• 1984@lemmy.today
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    9 months ago

    You can’t buy people anymore but you can buy most of their awake hours. It’s called a job.

    People sell those hours because they have to. It’s called a salary.

      • AnarchoSnowPlow@midwest.social
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        9 months ago

        Since we’re already destroying institutions we might as well have some fun with it. I don’t think there’s any reason he couldn’t be a supreme court justice.

        Expand the Supreme Court and add Kanye, King Charles, and Elmo. At least that shit will be entertaining.

        “But Elmo wants to know why policemen don’t have an obligation to intervene to protect the public.”

  • catsarebadpeople@sh.itjust.works
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    9 months ago

    What’s really important is that it’s impossible not to be a bad person and a billionaire. I like her music but being a billionaire means that she is an enemy of society. Period

    • Jumuta@sh.itjust.works
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      9 months ago

      what makes you think it’s impossible? it seems unlikely but I wouldn’t say impossible

      • catsarebadpeople@sh.itjust.works
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        9 months ago

        There’s no moral reason to have that much money. If you earned $2500 a day (about a million dollars a year) it would take you just under 1200 years to earn a billion dollars. I personally believe you should earn more if you work harder than others but there’s simply no way anyone could work hard enough to deserve more than anyone should make in 15 lifetimes. If you are lucky enough to get that amount of money there’s no moral reason to keep it all.

        Now think about how Bezos is worth 192.4 billion dollars. Hopefully that helps folks understand the problem. And by problem, I mean the largest threat we are facing to human existence. Every other issue we’re having stems from the fact that billionaires exist.

      • chetradley@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Say you work on a team with, say 50 people. Everyone works hard to generate money, but you’re the star of the show, so naturally you get to keep a little more of that money than everyone else. The question is, how much? Is it morally questionable to make double what everyone else does? What about 10x? What if you keep half for yourself, meaning those 49 other people combined make the same as you? Not enough? What about 100x as much as everyone else? 1000x?

        Taylor Swift’s salary is about 1,700x the average in the music industry. People on her team are likely struggling to make ends meet or pay for hospital bills or support a family. Meanwhile, Taylor Swift is hoarding money like a fucking dragon.

        • OfficerBribe@lemm.ee
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          9 months ago

          It’s not really a problem that can be solved though. Should Taylor Swift’s team earn 2x more than Kanye’s? They possibly already earn above average what one usually would by supporting someone else.

          She is obviously not going to refuse what people are willing to pay for her. Earnings for world famous musicians and actors always has and will be ridiculous.

          • chetradley@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            The problem can be solved through progressive tax reform. Check it out:

            The tax rate on the ultra-wealthy has decreased tremendously since the 70s. By making billionaires pay their fair share and closing tax loopholes, we can make huge improvements to wealth inequality and fund social programs that help people who need it most.

      • ditty@lemm.ee
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        9 months ago

        A good person would never make it to a net worth of a billion dollars though. A good person would give away 999,999,000 to charity, for example.

      • catsarebadpeople@sh.itjust.works
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        9 months ago

        Looking at your comments I can see you’re just a troll but if actual humans are reading this: there are exactly zero moral billionaires. It is not possible to be a billionaire and be a good person at the same time. You do not have to know what’s in their heart or whatever the fuck this idiot is trying to say. You can’t earn that kind of money without hurting and exploiting people and if you keep that amount of money you are actively harming society. End of story.

        • Sorgan71@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Not really true at all. Judgemental people like you are the reason we cant progress as a species.

      • LemmysMum@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Nobody that has exploited and hoarded billions of dollars from society for their personal benefit are good people.

    • S_204@lemm.ee
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      9 months ago

      Her impact on the economy now has its own government agency.

  • The dogspaw @midwest.social
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    9 months ago

    Actually slavery is still legal in the United States as a form of legal punishment when legally convicted so she just needs to wait for a jury of his peers to convict him and a judge to Sentence him then she would probably need to pay the state

      • jcg@halubilo.social
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        9 months ago

        She can’t “own” people, don’t be ridiculous now. She can only compel them with violence into servitude and extract the fruits of their labor. But ownership? That’s messed up.

  • The Menemen!@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    I couldn’t name nor recognize a single song from either of them. Shit, I need to improve my mainstream media knowledge.

      • The Menemen!@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Too late.l, I used the last 5 minutes to do it already. :)

        I knew several Taylor Swift songs from the radio, but didn’t think more of them but “the usual generic pop music” that normally leads to me changing the station immediatly (I expected this). I don’t think I will recognize her the next time I hear her.

        I also knew some Kanye West songs and I even liked some of them (I honestly didn’t expect this). I somehow don’t want to like his music though, saw too much about him on Twitter and here).

  • Sweetpeaches69@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Wow, now Taylor Swift fans are going mask-off racist. Not only are they simping for a billionaire like a Musk fan, but they’re alluding to going back to the good old days of slavery like Musk’s dad.

  • ninjan@lemmy.mildgrim.com
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    9 months ago

    The only surprising thing here really is that Swift isn’t worth substantially more. She’s been the top pop music act for a decade now and has been uncommonly business savvy so I was really expecting that figure to be at least the double.

      • ninjan@lemmy.mildgrim.com
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        9 months ago

        Sure, if we’re talking work as in compensation per hour. But we aren’t here. She’s a product (as in Taylor Swift the artist is, not Taylor Swift the person naturally) and thus can be sold in quantities only limited by the amount of people on our planet that can afford to buy her music/merch/tickets etc. For me as a consultant to make a billion just isn’t possible, but if I start a company selling something which isn’t limited like the amount of hours in a day then… Yeah no, I don’t have it in me to become a billionaire. But you get the picture I hope.

        To hammer it home, she’s globally recognizeable as I’d say the most famous active musician right now. And she has been in the top 10 for a long while. That kind of fame begets net worth faster than just about any CEO gig ever will.

        • polygon6121@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Yes, I understand how it seems like I refered to the person and not the artist.

          I still don’t understand how you come to the conclusion that the net worth should be at least double? Based on what? My point is that it is extremely impressive to have a billion dollar company as is, in only a decade

          • crazyCat@sh.itjust.works
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            9 months ago

            Her net worth could be considered or much more if you think of her like a company because her billion now is already earned cash and assets. But her brand and intellectual property will last decades automatically generating revenue basically forever.

        • IWantToFuckSpez@kbin.social
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          9 months ago

          You can’t buy Taylor Swift stock on the exchange. Those publicly known double digit billionaires are that wealthy because they put their company public on the exchange. That company stock is sold at a premium because of high demand. Which means that it’s listed for more than the book value of that company often for 20x more. This is how even founders of companies that have never made a profit become billionaires.

          Taylor Swift’s net worth is probably from real dollar profits. If she puts her company trough an IPO she will probably be worth way more than $1.1 billion.

          • ninjan@lemmy.mildgrim.com
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            9 months ago

            Valid point. Unlike other billionaires with public companies connected to them Taylor Swift’s net worth is here value up until this point, what she has generated. There is no pricing in of future potential like what made the Tesla and Nvidia stock absolutely explode (and by that their respective stakeholders net worth). I hadn’t thought of that.

    • Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works
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      9 months ago

      She gives away a lot. Food banks everywhere she goes, Tennessee tornado relief, a wide variety of gofundmes, etc.

      • polygon6121@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        That has probably only ever helped her gain more. There is a good reason why rich people like to start charities and give money. It’s for publicity and as a tax write-off.

        USA is the perfect country for getting rich and staying rich and getting richer. She could never have that kind of networth in any other country in the world as a pop act.

        • Serinus@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          as a tax write-off.

          People DO understand that the top marginal rate is 37%, right? So when she donates to charity she pays 63% of that charity and gets $0 back directly. It’s still spending money.

          Unless she’s getting a ~70% kickback of the money from the charity. But that’s highly illegal. You have to be president to get away with something like that.

          • li10@lemmy.ml
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            9 months ago

            It’s probably not for tax reasons, but is 100% publicity. That’s all Taylor Swift™️ is.

            She is essentially just a business that makes some decent commercial music, uses PR to develop a strong following and then monetizes the product.

            I think her whole thing is fake and she just likes being the center of attention, not far off the Kardashians.

            • polygon6121@lemmy.world
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              9 months ago

              Thanks, that’s a better way to put it. It is all in the interest of business. It obviously works great, because here we are discussing it, and some of us praising it… !