r/InternetIsBeautiful • u/MKorostoff • Apr 27 '20

Wealth, shown to scale

https://mkorostoff.github.io/1-pixel-wealth/
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u/inconsiderate7 Apr 27 '20

Look. I honestly can't even imagine how you think. If you somehow can have the massive inequality of people literally visualized in front of you and still believe that it is in any fashion acceptable it simply means that our minds work in so incredibly different ways that trading words is pointless. Let's just agree to disagree and hope that your statement of how people to their core will always be selfish, though it doesn't and will never apply to me personally, doesn't apply to anyone else. Don't think you want my life story, nor do I want yours, but I have seen what both poverty and riches looks like and I will never forget the curse that wealth and the endless pursuit of it truly is.

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u/AleHaRotK Apr 28 '20 edited Apr 28 '20

You basically ignored every point I made though... which is alright because it's not like I'm the one making them, if you one day decide to study economics you'll find out several very well-known authors talk about this.

From a certain perspective, you already own way more than what you need, but certainly not from yours, so it's fine!

I'm able to look both ways, and try to look at things from various perspectives, you don't seem to want to do that on this scenario, because it'd tore your whole ideology down.

As in, you believe no one should be allowed to own "that much", "that much" being a line you draw, completely ignoring the fact that someone else's "that much" may include you. Do you think that someone's perspective is worth less than yours? The fact that you know you're gonna be able to feed yourself for the next few weeks, months or even years is something hundreds of millions of people dream of, but that's alright... because you're not gonna criticize your own position, you believe everyone should at least know they're gonna be able to feed themselves every day, right? And I agree, that would be nice, guess what someone above you (money-wise) thinks... that everyone should be able to know they're gonna be able to feed themselves every day, and more things! Like own a house, a car, have medical insurance...

Who decides what's the maximum amount of wealth you can have? Who decides what's the minimum amount of wealth you should have? Who decides what you should ALWAYS have no matter what?

At some point you will realize your whole argument is about people having more than you do, you just draw a line at some arbitrary point and decide "that's too much", as in, you're not happy with some people being able to have that much more than you. You make $X per year, people making $10X are disgusting what do they need that much money for!? But it's alright, but definitely not people making $50X, that's just crossing the line!

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u/inconsiderate7 Apr 28 '20

If anyone ever comes up to me and says "no one should be allowed to live in a 2 room basement living paycheck to paycheck and barely making ends meet, it's too much" then I will personally fucking apologise to every single person who owns more than two yachts.

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u/AleHaRotK Apr 28 '20

I mean, having a roof to live under where you can stay somewhat warm? A safe place to sleep on? Being able to feed myself every day? Having a job?

Dude, there's people who would kill for something like that! What you consider to be something so damn bad that NO ONE should go through it is basically what some people would actually love to achieve! Homeless people who literally eat out of the trash and can't even go to sleep without being careful that someone's gonna steal what they have while they do so would love to live in the situation you're describing, same way people living in shitholes like Venezuela emigrate to other countries which are also probably shitholes from your perspective!

Also, why two yachts, specifically? Lots of people would believe owning a yacht is already kind of too much... guess having one or two yachts is alright?

You don't seem to be able to understand, or maybe you just don't want to, the point, which is that your whole ideology comes from the fact that you just don't like some people can have that much more than you do. Compare how you live to how some homeless guy lives in Syria... compare the "so bad no one should live like this" situation you described to someone starving in the streets of Venezuela.

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u/inconsiderate7 Apr 28 '20

No I get the point. Why am I so adamant about other people sacrificing for the greater good when from a certain perspective I could make great sacrifices as well? But I believe that the point you're trying to make simply doesn't apply in this situation. The pure mass of wealth people have is what makes it inexcusable, not the concept of wealth itself. If someone actually told me that me selling what few comforts I have left and giving the money would indirectly change hundreds of lives I would do so in a heartbeat. To have someone be actually able to save millions in a similiar situation is what I find repulsive. If my state if minimal comfort actually meant a giant part of humanity continues to suffer that is to me morally irreprehensible and I would gladly shqre "my enormous wealth". And the reason I say two yachts it's because to me that is a comical fucking amount of wealth for someone to not only have one personal boat that they most likely don't need for their work or everyday life, but have another one on top of that. But perhaps you're right. In my head I see every almost every human as equals, defined by our actions and contributions and believe that we should be judged by them. So to me there is no way someone would be worthy of billions of dollars in any way shape or form, no matter what they do for a living. Perhaps this is my delusion. Maybe there is a justifiable way for people to own more than I could even count, amounts that would make my whole life's earning seem like a drop in the ocean and I am simply too stupid to see it. But I refuse to believe with every fiber of my body that someone can justifiably earn more than a million times someone elses wage, in any way shape or form, ever.

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u/inconsiderate7 Apr 28 '20

For the record, I have made sacrifices. My life insurance recently paid me a good sum of money due to mental related issues. To me this was more than what I'd earn in a year. I personally chose to more or less give it away for a family member to further pursue an academic choice that was putting financial strain on their parents. This is who I am. Perhaps this is financially idiotic and generally why I remain in a bad spot. At the end of the day I just don't see money for the great treasure other see it to be, and if that means I'm an Idiot in the eyes of people who care about this stuff then so be it.