Even if rich people were no more likely to believe stupid shit than you or me, it'd still be a problem.
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@pluralistic I mean, it's arguably what killed the Roman empire. Rich Romans got fancy indoor plumbing, made of lead for easy maintenance. The lead leeches onto the water, giving them a strange line on their gums and a tendency to believe idiotic nonsense.
@madengineering @pluralistic
The Roman empire ended when the Ottomans conquered it in the 15th century, long after their plumbers did the initial work..... -
Even if rich people were no more likely to believe stupid shit than you or me, it'd still be a problem. After all, I believe my share of stupid shit (and if you think that none of the shit you believe in is stupid, then I'm afraid we've just identified at least one kind of stupid shit you believe in).
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If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
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@pluralistic Rich "people" believe the STUPIDEST shit. For example: They believe they deseeve to be rich.
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The airline went from being the *least* enshittified airline in America to the *most*. Southwest is now worse than Spirit airlines - no, really. Southwest doesn't just merely charge for seat selection, but if you refuse to pay for seat selection, *they preferentially place you in a middle seat even on a half-empty flight*, as a way of pressuring you to pay the sky-high junk fee for seat selection:
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My favorite anecdote about comeuppance for airline execs is that on New Year's Eve 1999, at the witching hour for the Y2K scare, the Chinese govt made the top execs of its state airlines be on one of their aircraft and in the air from 11.00 pm to 1.00 am. It was an incentive to make sure they had sorted out any Y2K bugs.
If only something similar could be sorted out for scores of top American airline execs. Their policies might not be so rapacious.
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@pluralistic I mean, it's arguably what killed the Roman empire. Rich Romans got fancy indoor plumbing, made of lead for easy maintenance. The lead leeches onto the water, giving them a strange line on their gums and a tendency to believe idiotic nonsense.
@madengineering @pluralistic How come when the rich died out, Rome didn't become a socialist paradise?
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@madengineering @pluralistic How come when the rich died out, Rome didn't become a socialist paradise?
@DavidReed @pluralistic They didn't die, they just developed a real bad case of crazy decision, which made it a really big problem for everyone who wasn't rich also.
Your boss has commanded you to cover the parking lot on gasoline to keep the dragons away.
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@pluralistic I mean, it's arguably what killed the Roman empire. Rich Romans got fancy indoor plumbing, made of lead for easy maintenance. The lead leeches onto the water, giving them a strange line on their gums and a tendency to believe idiotic nonsense.
@madengineering @pluralistic The Romans knew about lead poisoning and to avoid it in drinking water. They preferred clay pipes over lead for drinking water, wherever possible. To the extent that lead poisoning was a problem, it was more likely because of the preparation and widespread consumption of must (grape juice) reduced to a half or a third volume in copper or lead containers.
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/Encyclopaedia_romana/wine/leadpoisoning.html -
@madengineering @pluralistic
The Roman empire ended when the Ottomans conquered it in the 15th century, long after their plumbers did the initial work.....@ColmDonoghue @madengineering @pluralistic still takes that long to find a plumber
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@madengineering @pluralistic The Romans knew about lead poisoning and to avoid it in drinking water. They preferred clay pipes over lead for drinking water, wherever possible. To the extent that lead poisoning was a problem, it was more likely because of the preparation and widespread consumption of must (grape juice) reduced to a half or a third volume in copper or lead containers.
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/Encyclopaedia_romana/wine/leadpoisoning.html@clayfoot
Thank you for the reference. I had a great time reading about wine in Rome.
@madengineering @pluralistic -
@madengineering @pluralistic The Romans knew about lead poisoning and to avoid it in drinking water. They preferred clay pipes over lead for drinking water, wherever possible. To the extent that lead poisoning was a problem, it was more likely because of the preparation and widespread consumption of must (grape juice) reduced to a half or a third volume in copper or lead containers.
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/Encyclopaedia_romana/wine/leadpoisoning.html -
The Gates Foundation blocked the Access to Medicines WIPO treaty, which would have vastly expanded the Global South's ability to manufacture life-saving drugs. And during the acute phase of the covid pandemic, Gates *personally* intervened to kill the WHO Covid-19 Technology Access Pool and to get Oxford to renege on its promise to make an open-source vaccine:
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One more thing we have Bill Gates to thank for.
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@madengineering @pluralistic The Romans knew about lead poisoning and to avoid it in drinking water. They preferred clay pipes over lead for drinking water, wherever possible. To the extent that lead poisoning was a problem, it was more likely because of the preparation and widespread consumption of must (grape juice) reduced to a half or a third volume in copper or lead containers.
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/Encyclopaedia_romana/wine/leadpoisoning.html@ClayfootThe Romans knew about lead poisoning and to avoid it in drinking water.
this is just not true. they were using lead to sweeten wine. and lead pipes whenever they needed pipes within their buildings ...
#^https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defrutum -
Even if rich people were no more likely to believe stupid shit than you or me, it'd still be a problem. After all, I believe my share of stupid shit (and if you think that none of the shit you believe in is stupid, then I'm afraid we've just identified at least one kind of stupid shit you believe in).
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If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
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@pluralistic men i fucking love you, this thread is the best of best, thank you so much for existing and making it, and placing sources.
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@arrakeen_urbanite
And should have to use their own externally facing phone system once a week. (Everyone from the manager responsible for phone system, up to CEO)
@huntingdon @MissGayle @pluralistic -
@ColmDonoghue @madengineering @pluralistic still takes that long to find a plumber
@ASprinkleofSage @ColmDonoghue @madengineering @pluralistic
Now even longer in Manchester. -
Even if rich people were no more likely to believe stupid shit than you or me, it'd still be a problem. After all, I believe my share of stupid shit (and if you think that none of the shit you believe in is stupid, then I'm afraid we've just identified at least one kind of stupid shit you believe in).
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If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
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The length of this thread really exposes the inadequacy of this medium for essays.
This has been on my mind lately due to the length of this thread.
Also, those with great wealth are sometimes stupid and their wealth can shield them from criticism and amplify the negative consequences of that.
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Even if rich people were no more likely to believe stupid shit than you or me, it'd still be a problem. After all, I believe my share of stupid shit (and if you think that none of the shit you believe in is stupid, then I'm afraid we've just identified at least one kind of stupid shit you believe in).
--
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
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@pluralistic The "weight balancing" in planes made me lol
I usually just tell the people welcome tho the new world disorder.
Since WEF announced a new world order pre Cov 19 > that other world.
I saw and believe in a human led society cycle of war and prosperity and advancement but here and now it goes the other sense on the road. -
The problem isn't whether rich people believe stupid shit; it's the fact that when a rich person believes something stupid, that belief can turn into torment for dozens, thousands, or millions of people.
Here's a historical example that I think about a *lot*. In 1928, Henry Ford got worried about the rubber supply chain.
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@pluralistic I often remember Disney CEO Michael Eisner thinking EuroDisney's color should be purple, and Disney would own that purple the way Coke owned red.
Trouble was, in Europe purple is often associated with funerals and death.
Less harmful than other examples, but pure stupidity.
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Even if rich people were no more likely to believe stupid shit than you or me, it'd still be a problem. After all, I believe my share of stupid shit (and if you think that none of the shit you believe in is stupid, then I'm afraid we've just identified at least one kind of stupid shit you believe in).
--
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
1/
@pluralistic Billionaireism should be seen as a mental illness.
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@pluralistic Billionaireism should be seen as a mental illness.
@Dknuffke When you hoard cats, they call the police. When you hoard money, they let you rule the world.
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@pluralistic Billionaireism should be seen as a mental illness.
Hoarding
