Late Stage Capitalism

Because they hope to become one of them

Or at least an "Uncle Tom" who will receive preferential treatment

I was having a chat with a friend recently about the cost of living in the UK. I mentioned one issue is the wealth inequality and billionaires are the problem.

"If we do a wealth tax they'll leave!"

Sent this link https://equalitytrust.org.uk/evidence-base/billionaire-britain-2025/ to explain how a large proportion of billionaires just extract wealth.

Not entirely sure they were convinced. They have the mentality that billionaires create jobs for everyone and are super hard workers that worked their way up.

I don't want to just sit back and call people who look up to billionaires idiots. I want to be able to have strong compelling points to make them change their mind.

Brainwashed, mentally ill, non critical thinker.

Pick one.

Some people have the mindset - "If we take money away from billionaires now, then I'll have less money when I become a billionaire in the future!"

Don't hate them for it, because they never made a conscious decision to do it. It may be incredibly frustrating that some people are sabotaging everyone else like this, but it's not really their fault. They've simply been raised in a rotten society and brainwashed so hard their brains are literally fried.

Those of us who happened to avoid a similar fate are not necessarily better. Probably just lucky.

There are some people who are just wired to submit, and there are a lot more of them than you would think. I don’t know how to explain it, but I know some otherwise really awesome people, smart in most ways, but happily submit themselves to authority time and time again; despite it burning them over and over.

I think in some cases, daddy issues play a part in it. I know a few guys who clearly found a substitute for their lacklustre fathers in strongman figures, be they CEOs or grifters. Having a figure like this to fall into line with does seem to make them feel more secure in themselves.

I don't know a huge amount of those, but I do know a lot of men who had solid fathers who were there for them and listened as much as they spoke. They were attentive, caring and solid parents. None of those kids grew up to feel personally threatened when their favourite billionaire, CEO or social media grifter is critiqued or shown for what they are.

This meritocracy bullshit is the equivalent of peasants who believed God appointed their monarchs.

Milord, that one stole thy crops! His greed betrays him, for he steals for his family too! Stone him, for he seeks to usurp you, milord! Perhaps, by thine benevolence, thou wouldst find it pleasing to reward thine loyal subject for defending your crop and your honor! I only seek to humbly serve milord and his Holiness!

There is a strange phenomenon that some people really love following orders and they really love a simple worldview. Someone tells them that Elon Musk is a genius and that makes them happy so they believe it even when they see him not being a genius. And you can't fix that with facts because it's a mental block that they have.

I think billionaires and corporations spend good money to have people comment favorably about them. Eventually, via osmosis, those opinions percolate into some of the general public and they start spewing the same lines

I'm here to discuss the original image. Is Jesus shooting America at a sinner? Who is the baby?

alot of propaganda, especially how movies and shows glorify being rich, plus als in irl, its a plus if worship white ones.

I think a Disney song might explain some of it...

• You! (Whoop dee-wit) I wanna be like you (hap du hoowee-doo) I wanna walk like you (chuu) Talk like you, too (chuu) (We-be-de-be-du-wu) you see it's true (shubbedey-du) Someone like me (scubey-dubey-dubey) Can learn to be Like someone like me (take me home, daddy!) Can learn to be Like someone like you (one more time!) Yeah, can learn to be Like someone like me Zi-de-da-bapp bapp bada dodel-dad'n dad'n dad'n dad'n dad, eh Ah-babba di-di-dibbi-di Now, I'm the king of the swingers Oh, the jungle VIP

A lot of lemmy and reddit comments are written by bots or marketing companies. Theres a whole industry of companies that sell the ability to influrnce others' opinions. Both political and via comments on products.

Because they're fucking stupid.

They are stupid. They dream of being one with no hope that they will even be a millionaire. They are stupid and that is all it is.