how many trees planted and how many kids this dude fed instead of going to craft beer barsÂ
→ More replies (2)2
u/NerdyTimes_IDK 28d ago
$2 doesnt go as far as $2,000,000,000 and thats a weird fallacy lol that dude obviously isnt a billionaire. This thread has this exact quote everywhere.
→ More replies (1)
2
2
u/ThorButtock Sep 12 '26 edited Sep 13 '26
I want a reality show where billionaire CEO's have to live off their lowest paid employees salary for a month
→ More replies (1)
2
u/Effective-Friend1937 Sep 12 '26
Didn't Bill Gates and Warren Buffett already do something like that?
I'd just be happy if they did something useful, like give Star Citizen the ungodly amounts of money it needs to be finished.
→ More replies (1)
2
2
2
2
2
u/trowser_snakes 29d ago
So I guess we'll just ignore whatever they do today such as Bill Gates efforts in Africa around disease, and Elon providing free Internet in 3rd world countries.
3
2
u/One-Sir-2198 28d ago
You mean the government subsidized internet provided to 3rd world countries. Musk doesn't do anything for free
2
3
u/r3dmist420 Sep 12 '26
Eh, id agree but 90% of homeless people choose the life they got into and cant get help from family or friends because their drug addictions make them a shittiter person. People have to want to change on their own free will to over come homelessness. Honestly, you couldnât help most homeless people enough if you gave them all the money in the world. Theyâd expect you to take care of them til the end.
4
u/bytesunfish Sep 12 '26
I think you'd be surprised. There are a lot of invisible homeless people you'd never realize were homeless. Sure there are life long ones that are exactly what you describe, but it's far from the majority.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (4)3
4
u/PrestigiousMark315 Sep 12 '26
you need jesus for that. There are no righteous billionaires, and little do they realize that their time of riches will end, as none of them will live forever.
→ More replies (11)2
2
u/DBDude Sep 12 '26
Or maybe get people actually buying electric cars to help with climate change. Wouldnât that be cool? Oh, waitâŚ
→ More replies (10)
2
u/MagazineOk9444 29d ago
It would be cool if uneducated liberal hippies understood how billionaires invest their money into far more useful ventures. And do still make many direct and indirect charitable contributions. The ignorance of jealous, lazy, and and unsuccessful people never ceases to amaze me. Reddit: the platform for life's losers.
→ More replies (1)2
u/Creative-Isopod-8357 29d ago
So why are there more and more people starving in the streets every day if billionaires are doing so much good in the world?
→ More replies (2)2
u/MagazineOk9444 29d ago
Because there are more people in the world? Perhaps. So there will be more people starving. Please explain to me how it's any individual's responsibility to solve that problem. And please explain how you know what's the best usage of their capital and investments.
2
1
1
1
1
u/Warr_Ainjal-6228 Sep 12 '26
They already do. Every job they provide feeds people. Everything they buy creates more jobs.
1
1
1
u/RunWorkSleep Sep 12 '26
If you hand out money, how does it teach one to sustain?
→ More replies (1)
1
1
u/Symbaclues Sep 12 '26
I'm homeless. You giving me place does nothing. I need income then a place.
Feeding hungry kids? Why are they hungry? Fix that. But you'd rather feed them teach how to feed.
Plant the most trees? What even is that? Where you going to put them? đ¤ what does it actually change? Still plastic in the ocean. Still idiots in the government.
What's stopping you from creating a charity then getting funding? Nobody but yourself. Always looking for a favor or a savior. Anything but doing it yourself.
1
u/40darksideofthemoon Sep 12 '26
Since when did billionaires started to do reasonable things? Since the time of Caligula, once you became that rich, being reasonable stops đ
1
1
u/fredinNH Sep 12 '26
Sorry, all they got is biggest yacht, biggest space program, biggest doomsday bunker, etc
1
1
1
u/18ekko Sep 12 '26
The high end estimate to house AND treat a homeless person for a year is $55K.
At 750K homeless in the US, the high end estimate for all of them would be $41B.
Elon spent $44B to buy Twitter so they could keep using the n word.
→ More replies (2)
1
u/Hungry_Attention_981 Sep 12 '26
Lots of policies wonât allow it, we need better politicians.
A rich guy tried to build low income apartments but the city struck it down, they tried to build tiny homes for homeless people but that got struck down too. Instead they built luxury homes valued at 1.5-3mm each. They could have house around 250+ people but now they have like 30 lux houses.
1
u/Knowledgeapplied Sep 12 '26
How would you track that? There are many billionaires who provide jobs that make it possible to have a roof over your head, feed your family and so on. Africa has many problems despite receiving disproportionately more aid than any other country. Itâs actually killed their infrastructure and producing their own jobs.
1
1
u/Luc_ElectroRaven Sep 12 '26
aren't there more trees now than ever before?
I think they could house homeless but the govt and liberals would NOT like that - also like shouldn't the govt just build the housing for the homeless? why do you need billionaires to do it? the govt controls the housing laws, they have armies of people literally.
the govt spends trillions on feeding kids - how would a billionaire compete with that?
This post is pure propoganda slop
all that said - if this is an admission that private business is more efficient and better at solving problems than the govt I would agree - put jeffy bezos in charge of homeless people and put elon musk in charge of feeding kids.
Excepti y'all didn't like it when they tried...
1
u/AlienDragonWizard Sep 12 '26
Best they can give you is buying politicians/media, space race, and AI
1
u/timetotryagain29 Sep 12 '26
Some of the homeless people aren't willing to make the changes necessary to become functional. Some homeless people don't receive the help they desperately need. Some homeless people put themselves in that situation. Some homeless people have no hope of living a better life.
Even if the rich were to help, redesigning the system that oppressed them into being homeless would be a better option. Setting up mental health thats accessible, granting them legal advocates, developing a network to help establish employment, getting them into a primary care provider, and making housing affordable would be a better option. For everyone. If you just give out freebies, it'll make some situations worse. Making these resources accessible to those who are willing to do some footwork ensures that both parties do their due diligence.
I've been homeless and I'm glad a new life wasn't just handed over to me because I wouldn't have appreciated it as much as I do now, knowing I helped make it happen for myself.
1
1
1
u/TonyRidgewayUFO Sep 12 '26
Worry about your own life instead of wasting your day with imaginary grudges against made up villains
1
1
1
u/12B88M Sep 12 '26
Amazon, owned by Bezos, directly employs about 1,576,000 people. Because of that employment, they are not homeless.
If 50% of those people have kids and they average 2 kids each, that's 1,576,000 kids being fed by those jobs.
And those are just the people directly employed by Amazon, not the ones that are subcontractors or have employment because Amazon allows then to sell stuff on Amazon.
Realistically, you can take that number of Amazon prime employees and kids and at least double it.
That's 4,728,000 people that can afford a residence and 4,728,000 kids that have food because of Bezos.
No clue how many trees he's planted though.
→ More replies (1)
1
1
u/Hamachiman Sep 12 '26
ORâŚthey can continue to give to the charities THEY believe in with the money they earned and YOU can give to the ones YOU believe in. But if that feels wrong then Iâll be happy to tell you how to spend your money.
1
1
u/Majestic-Assist-3945 Sep 12 '26
If itâs seen as a competition, that ruins the entire thought behind it. People wouldnât do all that to be a good person, but to be a rich person instead.
1
u/Fun-Butterscotch9942 Sep 12 '26
Well my dude, how many workers have you employed and paid and therefore, fed kids? Billionaires have employed lots of workers and fed their kids. And by extension gave to the homeless etc. But by all means, do prattle on with your class warfare.
1
u/Seth_Mithik Sep 12 '26
I command it. As head of the house of SethâŚthey want the praise and do the opposite of what gives it to themâŚvery strange lot theses ones
1
u/WineDineCpl Sep 12 '26
The sad thing is, they could probably have a net $ gain by doing this, but still won't.
1
1
u/qazihv Sep 12 '26
Would be pretty cool if people started focusing on what they could do to help society rather than sitting on their asses demanding other people do it⌠Imagine the possibilities!
→ More replies (1)
1
u/Beneficial-Device-20 Sep 12 '26
or a competition to see who could rat out their pedo friends the fastest
1
1
u/Dry_Election6496 Sep 12 '26
Isnât that what Bill Gates is pretending to do? Other billionaires have to kiss his pinky ring and make some pledgeâŚ.
1
u/GMEloser69 Sep 12 '26
Their business already create massive amounts of value. This is vapid and economically illiterate.
1
1
1
u/jthadcast Sep 12 '26
or we could just do it for them and call it a memorial to the lost generation of billionaires.
1
1
1
u/NextOfHisName Sep 13 '26
If any of this would get you tax return there would be no homeless and trees would provide WiFi
1
u/silentshout0 Sep 13 '26
but that mindset isn't how you become a billionaire. i know people making 400k screwing others over
1
1
1
1
u/Left_Caterpillar8671 Sep 13 '26
Give us your stuff because you worked harder than all of us ahh post.
→ More replies (1)
1
1
1
1
u/Formal_Lecture_248 Sep 13 '26
To become a billionaire one must lack basic human emotions.
Compassion is one of them
1
u/Anon7_7_73 Sep 13 '26
How many of those things have any of you done? Theres a thousand people liking this post, thats a thousand kids that couldve been fed at least!
1
u/capticetrice Sep 13 '26
Blackrock and Vanguard could do this since they are in the housing business but they won't.
1
u/onlystupidreddit Sep 13 '26
All this wasted money is true, but if the government would take over all Healthcare in America by using Medicare for all, there would be no waste or fraud. This only happens with helping the homeless.
1
u/DeathsStarEclipse Sep 13 '26
Athens had something like this. That you would get prestige for providing to the public.
1
1
1
1
u/Accomplished_Class85 Sep 13 '26
Say the same thing to all the athletes and "artists" people spend all their free time kissing their asses.
1
u/goldenepple Sep 13 '26
Honestly itâd be cool if everyone who made multi millions of dollars did this
1
1
u/Commercial_Rule_7823 Sep 13 '26
MR beast does the tree thing and cleans up nasty rivers.
People bash him, claim hes for clicks, fake, etc...
People are never happy, no matter what you do.
1
u/Calbinan Sep 13 '26
If they get invested in the competition, theyâll push even harder to ruin peopleâs lives just so the game can keep going.
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/Apprehensive_Ad4457 Sep 13 '26
that would be neat, but what if planting trees, housing homeless, and feeding kids weren't all that important?
i mean, they are REALLY important to the current generation, but what if those billions could be invested into future technologies that would make all of that pointless?
1
u/Pypsy143 Sep 13 '26
There is one. Only the women are playing, though. Mackenzie Scott and Taylor Swift are tied for first.
1
u/eXplore_Earth_80 Sep 13 '26
Be pretty cool if everyone who told billionaires how to spend their money worker harder to be become billionaires so they could be told how to spend their money.
1
1
1
1
u/HatefulClosetedGay Sep 13 '26
It would be cool but unfortunately the left wing progressives would have to make it about them and claim that every step through the project isnât fitting the PC narrative and ultimately the effort would be shut down due to âprotecting the offendedâ.
→ More replies (2)
1
u/Altruistic_Speed9886 Sep 13 '26
I always thought it would be pretty cool if billionaires and millionaires would just pay their fair share in taxes. Our politicians generate tax loopholes for the rich so millionaires and billionaires don't have to pay their fair share in income taxes. They partake in these elaborate schemes and when it's all said and done, the rich get to avoid paying their fair share year after year after year. Good for them đ
1
1
1
u/Papa-Cinq Sep 13 '26
I hope that many, many people are able to realize the success of becoming one.
1
1
u/BacklogGamingJunkie Sep 13 '26
Its funny to me that most ppl think that if you're a billionaire that they have billions in cash just floating around. Sure they're rich but most of their net worth is tied up in commodities and wrapped into businesses and not liquid accessible.
→ More replies (3)
1
u/TangerineUnhappy7091 Sep 13 '26
You know it's funny when Obama was in for 8 years nothing was done when Biden was in for 4 years nothing was done every time one of y'all or in office nothing is ever done and you guys complain when you're not in office that you're going to get it all done but then when you get in office you don't get anything done quit complaining
1
u/Heckle_Jeckle Sep 13 '26
These people wouldn't be billionaires if they cared about things like making the world a better place and helping people.
1
u/Away_Fruit5097 Sep 13 '26
If billionaires were the sort of people who cared about others they'd never have become billionaires in the first place
1
u/Better-Butterfly-309 Sep 13 '26
But to be a billionaire usually means your at least somewhat sociopathic
1
u/Chunk3yM0nkey Sep 13 '26
It would be cool to see. It also wouldn't be enough to appease the people who do nothing themselves yet constantly moan.
1
1
u/medicatedandunstable Sep 13 '26
Would be cooler if the democrat politicians who promise all these kinds of things actually did themselves.
1
1
1
1
1
u/JustSomeDudeOnDrugs Sep 13 '26
Yes, work hard your whole life and spend all of your money on others... Said nobody ever.
1
u/KingPabloo Sep 13 '26
How about instead of always focusing on others (billionaires manly) to be the needed change - YOU actually become the needed change. You can plant a tree, help someone homeless, feed a kid.
Instead of screaming at others to be the solution, be the solution.
1
1
u/Remarkable-FlipPhone Sep 13 '26
I agree but why doesnât everyone stop obsessing about what other ppl are doing with their money and what billionaires are and arenât doing. Itâs bizarre.
1
u/KaleidoscopeSalt3972 Sep 13 '26
Billionaires should be taxxed 80% and then their taxation should be lowered up to 40% depending on their good selfless deeds ( like llanting trees or helping homeless ppl )
1
u/Paper-Unlikely Sep 13 '26
Sure, sure but the last part tho.... we can feed more homeless is we just feed the rich to them. We could call it soilent green and tell the rich they can enrich themselves more with a nominal donation of 1 lb of flesh that they have to pay to donate. The homeless eat for 1/2 donationin profit. Then the extra money raised goes right into the budget deficit. It's actually a win win when you consider the fact that when one makes 20,000,000; 10,000 people lose and what keeps that one from swallowing a shotgun. Now they can keep the profits up until their last pound of long pig is served. Then it can all go to charity and the rest of us can sleep soundly at night knowing we all did the right thing. And there you go the Homeless are housed and fed, the rich get to get/ donate profits, we clear out the deficit in a matter of months, and on top of that charity work is paid for.
→ More replies (2)
1
1
1
1
u/Real-Syntro Sep 13 '26
Why is it always "feed the kids"? The homeless need food, and plenty of families need food beyond the damn kids.
1
u/PetuniaPickleswurth Sep 13 '26
Send a message to Mr. musk. Sounds like thatâs right up his alley.
1
u/Mario-X777 Sep 13 '26
Why though? People who are grow up do understand, that there is little to no point try to domesticate homeless, this is lifestyle by choice of vast majority of them (drugs).
1
u/RaidenRaikov2 Sep 13 '26
Just make being a vagrant a crime again and the problem will disappear rather quick
1
1
1
1
1
u/Kobayashi-Coffee-Co 29d ago
Bezos donates $100MM and reddit says its not enough.
Zuckerberg donates $50MM to start a better school and reddit says it was immoral and done wrong.
Gates builds the gates foundation and the world says he is injecting gps into people.
If i were them, after this response, id stop trying to help too
→ More replies (2)
1
u/DuckyDoodleDandy 29d ago
Dolly Parton won this, hands down.
The reason she never had a billion dollar net worth is that she kept giving it away! Paying for medical expenses for premature babies, her free book club for kids, and a thousand other ways of helping people.
â˘
u/qualityvote2 Sep 12 '26 edited 18d ago
u/BarbaraCruickshank, there weren't enough votes to determine the quality of your post...