Billionaires shouldn't exist - eviltoast
  • Draupnir@lemmy.world
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    23 hours ago

    This assumes billionaires fell into money. Not true. The person with two jobs puts in more hours ongoing, but they either aren’t or don’t know how to actually work

    • 5too@lemmy.world
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      15 hours ago

      What billionaire didn’t start out with a healthy infusion of cash? Sure, some turned millions into billions, but I don’t know of any that didn’t start with a line on several millions of investment available.

      • Draupnir@lemmy.world
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        12 hours ago

        • Oprah Winfrey • Howard Schultz • John Paul DeJoria • Ralph Lauren • Jan Koum • Shahid Khan • George Soros • Leonardo Del Vecchio

        Now you know. You can look up their stories yourself. Now stop perpetuating the false dogma that somehow these people are special and unique and have something that you don’t. You can do it too, you just choose not to.

      • Draupnir@lemmy.world
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        17 hours ago

        There’s many facets, but some core tenets are to be highly focused, highly committed, and increasingly efficient in efforts to make a goal (in the right direction) happen.

        The idea I’m thinking of explicitly here though is scaling this definition to hold increasing amounts of leverage over time. To put it simply, your continued highly focused, efficient, and effective work leads to a system where more work gets accomplished overall, and the time that you put in accomplishes much, much more.

        • null@slrpnk.net
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          7 hours ago

          Can you give a practical example of how someone can start with no money, and “work” their way up to $1B?

          • Draupnir@lemmy.world
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            6 hours ago

            John Paul DeJoria: Born to immigrant parents in Los Angeles, DeJoria faced early adversity when his parents divorced, leading him to live in a foster home at age two. By nine, he was selling newspapers and Christmas cards to help support his family. After periods of homelessness and working odd jobs like janitor and door-to-door shampoo salesman, he co-founded John Paul Mitchell Systems in 1980 with just $700. Later, he launched Patrón Tequila, revolutionizing the premium tequila market. His net worth stands at around $4 billion, per Forbes, a testament to his self-made journey.

            • AmbiguousProps@lemmy.today
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              6 hours ago

              Someone want to break the bad news to this guy that it’s not 1980 anymore and hasn’t been 45 years? You cannot become a “self made” billionaire in 2025 because the current billionaires want that money for themselves. Keep drinking the kool-aid like the billionaire class wants though, it’s how they make more money off of your back.

            • null@slrpnk.net
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              6 hours ago

              Selling newspapers is an example of work.

              co-founded John Paul Mitchell Systems in 1980 with just $700. Later, he launched Patrón Tequila, revolutionizing the premium tequila market.

              “Co-founding” is spending money and “launching” is a concept. What work did he do?

        • RandomVideos@programming.dev
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          16 hours ago

          How would you define accomplishing stuff and what do you mean by accomplishing more? Does selling something to someone count? Does creating something for your own use count? Does creating entertainment for other people count? Does doing something to better your mental health count? What about doing something to better another persons mental health? Does selling an addictive product count?

    • TxzK@lemmy.zip
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      21 hours ago

      Yup, you are correct. Billionaires didn’t fell into money, they stole money. From the poor.

    • AmbiguousProps@lemmy.today
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      22 hours ago

      surely that means you’re a billionaire who knows how to actually work, then, right? since that’s all it takes?

      • Draupnir@lemmy.world
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        18 hours ago

        Nope, not a billionaire. But I can see a path to it and yes, work is what it takes. But one needs to have the right understanding of work and what that means to do it and scale what work is for you.

    • ryedaft@sh.itjust.works
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      21 hours ago

      Just get a better paying job is what you are saying? Or start a company, but remember that it needs to be a successful company?

      • Draupnir@lemmy.world
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        17 hours ago

        If someone wants to break the cycle and have a stab at a better life, then I do believe that yes, business and hard as hell work to make it happen is the cost. Most people would rather sit in comfort and point blame at some external figure for their misfortunes, yet they are in no better of a place in the end.

        A better paying job can help certainly. And it can ease the pressure of being a lesser earner if treated responsibly. But in the end, working a job is still working for someone else and taking all your time to do so. Someone could run a business in a way that they create a full-time job for themselves and still end up here.

        • 5too@lemmy.world
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          15 hours ago

          Great! Most new businesses fail, which makes sense given the people starting them are new at this. Billionaires often have had several failed attempts. The difference is, they have room to fail and try again.

          How do we give others that chance, if not by keeping billionaires from hoovering up all the resources?

          • Draupnir@lemmy.world
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            12 hours ago

            Sounds like an excuse to stop yourself from starting and continue pointing fingers at someone else. Also, sounds like you think they are somehow special and unique and have powers that you don’t. They’re a human just like you. Everybody fails at everything at some point, but the differentiating factor is whether you’re going to pick yourself up and keep going with the new information you’ve gotten. It doesn’t cost anything to hedge against risk and make a plan for potential failure, and you certainly don’t need to be a billionaire to do it.

            • 5too@lemmy.world
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              7 hours ago

              They do have something special that the rest of us don’t have. They have money.

              That’s what I mean when I say they have room to try again. They don’t go broke when their business fails, so they can try more than once. Most of us don’t have the time or resources to have another go without some serious recovery time.

              • Draupnir@lemmy.world
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                6 hours ago

                This is propagating your limiting beliefs and connecting their end with your beginning. Many have don’t this and started from scraps in the working class.

                • AmbiguousProps@lemmy.today
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                  6 hours ago

                  Not in 2025. The age of “self made” billionaires has passed, and you missed the chance. Now, the current billionaires will gladly work you to the bone and steal your money and life.