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Old 01-14-2025, 08:16 PM   #221
MelBridgeman
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If everyone who isn't a billionaire suddenly vanished from existence, and only billionaires were left, they'd quickly learn just how much wealth creation they're actually capable of. Answer: pretty close to zlich. Turns out it's pretty hard to take credit for "creating trillions in wealth" when there aren't hard working people for you to make money off the backs of.

Conversely, if all billionaires suddenly vanished and everyone else was still here, society would more or less continue on without much disruption.
That is a rhetorical argument, a hypothetical extreme, it shall not be entertained. It proves nothing.

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If Windows didn't exist, computers would run on something else. Something akin to Windows would have emerged at some point even if Gates never created Windows.
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Again the tech revolution is largely due to hard working people in Silicon Valley and other places.
Yes that is true and they are all rich as #### now, thanks Jeff and Elon! They did provide value in those early days

Most people who work there now are just maintainers and don't provide the value that Jeff/Elon and the early employers did who helped grow to what it is now.

Again those early employees are also billionaires/millionaires.

It's a great system and it's up to you what you get out of it.

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Old 01-14-2025, 08:30 PM   #222
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It's a ####ty system when you can use your massive wealth (largely made off the backs of others) to buy off politicians and get all kinds of breaks. Pollute everything, deregulate everything, bust unions, give the rich another tax cut. Jeff needs another yacht!

It's only "up to you what you get out of it" if you happen to have the best opportunities at the right times to fully leverage your abilities and talents and get maximum return for what you have to offer. There's a LOT of luck involved. You don't become a billionaire without a lot of things falling into place for you. Yes there's a ton of hard work, but there's also a lot of luck required.

The fact that you refuse to answer the example I gave, shows that you truly know that billionaires need us non-billionaires WAAAAAAY more than we need them, but you just won't admit it.
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Old 01-14-2025, 08:33 PM   #223
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It's a ####ty system when you can use your massive wealth (largely made off the backs of others) to buy off politicians and get all kinds of breaks. Pollute everything, deregulate everything, bust unions, give the rich another tax cut. Jeff needs another yacht!

It's only "up to you what you get out of it" if you happen to have the right opportunities at the right times to fully leverage your abilities and talents and get maximum return for what you have to offer. There's a LOT of luck involved. You don't become a billionaire without a lot of things falling into place for you. Yes there's a ton of hard work, but there's also a lot of luck required.

The fact that you refuse to answer the example I gave, shows that you truly know that billionaires need us non-billionaires WAAAAAAY more than we need them, but you just won't admit it.
Dude you are just spouting off a 2025 version of The Communist Manifesto, it didn't work in the 20th century and won't work in the 21st century.

Things aren't perfect for sure but its better than everything being horrible. People wanted to escape those places and some where killed for it, why buy into that filth?

Some people are just more productive than others and that has value and other people can cash in on that value

Some people are pefectly happy with their 9-5 that pays all the bills and gives them a vacation here and there, thats fine too

Thats FREEDOM.

Get on the train or you will be left behind comrade
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Old 01-14-2025, 09:01 PM   #224
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So the only choices are the status quo, or full blown communism?

https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/black-or-white

Try again.
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Old 01-14-2025, 11:25 PM   #225
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Agreed. The number 1 impediment to competition? The Goverment. Yes competition creates winners and losers, anything else creates just losers.
Our entire cushy lifestyles are built on the back of completion to innovate which has progressed the human world immensely.

Since governments are bad, let's remove the concept of a patent, copyright and a registered trademark so we have truly free completion.

Who's going to innovate in that environment and why?
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Old 01-22-2025, 11:06 AM   #226
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So with Trump talking about $500 billion investment in Stargate involving OpenAI, Oracle, Softbank, GE, and presumably others, this little thing is starting to look pretty quaint. Funny O'leary goes down there presumably to push his idea, and Trump dumps this massive project on his stupid face. This is why you don't try to do a deal with Trump.
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Old 01-22-2025, 01:03 PM   #227
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This was also announced near Pincher Creek.

https://calgaryherald.com/business/l...d-ai-computing
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Old 01-22-2025, 02:22 PM   #228
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How much water is that going to use? Cause the coal folks will also, apparently, have their grubby little hands on that water.
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Old 01-22-2025, 05:39 PM   #229
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Mel tried to demonstrate they are generous. I showed they are also greedy, and not generous at all. Stealing form American taxpayers to make a private school for his kids. You don't think that's kinda ####ing awful?
Sure it is, but I also don't see you bitch and moan about every other elitist doing it.
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Old 01-22-2025, 05:40 PM   #230
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The employees create the wealth, not the CEO at the top.

A few companies putting everyone else out of business is not a good thing for the world.

Mega corporations employ so many people because they've gobbled up all the market share and destroyed competition. They used their massive wealth and influence to get favors from government, from a tax structure that benefits them to subsidies... that benefit them.

All this stuff you say billionaires "generate" would still be generated in their absence.
And yet you keep voting for the same governments who make sure these elitists can keep doing exactly what you say.

Funny how that works.
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Old 01-22-2025, 05:41 PM   #231
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This was also announced near Pincher Creek.

https://calgaryherald.com/business/l...d-ai-computing
This sounds sketchy as crap.
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Old 01-22-2025, 05:52 PM   #232
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This sounds sketchy as crap.
Your handle fits this thread well.
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Old 01-22-2025, 05:56 PM   #233
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Sure it is, but I also don't see you bitch and moan about every other elitist doing it.
If you'd like to find an article of another billionaire to prove my point, you are welcome to. That was just one I had recently read(and was easy to find again), and was particularity egregious. And again, in response to Mel saying how awesome they all are. Do I need to put Musk Content Disclaimers on those posts to not trigger you?
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Old 01-23-2025, 05:14 PM   #234
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And yet you keep voting for the same governments who make sure these elitists can keep doing exactly what you say.

Funny how that works.
Is there any threshold of people not voting that would magically cause the business elites to no longer be able to do what they do?

I vote for harm reduction, because that's all that's available to me in any given election.

Does there exist a world where me not voting somehow magically puts a stop to billionaires having undo control and influence over the rest of society? I'd like to visit that world sometime.
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Old 01-23-2025, 10:10 PM   #235
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This sounds sketchy as crap.
What exactly makes that sound sketchy?
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Old 01-24-2025, 09:26 AM   #236
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What exactly makes that sound sketchy?
For starters the water usage. Pincher Creek has had drought issues for years.

I'm all for these projects, but these data centers have insane water needs, and the places they want to build don't exactly have a plan or even the ability to use grey water, which means they're going to be pulling from fresh water sources.

And once a company like this has secured water rights, they will fight you to hell and back to make sure they get it.
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Old 01-24-2025, 09:29 AM   #237
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Is there any threshold of people not voting that would magically cause the business elites to no longer be able to do what they do?

I vote for harm reduction, because that's all that's available to me in any given election.

Does there exist a world where me not voting somehow magically puts a stop to billionaires having undo control and influence over the rest of society? I'd like to visit that world sometime.
The problem is that you want to remove billionares.

The solution should be to find ways to tax them appropriately, but then also use the tax revenue PROPERLY to fund social services. Not waste it like gluttonous morons, which is what we do.

But hey, go elect Carney. He's literally the person you so strongly hate. Elitist rich loser that will gut our country to enrich himself and his buddies even more. Brookfield has over $1 trillion in assets under management, and just spend another billion buying more single family homes. These are the companies that are the issue, who buy up assets like that to push the lower /middle class further to the brink.
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Old 01-24-2025, 09:36 AM   #238
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For starters the water usage. Pincher Creek has had drought issues for years.

I'm all for these projects, but these data centers have insane water needs, and the places they want to build don't exactly have a plan or even the ability to use grey water, which means they're going to be pulling from fresh water sources.

And once a company like this has secured water rights, they will fight you to hell and back to make sure they get it.
That's a good point, they would need a sizeable reservoir or a stable large river flow. Given the past drought issue and water restrictions, not sure how they would be able to get a necessary water permit.
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Old 01-24-2025, 09:55 AM   #239
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There are solutions to the water issue:
https://sustainabilitymag.com/articl...i-data-centres


So it depends how much effort they put into it. I guess a benefit is that during the winter cooling needs will be easily handled. In an ideal world, this would be integrated into a community centre or something that could make use of the waste heat as well, or for power generation assistance.
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Old 01-24-2025, 10:03 AM   #240
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There are solutions to the water issue:
https://sustainabilitymag.com/articl...i-data-centres


So it depends how much effort they put into it. I guess a benefit is that during the winter cooling needs will be easily handled. In an ideal world, this would be integrated into a community centre or something that could make use of the waste heat as well, or for power generation assistance.
100% there are solutions, but I doubt that solution is going to be available in southern Alberta.
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