How Much Sweat It Takes From Zero to Billionaire
fundersandfounders.com
fundersandfounders.com
Huge money is never totally innocent -- even if you invented the drug that cures cancer.
Just as a tip of the iceberg, land rights in current day US for example, have their basis on the takeover of Native American lands. Tons of fortunes in the South have their basis on profits made by slave work.
From that, to the loyal employees who are laid off after 30 years of service whereas the owner has accumulated billions off of their work, to the politicians paid to pass a law that favor some multinational, it's a trail of blood, sweat and tears, alright.
Of course one sleeps better if he things he made all his millions by hard work alone and never directly hurt anyone.
Abracadabra, and there! It's now fact!
> Actually the huge imbalance itself is based on exploitation and force.
Hocus pocus! There's another fact!
What Native American lands are you talking about exactly? While it's true that European settlers did usurp some land that was in use by the natives, I hope you don't believe that the natives had claim over the entire continent. If the Native Americans of today feel that they can bring up evidence of property usurped from their great-great-grandparents, they have every right to demand a return of what's theirs. But by no means do they have claim to the entire continent. Think of it this way: so far, only Americans have walked on the moon. Do you believe that the US has a valid case to claim dominion over the entire moon?
> ... to the loyal employees who are laid off after 30 years of service ...
I don't think of myself as a sacrificial lamb. I like the work I do. There's not a chance in hell I'll dedicate 30 years of my life to some company unless I have very real grounds of knowing (i.e. in writing) that there's something in it for me. It's like someone complaining, after having had a series of abusive spouses, that the next one turned out to be abusive too.
Of course, one sleeps better after robbing the bourgeois if he comes up with magical facts to convince himself that the only way the bourgeois could have had that much money was by exploiting someone else.
No, it's a well studied topic of political science and political economy. And it's evident throughout history. You might not agree with it, and it's fine (americans in general have an aversion to social sciences and politics), but "hocus pocus and abracadabra" are childish BS.
>What Native American lands are you talking about exactly? While it's true that European settlers did usurp some land that was in use by the natives, I hope you don't believe that the natives had claim over the entire continent.
I very much do. And even if that's not the case, the European immigrants surely can not claim any part of the continent. Not even the ones they "bought" (with their slimy tactics and weapons as assistance).
Sure, if you happen to have been brainwashed under Soviet Russia.
> "hocus pocus and abracadabra" are childish BS.
In your hands, sure. In mine, it has been working amazingly well in calling out childish BS.
> americans in general have an aversion to social sciences and politics
Hocus pocus! In any case, I'm not American. Try hocus-pocusing that.
>> I hope you don't believe that the natives had claim over the entire continent.
> I very much do.
I'd ask why you think that. But now I'm bored.
> the European immigrants surely can not claim any part of the continent.
If I weren't so bored, I'd ask you what you think it means to make a claim on something, and who else recognizes the claim, and who enforces the claim. I'd ask you about people who recognize or enforce claims of others, as to what basis they could have for recognizing or not recognizing claims. I'd ask you what you think of three Yemenis claiming that Mars was their ancestral property, and NASA has no business landing there [1]. I'd also ask about NASA's Brian Welch who claims "Mars is ... the property of all humanity". I'd also claim his own house to be the property of all humanity, since that too is "out in the solar system".
But I got bored. So I'm not asking anything any more.
I'm on the same page with your cynicism, but sentiment like this should eschew absolutes.
> When used in medicine it is typically used to treat severe pain, such as that resulting from a heart attack or a severe injury. The name "heroin" is only used when being discussed in its illegal form. When it is used in a medical environment, it is referred to as diamorphine. [1]
To invoke Godwin's law, killing Jews in Nazi Germany was also legal.