Why Do We Love Billionaires So Much?

Why Do We Love Billionaires So Much?

 By C.A. Matthews

 

It confounds me. We're angry when we aren't paid what we should be, tired of how some capitalists blatantly steal from the public purse and don't pay their fare share, and yet we act mesmerized whenever the ultra-rich pull a flashy stunt to generate more publicity for their money-making machines.

You know what I'm talking about--the heavy mainstream media coverage of both Richard Branson's and Jeff Bezos' recent "joy rides" into the upper atmosphere. You'd think their private lives would be of zero interest to everyday folks slaving away in dead-end jobs in these billionaires' concerns, but the mainstream media seems to think their activities are more important than climate catastrophes happening around the globe this week. In fact, the big news outlets spent almost the same amount of air time covering Bezos' pretend space race adventure than they did on stories dealing with the multitude of deadly floods, droughts, forest fires and other climate emergencies that occurred on the same day.

Obviously, what rich people do with their billions for fun is infinitely more important than our children's safety or futures.

Or could it be…the mainstream media just wants us to think we love billionaires and find their antics lovable? Could it be we don't really love the hoarding toadies at all, but the powers-that-be want us to be tolerant of them and their destructive ways? Tolerant enough that we don't all grab our pitchforks and build guillotines before our homes burn down in a drought-driven forest fire?

"Just a little off the top," one can imagine Jeff Bezos muttering as thousands of his ill-treated warehouse workers lead him up the scaffolding to meet the blade.

It's time to be honest with ourselves. We--and by this I mean you, me, our children and loved ones--are the 99%. We can't afford to put up with these "lovable antics" by the überwealthy any longer. The 1% have by far the largest carbon footprint. Scientists tell us that the 1% and their conspicuous consumption is the leading cause of climate change. The 1% are the spoilers of this planet and human life in general.

It's time we stopped admiring them. It's time we stop kidding ourselves that we'll ever become one of them. You know deep down the odds that you will ever become a billionaire are a billion to one. So, if we're never going to become a member of the billionaire club what can we do to give our lives meaning? 

First off, we can stop the idol worshiping right now. There's no such thing as a "good billionaire" as I heard someone say. It's an oxymoron like "military intelligence." The two words don't belong in the same sentence. Billionaires aren't God. They're not "good" because they own just about everything and everyone on the planet and keep it to themselves. End the adoration of their senseless buffoonery in fast planes and dildo-shaped rockets.

Second thing, stop making excuses for these clowns in designer clothing. They are not better than the rest of us. They're not even smarter than the rest of us. Didn't Trump's nonsensical tweets make that fact more than obvious? Billionaires were simply born into wealth and have used that wealth to take things away from those less fortunate--such as our land, natural resources, our labor, our clean air, drinking water, and now even outer space. They live to make a profit off of everything and everyone.

(And you do qualify as one of the "less fortunate" if you actually pay your taxes. Most billionaires don't pay any.) 

Last, but not least, call out the mainstream media and others who attempt to glorify the billionaires and their activities. No more spreading their propaganda. Tell it like it is--they're greedy bastards who don't share their wealth, treat their workers like slaves, and get away without even paying their fair share of taxes. They're not to be emulated, idolized, admired, or tolerated. Shut down their PR spokespeople. 

Think of billionaires as your ex. You walked away from that dysfunctional relationship, didn't you? You know you are strong enough to walk away from the likes of Branson, Bezos, Musk, Gates, Buffet, the Walton family, etc. You don't need them to distract you from what really matters in life--taking care of yourself, your loved ones, and your neighbors. 

Let the billionaires go--and be sure to let the door hit them hard on the backside as they exit!

 

Fifty years ago, poet Gil Scott-Heron expressed a similar attitude on this very subject.

https://youtu.be/goh2x_G0ct4

Billionaire Dreams are our Nightmares: https://youtu.be/-mKAI34chNo

Poverty Wages and Tax Dodging Funded Bezos' Ridiculous Space Trip https://truthout.org/articles/poverty-wages-and-tax-dodging-funded-bezoss-ridiculous-space-trip/

Learn more about the billionaires' "space race" in Coast Watcher's recent article, Billionaires in Spaaace! https://continuousrev.blogspot.com/2021/06/billionaires-in-spaaaace.html
 

And be sure to check out the best place on the web for independent journalism: https://radindiemedia.com/

What if UFOs are just billionaires from other planets?

— 𝙏𝙤𝙢 𝙃𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙨 (@tlhicks713) July 24, 2021

 

If you're arguing the success of capitalism based on this psychopath having spent 10 minutes in space while millions are deprived of medical care and/or bankrupted by medical bills, you're as twisted as he is. Just dumber. pic.twitter.com/JMm4nHSb7U

— ✊🏻 Stained Class (@DEMS_R_GOP) July 21, 2021

 

Hahaha why no I cannot pay you a fair wage you lowly Amazon worker, I need that money for a five billion-dollar carnival ride

— Caitlin Johnstone ⏳ (@caitoz) July 20, 2021

***

As Seattle was breaking records with triple-digit temperatures, Amazon warehouse managers called for a "power hour." They were pushing workers to run fast and pack faster despite having no indoor air conditioning in the warehouse.¹

Amazon puts productivity over the safety of their workers. They use high-tech algorithms to enforce it, surveilling workers and punishing them if they can’t meet the algorithm’s goals, even in the heat. This kind of workplace surveillance shouldn’t be legal, that’s why Congress needs to act now.

Sign the petition: Tell Congress to protect Amazon workers from dangerous workplace surveillance!

ADD YOUR NAME

Even before the "heat dome" Amazon warehouses were already dangerous places to work. Amazon uses high-tech algorithms like Rate and Time off Task to push workers to the physical limit and then punish them for taking bathroom breaks.² It’s so bad OSHA once called Amazon warehouses one of the most dangerous jobs in America.³

Workplace surveillance and productivity algorithms shouldn’t be legal in the first place. But our legal system lags behind the pace of technology. Unless Congress closes the gap, Amazon will continue to use its high-tech grip to squeeze the life out of its warehouse workers. Like, increasing productivity rates, during a historic heatwave, in a warehouse without air conditioning.

Join thousands of activists already calling on Congress to fix this and protect Amazon workers.

Sign the petition: Tell Congress to protect Amazon workers from dangerous workplace surveillance!

Thank you for speaking out,

Tihi and the team at Watchdog -- a project of Demand Progress

DONATE

Sources:
1. Daily Dot, "Amazon warehouse runs productivity contest at warehouse despite record-breaking heatwave," June 28, 2021.
2. The Verge, "How Amazon automatically tracks and fires warehouse workers for 'productivity'" April 25, 2019.
3. Futurism, "After Deaths, Amazon Lands on List of Most Dangerous Employers," October 18, 2019.

 ***

It’s a big week for the resistance. As the Line 3 protest camps continue to meet the unprecedented advancement of Enbridge’s dangerous pipeline — arrests are happening nearly every day as this Indigenous-led movement attempts to stop a host of river crossings — my colleague, Chase Iron Eyes, and our full media team are heading out to the frontlines right now.

This trip, and our staff’s ongoing dedication to media creation, outreach, and logistical support, is a huge investment — and it’s one we hope you’ll help us make. We’re going all in on providing the camps with needed equipment and capability to amplify this struggle now, while we still have a chance to protect Anishinaabe homelands. Will you give generously in this moment to protect our relatives and our world?

Water protectors at a Line 3 front in June. Photo by Christopher Francisco.

Our presence — and that of any allies who can also make the trip — is badly needed. In 2016 and 2017, the movement against the Dakota Access pipeline at Standing Rock attracted tens of thousands. In Minnesota, we are far fewer, and we’re spread thin across several camps. Those already on the frontlines are struggling logistically to stop Enbridge’s rapid build across many bodies of water. As you can see below, the police presence is mighty. We must do all we can.

Police ready to enforce Line 3’s incursions in June. Photo by Christopher Francisco.

Fortunately, we’re joining a coalition led by knowledgeable Indigenous leaders like Winona LaDuke of Honor the Earth, who was arrested this week, and Tara Houska of Giniw collective (pictured below). Our first jobs are to get there, set up, listen to the needs, and begin amplifying the voices of those on the ground.

Giniw Collective’s Tara Houska provides leadership against Line 3. Photo by Christopher Francisco.

The time is now. This week, another mistake in construction spewed noxious fluids into another sacred river. As they always do, this pipeline is already despoiling pristine waters. How much worse will it be when the tar sands oil — some of the world’s dirtiest — is spilled in these same water systems? We must not let that happen. We’re preparing to hold our ground for as long as it takes, and we thank you from our hearts for your generous support of this mission.

Wopila tanka — thank you for supporting our direct action against this toxic pipeline!
Madonna Thunder Hawk
Cheyenne River Organizer
The Lakota People’s Law Project

 

Bread and Circuses Redux

Bread and Circuses Redux

Coast Watcher

Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time handed out military command, high civil office, legions—everything, now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses. ~ Juvenal

The companies that bought time in the recent Superbowl commercial blocks are the same ones that were given trillions of dollars in bailout money by the same people who won’t give us a measly two thousand dollars Covid relief. Like the Roman arenas and circuses of long ago, many modern stadiums are built using public money. The American government obviously thinks that distracting the public by promoting spectacles like the Superbowl is worth more than providing actual payments of cash to help us all through the pandemic.

We’re now told that the next payment due April will be $1400, not $2000, because of the $600 paid out last year by the Trump administration. This is in blatant disregard of the numerous political statements made before the Georgia special election by Biden, Harris, Ossoff and Warnock specifically stating $2000 would be paid out in the event of a Democratic party victory.   

Having got what they wanted, why would the so-called Democrats bother to pay out now? 

We’re also told that the relief payments will be means tested, that anyone earning over $50K as an individual/$100K as a couple won’t get the money. This in spite of the fact that $50k/$100K isn’t a whole heck of a lot of money on which to live in some parts of the US.

Most other first world countries continue to pay their citizens relief money on a steady basis, and will probably do so for the foreseeable future. Not in the US, where capitalism declares everybody must go back to work to make more money for the rich and to hell with your kids and elderly getting exposed to Covid-19. 

Capitalists would prefer you didn’t think of such things, that you must agitate for schools, bars and restaurants to be reopened so you can go back to your "normal" grind. As a thank-you for your slavish cooperation, they’ll throw a few crumbs your way.

Instead of demanding our elected representatives do their duty to the people, we humbly petition them to do so and anxiously hope for bread and circuses. And that's what we get--overpriced distractions and food banks.

God help America. 

From Twitter:

If $50,000 or $70,000 is too much to get a survival check then $174,000 is too much to pay a corrupt politician.

— ✋🏼Daniel (@jai_lies) February 9, 2021

Related article:

 "Unbelievable": Bernie Sanders Slams Democrats Who Want to Narrow Income Eligibility for Stimulus Payments

https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/67707-unbelievable-bernie-sanders-slams-democrats-who-want-to-narrow-income-eligibility-for-stimulus-payments

BIO: Coast Watcher isn't much into football or circuses of any kind. How long will the American public allow itself to be distracted? If the "$2K check" isn't forthcoming, will that awaken their ire and birth a political revolution? Coastie certainly hopes so!

 ***

The Revolution Continues is now in our sixth year fighting against the corporate duopoly. We're not ashamed to say that we need fellow revolutionaries like you to help us stay online and provide progressive insights that are being actively censored elsewhere. If you can spare some of your pocket change, please use the Paypal.me link below to donate to help fund our operations.

http://paypal.me/camatthews

Thanks for all you do in making the world a better place. Power to the people!

*** 

Last week, under the cover of darkness, ICE hurriedly rounded up a group of chained and horrified Black immigrants from Alexandria, Louisiana on a deportation flight to Jamaica.

It came 8 days *after* the Biden administration issued a moratorium on deportations, but ICE took advantage of a temporary block on Biden’s deportation moratorium.

Let’s be clear: nothing in the judge’s order requires ICE to deport people right now--DHS has the power to grant stays of removal or use their prosecutorial discretion to stop it.

We need to ramp up the pressure fast -- Families Belong Together is joining with our partners at UndocuBlack Network and the Black Immigrant Collective to demand ICE stop deporting community members and return all our deported community members on iAero Airways Flight 3562. Will you add your name?

aCT NOW →

The Biden administration made a critical first step towards addressing our broken immigration system this week. The moratorium represented a previously-unimaginable collective exhale from thousands of Black and brown people -- both those in detention and their communities of support.

But instead of following this lead, ICE is barreling ahead using the same misguided and cruel removal policies that dominated the Trump era.

ICE might technically be allowed to continue with deportations, but it flies in the face of the crystal clear direction from the Biden administration -- and we can’t let them get away with it.

We need you to help put pressure on DHS to stop deporting our community members and return our deported community members on iAero Airways Flight 3562 -- add your name now.

Thanks for all you do,

Paola Luisi, Director
Families Belong Together

***

Glyphosate, the main ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup, is increasingly linked to cancer. Yet, major stores still sell this toxic herbicide. Join us in this week of action to tell Home Depot and Lowe's to Reject Roundup. Take any of these 3 easy actions:

Take a picture of yourself with a message telling Home Depot and/or Lowe’s to Reject Roundup.  Create your own sign on a piece of paper OR download and print this sign. Then email us your photo and we'll post on our social media. OR Mail or deliver these letters to Home Depot and/or Lowe’s.

And let us know if you do. OR

Post on social media. Post the photo you took above or post one of these suggested messages on Lowe’s Facebook wall, Home Depot’s Facebook wall, and Twitter with these graphics. Show bees and butterflies some love this Valentine's Day, @HomeDepot @Lowes. It’s time to #RejectRoundup! Bayer-Monsanto’s Roundup® weedkiller is decimating monarch butterflies by wiping out milkweed, the only food source for their young. Monarchs have declined by 90% in the past 20 years alone. Don’t let them disappear in our lifetime.  Hey, @HomeDepot @Lowes, show us some love this Valentine’s day and #RejectRoundup! This toxic weedkiller is linked to cancer and reproductive harm. We want it off your shelves and out of our bodies!  When are you taking Roundup off your shelves @Lowes and @HomeDepot? This Valentine’s Day, show some love for {insert what is important to you: our kids health, pollinators, groundskeeper health, our waterways, etc.} #RejectRoundup   Post anytime throughout this week and you can even post multiple times. Thank you for joining our Valentine's Week of Action to Reject Roundup. For the health of pollinators, humans, and the planet,

Jes Walton Food Campaigns Director Green America

***

From Friends of the Earth:

Take action to protect ocean habitats from floating factory farms. Sign Now Wild fish, sea birds, and dolphins are at risk -- along with the health of our oceans and coastal communities. Take action now. The federal government is trying to permit industrial ocean fish farms in federal ocean waters without Congressional authorization. These floating factory farms pollute our coastal waters with pesticides and chemicals -- putting our ocean habitats in danger. Our ocean ecosystem is too fragile to put in the hands of agribusiness, and we need your help to stop it. Tell your members of Congress to support the Keep FinFish Free Act to protect our coastal waters. Sign now to demand our oceans are protected from floating factory farms! Sign Now Our oceans are fragile. It takes strategic planning and policies to protect marine environments. Industrial fish farms routinely cause massive spills, spreading diseases, pets, and threatening wild fish stocks. Seabirds get entangled in the pens and cages. Whales, dolphins, seals, and sea lions experience food shortages. Giant agribusiness is just another Big Polluter looking to exploit our public lands and water for the sake of profit. Sadly, aquaculture is the fastest growing food production sector, while fish receive the least protections. Hold your members of Congress accountable for protecting our waters and wildlife. Take action: Demand the health of our oceans and marine line be protected from aquaculture facilities. Sign Now Factory fish farms depend on toxic pesticides, pharmaceutical drugs, and genetically engineered crops -- such as soy -- a disturbing cocktail of toxins that greatly impact human health. Pharmaceutical drugs used to control pests and disease in overcrowded pens can increase the risk of harmful bacteria becoming antibiotic resistant in human illness. Dyes used to make factory farmed salmon pink have links to retinal damage and hyperactivity in children. Chemical compounds used can increase the risk of cancer, reproductive problems, and disrupt the endocrine system. We need your help to hold officials accountable for protecting us from toxic aquaculture facilities. Demand your members of Congress put our health ahead of corporate profit. Demand they support the Keep FinFish Free Act. Sign Now Standing with you, Hallie Templeton, Senior oceans campaigner, Friends of the Earth ***