"They've got blood on that moneyBut I'll still count it."- Future Hendrix
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Biggest by mass!
OK, I admit I'm being cheeky!
But on a related note, an unpopular opinion: I don't believe that extreme wealth turns people into fascists. If it did, Makenzie Scott and Christy Walton would have become fascists too.
Extreme wealth has other structural and societal problems, but turning people away from humanity is not one of them.
If a college student reads Ayn Rand and anti-democracy reactionary blogs, and says antisocial, racist and fashy things, no one cares. If he then graduates and becomes a software engineer, no one cares. If he then starts a company, no one cares. If he sells that company and becomes a multi-millionaire, no one cares. If he uses that money to become a venture capitalist, no one cares. If he multiplies his VC millions into billions, and then says the same exact things he has been saying since college? Then people start saying "Extreme money made him turn weird!
"And people ask me how I knew he would turn weird.
And I just say, "Some Black people are magical, and can see the future!
🧙
️"@mekkaokereke I will note that you said "he" and I believe this is on purpose.
I agree that extreme wealth doesn't turn people into fascists, but the system that exists certainly benefits a specific type of person.
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@artcollisions @mekkaokereke I was thinking on this the other day and the conclusion I reached is that wealth decreases your need to cooperate and thus wealth drives disconnection from other people and communities.
@withoutclass @mekkaokereke Ah, maybe. I can definitely see this.
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The NFL combine came and went. The strength test at the NFL combine is a bench press at 225 lbs for max reps. There was no player in the NFL draft this year that could bench press 225 lbs more times than me, and I am an old man now, and I don't use steroids or any PEDs, and many of them do. I'm still stronger.
There are fewer than 40 NFL players in all of recorded combine history that have done more than this.
mekka okereke :verified: (@mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io)
It's #NFL #combine weekend, so you know what time it is. Time to flex on these young lions and show em that unc strength is still different! I'm old but I still have that fire in me!👴🏿 The strength test at the NFL combine is "How many times can you bench 225 lbs?" For me the answer is 42 times. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0VYP29Y97UE No, I don't take steroids, or pro-hormones, or any performance enhancing drugs. But thanks for asking. No, I don't judge people that do. Make your own choices in life.👍🏿 A lot of these NFL players are on PEDs. Happens. They still can't see me in the weight room.
Hachyderm.io (hachyderm.io)
@mekkaokereke @matt Wow, good for you!!
I just turned 55. I've been doing crossfit for 8 years and can handle a barbell, but nothing like that! And for the record, I started HRT six months ago and one of the reasons was so I could still feel strong in the gym. (I'm still in the puny league at my gym, though).
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I agree. The money always makes the decisions. It's why when people ask why I fund my Inkscape work with small coin from individuals; it's because that is who I want to serve, people. Not some tech bro with more money than wisdom who gets to order me about like a clockwork programmer to a whim contrary to good taste and better service.
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@withoutclass @mekkaokereke Ah, maybe. I can definitely see this.
Counterpoint:
New Yorkers are as rich as San Franciscans. New York has *more* billionaires than San Francisco. But New Yorkers are *less* scared to be on public transportation with Black people, and won't cry if you put a homeless shelter literally right next to the Bowery hotel. Try and put even low cost housing in Pac Heights or Atherton, let alone a homeless shelter, and see what happens.
mekka okereke :verified: (@mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io)
Attached: 4 images This is the most New York photo ever. It shows 2 buildings. On the left is the Bowery Hotel. Rooms start at $500 a night. The Bowery is a known spot for A-list celebrity watching. It's a fun place. Recommend On the right is Project Renewal Kenton Hall Men's Shelter. Bowery Hotel: Single Room Occupancy deluxe studio, $1500 a night. https://theboweryhotel.com/ Project Renewal: Single Room Occupancy deluxe studio, free! https://www.projectrenewal.org/programs-overview Stop saying New Yorkers are mean. They're kind. 4/N
Hachyderm.io (hachyderm.io)
The money doesn't drive the disconnect. We've created a system where the most sociopathic , most disconnected dudes, get all the money.
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Counterpoint:
New Yorkers are as rich as San Franciscans. New York has *more* billionaires than San Francisco. But New Yorkers are *less* scared to be on public transportation with Black people, and won't cry if you put a homeless shelter literally right next to the Bowery hotel. Try and put even low cost housing in Pac Heights or Atherton, let alone a homeless shelter, and see what happens.
mekka okereke :verified: (@mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io)
Attached: 4 images This is the most New York photo ever. It shows 2 buildings. On the left is the Bowery Hotel. Rooms start at $500 a night. The Bowery is a known spot for A-list celebrity watching. It's a fun place. Recommend On the right is Project Renewal Kenton Hall Men's Shelter. Bowery Hotel: Single Room Occupancy deluxe studio, $1500 a night. https://theboweryhotel.com/ Project Renewal: Single Room Occupancy deluxe studio, free! https://www.projectrenewal.org/programs-overview Stop saying New Yorkers are mean. They're kind. 4/N
Hachyderm.io (hachyderm.io)
The money doesn't drive the disconnect. We've created a system where the most sociopathic , most disconnected dudes, get all the money.
@mekkaokereke I don't see that as a counterpoint at all! It's just further clarification.
I'm a little out of it today (and also had no idea about the difference bt NYC and SF!) @withoutclass
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Biggest by mass!
OK, I admit I'm being cheeky!
But on a related note, an unpopular opinion: I don't believe that extreme wealth turns people into fascists. If it did, Makenzie Scott and Christy Walton would have become fascists too.
Extreme wealth has other structural and societal problems, but turning people away from humanity is not one of them.
If a college student reads Ayn Rand and anti-democracy reactionary blogs, and says antisocial, racist and fashy things, no one cares. If he then graduates and becomes a software engineer, no one cares. If he then starts a company, no one cares. If he sells that company and becomes a multi-millionaire, no one cares. If he uses that money to become a venture capitalist, no one cares. If he multiplies his VC millions into billions, and then says the same exact things he has been saying since college? Then people start saying "Extreme money made him turn weird!
"And people ask me how I knew he would turn weird.
And I just say, "Some Black people are magical, and can see the future!
🧙️"@mekkaokereke @artcollisions i must be "no one", because i care about every single assumption you've just made.
but then, that's a common weakness of idealist and liberal analyses. because it's not about individuals, or anecdotes. it's about material conditions and systemic power dynamics. for you to be successful in today's world, it is a sine qua non condition that you have to be ignoring some folks' suffering. and to be a billionaire, to take that arbitrary example, you have to have accepted, a long time ago, to profit off of others' suffering. you can still be a polite lifeless vampire, but more often than not fascism tends to land closer to what the billionaires in these conditions end up aspiring to (and/or vice versa).
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The NFL combine came and went. The strength test at the NFL combine is a bench press at 225 lbs for max reps. There was no player in the NFL draft this year that could bench press 225 lbs more times than me, and I am an old man now, and I don't use steroids or any PEDs, and many of them do. I'm still stronger.
There are fewer than 40 NFL players in all of recorded combine history that have done more than this.
mekka okereke :verified: (@mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io)
It's #NFL #combine weekend, so you know what time it is. Time to flex on these young lions and show em that unc strength is still different! I'm old but I still have that fire in me!👴🏿 The strength test at the NFL combine is "How many times can you bench 225 lbs?" For me the answer is 42 times. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0VYP29Y97UE No, I don't take steroids, or pro-hormones, or any performance enhancing drugs. But thanks for asking. No, I don't judge people that do. Make your own choices in life.👍🏿 A lot of these NFL players are on PEDs. Happens. They still can't see me in the weight room.
Hachyderm.io (hachyderm.io)
@mekkaokereke @artcollisions Haha I (a kinda skinny guy) am benching around 110 these days, and I will not attempt 225, not even once, I don't want to find out whether my max is 0 or 1
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And before anyone intentionally misreads this as "Oh, so you love VCs and tech bros?! You want them in charge?!
"No.
As I've said, VC is the fashiest, most racist, least inclusive form of capital allocation.
There are no crowds of Black women apologizing for getting millions in Epstein money.
@mekkaokereke Does private equity plundering established businesses count as VC?
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20% of science funding comes from private sources. The article unironically makes the claim that it would be better if this percentage were lower, at a time when the US government won't let you put the words bias, privilege, or gender in a paper, and is cancelling grants for racist reasons.
@mekkaokereke Canada is starting down that road with the latest budget making it clear they believe that all the federal level should be funding is guns and bombs and cops in our cities and at our borders.
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@mekkaokereke @artcollisions i must be "no one", because i care about every single assumption you've just made.
but then, that's a common weakness of idealist and liberal analyses. because it's not about individuals, or anecdotes. it's about material conditions and systemic power dynamics. for you to be successful in today's world, it is a sine qua non condition that you have to be ignoring some folks' suffering. and to be a billionaire, to take that arbitrary example, you have to have accepted, a long time ago, to profit off of others' suffering. you can still be a polite lifeless vampire, but more often than not fascism tends to land closer to what the billionaires in these conditions end up aspiring to (and/or vice versa).
I agree with the above reply.
Clarifying something for my non-neurotypical friends that read this and might be confused about the intersection of precise language and Black phrases.
When a Black person says, "Ain't nobody got time for all that." Or "No one does that." They don't mean that 0 people on earth have time for that.
So if I say "No one is spending $100K for a Cybertruck." What I mean is "Cybertruck sales are very low." Not "Elon has not sold a single car of that model."
This can be confusing, because people read it and think "
But some people *do* buy Cybertrucks! I've seen some on the streets! His assumption is incorrect! Maybe he doesn't know? As his friend, should I tell him? Would it be rude to tell him? Would it be rude not to? Maybe I should DM him?" -
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