I saw someone the other doy talk about the politics of guys like Musk and Thiel and say their politics were “genericaly liberal”. Its a stance you can only hove when you don’t pay attention. Their political affiliation is Billionare, and all Billionares act in a way to preserve and enhance their position.
Lmao, sometimes I wish I had the ignorance to claim Thiel was any kind of liberal
Its a stance you can only hove when you don’t pay attention.
this is ironic
Neoliberalism is a kind of liberalism, and both (just like conservativism) serve capitalism (which serves billionaires).
So that person is not wrong (disclaimer - I don’t know much about Thiel, but Musk absolutely played the liberal card for a long long time, and is only now letting his more “socially conservative” opinions, like transphobia or support of Russia, out).
https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/10/14/liberalism-and-fascism-partners-in-crime/
https://blacklikemao.medium.com/how-liberalism-helps-fascism-d4dbdcb199d9
Thiel and Musk are essentially both techno-utopian, which I would characterize as a nonconservative but still reactionary brand of neoliberalism. They offer no support for social traditions, but also none for social justice. They help entrench the status quo through spectacle and opportunism.
Did you mean spez? 👀
Oh wait, he’s not a billionaire yet…
I’ve seen an interesting documentary about the wealthy in Germany and how they generally differ from e.g. American wealthy. In Germany most of the wealthy pretend to not be that wealthy. They dress rather ordinarily and keep it lowkey. We don’t even know how many of the richest Germans look like currently, because advertising wealth is not seen as positive here than in the United States.
Doesn’t mean that the German wealthy are more virtous or anything, they’re just keeping it down and are thus less bothered.
Most people strive to be seen as Mittelstand. Not poor, but not obscenely wealthy. Which lead to a funny episode where Friedrich Merz, head of the CDU and owner of two private jets, said in an interview that he was upper Mittelstand.
To be fair, that’s true to some extent in the US and most developed countries too. Outside of the popular billionaires constantly on the news, the true wealthy (or old money rich as another comment said) lay low and try not to attract attention to themselves. The ones who flaunt their wealth are newly rich or not actually wealthy enough but want to be seen as such.
Agreed, my wealth is building, but I’m not well off. I don’t want to be viewed as struggling, though in some respects I still am, and likely will be for some time. That said, I’ve spent the past 10 or so years really focussing on comfort above all else. I’ve got all the tools/toys I need for my hobbies, a stable and livable income (hard to come by these days) as well as growing savings and investments.
While I’m not well off, the only showy parts of my life are my vehicles. Everything is relatively low-key or intended purely for me, such as gaming rig, 3d printer etc.
As a former (and possibly returning) shiftworker, having multiple forms of transport is near compulsory due to my location and nearby infrastructure shortfalls.
Where convenient I will usually ride my skateboard (eskate) for shorter trips weather permitting, whereas for pleasure I have a motorcycle, and finally for inclement weather or when I need to carry items, the car.
Apart from these things, the only thing i could want for is to not be renting, I’m glad that is almost the only and largest difficulty currently facing me. I do not envy those less fortunate than I.
Eat them. Eat them all.
Billionaires are a glorified version of the local crazy cat person in your town.
They keep collecting cats even though it is unhealthy, unsanitary, unnecessary, unsafe, nonsensical, useless, unhelpful and detrimental to the health of the person and others around them.
It doesn’t matter to them because they keep collecting more … no matter what anyone says.
The only difference is that we call one crazy and we place a picture of the other on Time magazine and call them a genius.
I can’t imagine having that much money and not sharing. I daydream about winning the lottery so I can just help people in need. My community would be helped so much if I could do it, we have people living in tents in parks in the city. I could get them housing and pay their rent and barely make a dent in wealth.
