This is the whole problem; it tells the story. the billionaires collectively own the government, fleece it, shrink it, render it impotent.

Then when gov fails, a billionaire steps in and we say, see, billionaires and corporations are saving the day!

Which makes them stronger. https://twitter.com/prestonjbyrne/status/1246872630369619969

I’m glad Bill Gates is doing this. He should be congratulated and accolades for foreseeing this problem! I think he’s saintly and wise and would tip my hat to him.

But if he saves the day it will only prove how dependent we have rendered ourselves to wealthy private citizens.

*wealthy private citizens who acquired their wealth in whole or in part on monopoly profits that are made possible by very generous government policy in their favor, to be more technical.

Anyway, yes, I not only still think billionaires should be abolished. I think it more than ever.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/06/opinion/abolish-billionaires-tax.html

Why blame billionaires here?
I think the set of conditions that allows there to be so many billionaires overlaps with conditions that inevitably erodes government. the billionaires (and wannabes) bend politics their way, and public services like healthcare etc are neglected

Any particular billionaire might be fine and their wealth deserved (though I don’t anyone truly deserves a billion dollars). But the structures that allow obscene wealth at the same time that so many people are suffering — that’s the thing no billionaire can really justify.

And most other billionaires weren’t out there preparing us for pandemics! A lot of others were making the problem worse!

How awesome is it to live in a world where two Kochs get us into apocalypse but here comes Gates to save the day! Ew, David.

https://twitter.com/kalmanism/status/1246877689920831488?s=21 https://twitter.com/kalmanism/status/1246877689920831488