this post was submitted on 23 May 2026
629 points (99.5% liked)
Not The Onion
21559 readers
1498 users here now
Welcome
We're not The Onion! Not affiliated with them in any way! Not operated by them in any way! All the news here is real!
The Rules
Posts must be:
- Links to news stories from...
- ...credible sources, with...
- ...their original headlines, that...
- ...would make people who see the headline think, “That has got to be a story from The Onion, America’s Finest News Source.”
Please also avoid duplicates.
Comments and post content must abide by the server rules for Lemmy.world and generally abstain from trollish, bigoted, ableist, or otherwise disruptive behavior that makes this community less fun for everyone.
And that’s basically it!
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
For generations, we were taught to value the opinions of the wealthy. Now we know for the vast majority of billionaires, their extreme wealth is mostly due to chance, not inherent ability, or even worse is actually evidence of their lack of character. The illusion has fallen away. They are the last people we should seek advice from on living a moral life. We should punish them for the act of hoarding immoral amounts of wealth to themselves. I am encouraged because this viewpoint seems to be spreading, and even more encouraged because I think they're scared. They should be scared.
No they're not scared. I can't disclose any details, but if I were scared I'd walk around with a bodyguard and wouldn't have a cellphone.
The very wealthy spend lots of money on private security. Look up Erik Prince and his crazy family... DeVos etc. When Gates spoke at my uni (this was 20 years ago) he arrived in a motorcade of 10 armored Suburbans
Yup https://www.forbes.com/sites/monicahunter-hart/2025/05/09/how-the-ultra-wealthy-are-protecting-themselves-against-arson-attacks-kidnapping-and-worse/
No, I am saying I have personal experience, the details of which I cannot disclose.
I was not refuting your point, just adding my own point after it. Our personal experiences obviously differ. I've had to give facility tours to security details in advance of a UHNW individual's arrival on multiple occasions.
That makes sense. I do not know any famous people at all. I know some retired performers who are still on the con circuit, but they'd never be recognized, and they're not billionaires. The billionaires I've met all look like they shop at Target and they put all their money into their family and into assets. You wouldn't know to look at them, at least I wouldn't.
Sure. It's possible you may. However, you sound like a 12 year old boy claiming something grandiose. If you really have a relationship that you cannot disclose, don't go telling people that. No one will believe you, unless they're the type to fall for Alex Jones level nonsense. Claims require proof, or at least common or searchable knowledge, otherwise who can take your claim seriously?
I could claim I also know a billionaire and claim the opposite of you. Or that the billionaire you know is just a moron. Many of them are.
Edit: Also, why do people always assume everyone would do the same thing as themselves? Just because you wouldn't carry a cell phone doesn't mean everyone has the same paranoia as you.
Ok, those are all fair points. There isn't really any other medium where I can express "hey, it's weird that these people have cell phones when they shouldn't and no body guards where they should." This is something in my life, this post made me think of it. Believe it or don't believe it I guess.
Edit: There are many business, family and social contexts under which a person might be acquainted with a billionaire, depending on one's line of work, region, and social connections. Most billionaires aren't famous.
We gotta badass here!!
Yeah, I am a badass, but I don't know what that has to do with anything.
Ooooh, found the dangerous badass who's gonna make 'em sorry. You must have a very particular set of skills! Help us, Obi Wan, you're our only hope.
If you look at my previous comment history, you'd know that I do not believe doing violence to individual billionaires will actually work to do anything positive for society. Also, there is a reason why I know these people, and the reason ISN'T "I'm secretly an assassin."
Ok... your comment history says you don't know "times tables" past 5x and that a link was "unreadable" which I checked and it was fine. Izzat you, Mister Bond?
Anyway, whatever the secret plan is, please hit the big red button ASAP so we can all thank you!
My browser blocks the link because the site thinks I'm using an adblocker, it is therefore unreadable. Yes I never memorized my times tables. These are all pretty irrelevant to what I said.
I do not have a secret plan. I don't know who you think I am or why you think I said what I said. Please stop replying to me, I'm sure you're a nice person.