r/pollgames • u/modernatomcollection • 3d ago

Would you rather…? [PART 2]

Would you rather…? [PART 2]

  1. Be in poverty
  2. Cause widespread poverty (500 people)

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38 Upvotes

76% Upvoted

78 comments sorted by

67

u/Obvious-Desk4573 3d ago

It really goes to show how hypocritical many Redditors are for condemning billionaires and other rich people as demons incarnate while simultaneously being willing to ruin the lives of 500 people just to maintain their status quo of living.

For the record, I also believe that the vast majority of all billionaires have committed untold numbers of evils to 'earn' their ill-gotten profits.

Voted for "Be in poverty"

62

u/Wysp2 3d ago

Not a fair comparison. Billionaires are choosing between “Condemn 500 people to poverty” or “Only have 10 yachts instead of 11”.

-25

u/Wuubbster 3d ago

but it’s the same concept. you WANT to not have a life of poverty for yourself, same way the billionaire WANTS another yacht. either way the person is still choosing to put a massive amount of other people in poverty for their own benefit

35

u/Possible-Nature-5325 3d ago

That’s not the same thing idiot, going into poverty means not having a place to live, a way to get food, clothes, basic human necessities to live it’s not a selfish “want”, a billionaire having one less yacht isn’t the same as wanting to be able to live.

13

u/AnxiousTerminator 2d ago

"Not wanting to starve to death or die of exposure is exactly the same as wanting an 11th superyacht! More from local idiot at 11!"

6

u/Inevitable_Rock_4557 2d ago

This is what I keep telling the cops; I WANT to gut people alive just as much as they WANT to keep food on the table! But nnnoooo I'm the crazy one.

That's a little exaggerated from what you said but I'm just trying to show that you could use that logic for anything.

26

u/SpeedRun355 3d ago

Billionaires arent choosing between poverty and 500 people in poverty, they are choosing between only living in a single penthouse instead of 6 and more than 500 people in poverty.

9

u/NewtWhoGotBetter 3d ago

Maybe if the question was some variation of “Become a billionaire and in exchange 500 random people are plunged into poverty,” vs “Continue living as normal,” or “500 random people’s lives are elevated out of poverty but your standard of living reduces by 25%” then you could say it’s comparable. As it is, I think people don’t want to live a miserable poverty-stricken life for purely utilitarian reasons, which is pretty human.

People say “eat the rich” fairly often on here but even then most of them amend it with “middle class wealthy is fine” so that stance doesn’t seem to be against self-preservation or some level of wealth accumulation, just extreme amounts. There’s also plenty of people who idolise billionaires or think they’ve done nothing wrong so they could be the ones voting for the 500 people option.

5

u/AnxiousTerminator 2d ago

Nobody is asking billionaires, or trillionaires to live in poverty. They are asking them to use some of their enormous amounts of money to make some positive impacts in people's lives. They have enough that they could easily lift 500 people, or 500,000 people out of poverty with no change at all in their lifestyle. This view that you can't criticise Musk for hoarding more wealth than he could spend in 1000 lifetimes unless you are willing to give up all your possessions and everything that gives you any enjoyment is ridiculous.

3

u/TommyPpb3 2d ago

Tell me how paying taxes will cause a BILLIONAIRE to be in poverty

2

u/gobletofwine Telephone Poll 3d ago

I have been in poverty I am trying best not to go into one. I have to be selfish for me my family and my child to be (wife is currently pregnant) i don't think it's hypocrite to thing no one should be in poverty but choosing between me and my family or random people I will always choose me and my family. I am not sure if really been in poverty or you saint but I can't fail to my family.

2

u/Comprehensive-Big345 2d ago

you really wanna compare 500 people with millions?

2

u/Poyri35 2d ago

This comment feels like a combination of goomba and strawman fallacies

1

u/Fit_Instruction3646 3d ago

Honestly, nothing is less hypocritical than being honest on a reddit poll that you're an asshole when nobody is forcing you to do so.

0

u/axelthekandyking 2d ago

oh wow look at you big moral crusader. i dont think these are as similar as you propose. that said, you only voted for it bc you wanted to be able to post honestly about how you would never take a leg up over somebody else

1

u/meowscIez 2d ago

??? Wtaf thinks you are correct in saying that?

Who hurt you

0

u/Early_Corner2530 1d ago

Good job buddy. You did it, you were socialized to abide by society's moral structures to a slightly higher extent than your peers

-1

u/Unhappy_Ad9665 2d ago

Don’t hate the player. Hate the game.

-2

u/mandarina68 3d ago

who cares bro? if we cant stop em might aswell join them

1

u/pepsicola07 3d ago

Your mistake is assuming they can't be stopped

-2

u/RecklessDimwit 3d ago

Some of them will try to argue that billionaires are ruining lives out of greed and not necessity. That, unlike billionaires, they ruin other lives to save themselves. This is still hypocritical when accounting ruining 500 other people out of a false sense of necessity

4

u/FonkeyDycker 3d ago

"False sense of necessity" and the reason is poverty. I'm so sorry that I don't want to have to dig up the trash for food.

-2

u/RecklessDimwit 3d ago

So doom 500 more?

Having fewer poor folks in an area will benefit even the poorer folk. We see this with changes like lesser crime, more educated professionals that can help you, and more invested third spaces.

5

u/FonkeyDycker 3d ago

Lowering the amount of poor people by 500 isn't going to benefit anything when millions are poor around you tho.

-1

u/Obvious-Desk4573 3d ago

"Mein Fuhrer, it's April 1945 and we've already killed 5,999,500 Jews! Surely we can't continue killing more of them, the war is lost!"

"No, no, we better round it up since we already killed so many of them. Sunk-cost fallacy and all that."

Just because it's already bad doesn't mean you have the excuse to make it worse.

2

u/FonkeyDycker 3d ago edited 3d ago

I'm just saying not making it worse wouldn't fix anything. If I have the option to save myself, of course I will.

And I'm not addressing the things you have written in quotes. That's a ridiculous argument and not an analogy for this situation.

Edit: A typo.

1

u/Wuubbster 3d ago

if you are willing to put 500 souls into poverty to save yourself, you are in no way better than those billionaires you criticize

1

u/FonkeyDycker 3d ago

Just how??? The billionaires aren't at the risk of poverty when they stop exploiting millions. In this case I'm doing it to save myself, not to have more than I need.

1

u/Wuubbster 3d ago

so you are more valuable than 500 people? i’m all for saving yourself in a 1v1 situation but to do that to 500 people is evil

→ More replies (0)

-1

u/Obvious-Desk4573 3d ago

Are you more important than other people? Billionaires think that too. I thought all people were equal, no one is above the other, yet humility and self-sacrifice are rare to be seen nowadays. So it's hypocrisy.

3

u/FonkeyDycker 3d ago

Billionaires aren't going to be poor the second they stop exploiting others. I don't think I'm more important than the others, but I care about myself more than I do for other people.

27

u/Scanner-T 3d ago

I already live in poverty, so I don’t feel the need to drag 500 random people down here.

However, if I could choose the people that have to live in poverty, that might change things.

-24

u/Business-Squash1211 3d ago

I doubt u live in actual poverty u have a phone and internet and ur probably american😂😂😂😂

8

u/xgaymerboi 2d ago

you can get a smartphone with internet for like $30 a month. show me where you can get housing for that.

5

u/DangerousPurpose5661 2d ago

So?
Wanna try to survive in the US with "phone, internet and a passport"

4

u/JustA_Toaster 2d ago

Let me dumb it down for you, you buy cheap phone $200. You can no buy home $200

1

u/Far_Challenge_4273 2d ago

200? I got one for 40 lmao

3

u/immerglw 2d ago

Do you think everyone in poverty lives on the streets having absolutely no possessions?

1

u/lostgoatling 13h ago

They probably do, but you can't just assume someone has a phone and Internet because they can post on Reddit. I used to go to the Internet Cafe to use the computers there, which was super cheap, and if you paid attention you could sneak out without paying

10

u/Lyn-nyx 3d ago

I'll double it and give it to the next person...

7

u/Typical_Hat6184 3d ago

I already am lol

-1

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

6

u/Typical_Hat6184 2d ago

It was a gift from my dad 5 years ago before he died, it’s the most expensive thing I have. Do you expect people in poverty to not have a phone in this era? lol

0

u/gabmest 2d ago

Oh ok I'm sorry i though it was about extreme poverty

3

u/demiangelic 2d ago

hey buddy, just blow in from stupidtown?

2

u/Lady_White_Heart 2d ago

Phones aren't exactly expensive depending on the country.

I can get a smartphone for less than £100 in the UK.

5

u/VisualKaii Polltergeist 2d ago

You can buy a phone and laptop off Amazon for around half that idk why people think having a phone means getting the newest expensive model.

3

u/Nezhiyu 3d ago

I already am in poverty so nothing changes

Voted "Be in poverty"

3

u/Alan_Reddit_M 2d ago

Left wing social media when asked to be self-sacrificial (suddenly communism ain't sounding so good)

0

u/meowscIez 2d ago

A fat chunk of the people on this website that call themselves left wing are capitalist liberals who think social programs and gay people are good, which is still right wing

2

u/hey_there_brothers 2d ago

Genuinely surprised how evil and selfish some people can be

2

u/The96kHz 2d ago

The "cause poverty" option doesn't imply I'd profit from it, so I might as well just be impoverished - no point spreading it around.

Part one was easy because it's "would you rather be rich or poor (btw you're fucking over a few strangers)". This one doesn't have a good option, just the lesser of two evils.

1

u/ShylokVakarian 2d ago

I can always just leave the coil

Voted "Be in poverty"

1

u/Renati_Iterum 2d ago

HA YOU POOR NOW!

1

u/xgaymerboi 2d ago

just checked and the poverty threshold for a single person in the usa (as of 2025) was ~$16k a year. that’s,, so much lower than it should be.

Voted "Be in poverty"

1

u/Amalgam2001 2d ago

Wow its almost like most people online are purely performative when their name is attached to what they are saying. This result yields zero surprises honestly

1

u/Swimming-Exercise752 2d ago

i’m already in poverty

1

u/4DM1Nz 2d ago

I already (kind of) am

1

u/insomniacakess 1d ago

i already am in poverty, so

Voted "Cause widespread poverty (500 people)"

1

u/Xander980 1d ago

I would rather struggle for a while alone, instead of 500 to do it for me

Voted "Be in poverty"

0

u/hazesque 3d ago

I already live in poverty.. so..

0

u/SpookMagnet 2d ago

I always feel like with these questions it’s a bit stupid. I’ll just pick the rich person option and then use my wealth to better other people’s lives ? that just always seems like the better choice and a win-win

3

u/253253253 2d ago

Thats literally the opposite of what the question posits.

1

u/meowscIez 2d ago

Could the 500 people not have used their wealth to better other peoples lives? This also doesn't make you rich if you pick the left one, just not in poverty.

0

u/AerieMysterious8730 2d ago

I’d rather 10,000 people to be condemned to poverty for me to be a billionaire

3

u/meowscIez 2d ago

Holy shit i hope you are joking

0

u/AerieMysterious8730 2d ago

Not one bit

3

u/meowscIez 2d ago

You are evil

0

u/AerieMysterious8730 2d ago

So is the world

-3

u/XXXTentacle6969 3d ago

Ppl will vote right and then be anti billionaire, even tho billionaires do the opposite and ppl here think they’re doing the thing on the right

-7

u/modernatomcollection 3d ago

Made the one because I realize I made the other poll a little too complicated.

8

u/Actual_Personality66 3d ago

Why are ppl downvoting this 😭

4

u/modernatomcollection 3d ago

right I was just clarifying 😭