What does your average billionaire do for fun? In many ways, the world's wealthiest people are just like anyone else -- except, of course, that they can pour ungodly amounts of money into their hobbies. In tonight's solo episode, Ben Bowlin dives deep into the strange world of billionaire hobbies... and why these hobbies can be much, much more dangerous than we might assume.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This is an unofficial transcript meant for reference. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
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As for my heart media's, ruby studios in partnership with intel, each episode unveils the incredible ways. A high technology is transforming our world for the better joint host graham class, as he speaks with the experts by the technological advancements that our power eat a brighter and more accessible future for everyone. Listen, the technically speaking and intel pie
cast on the iheart radio, app apple podcasts or wherever you get. Your podcasts save big on groceries with drop. The shopping rewards app during black friday download the drop app to earn points with your everyday shopping and redeem them for gift cards want a free dinner for the family with those groceries drop it. How about daily lattes drop, it shopping for the holiday kuching, even more points baby, so download drop today and get five dollars. Just for signing up use invite code get dropped. Seven, seven! Seven! That's invite code, get dropped, seven, seven, seven hey! This is jason alexander for visible wireless. In a some wireless companies say they have no yada yada, but details matter. You should know what you're signing up for so yada yada. I'm reading this ad for visible on the visible plan get one line of wireless on verizon's. Five g network
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If you are opposed to psychic powers and government conspiracies history is riddled with unexplained events. You can turn back now or learn the stuff. They don't want you to know a production of. I heartbeat the welcome back to the show.
They called me that my colleagues match, and nor are we at the moment and will be returning soon I enjoyed, as always without were super producer, appalled mission control, deck and, most importantly, you argue you are here- and that makes this stuff. They don't want you to know,
tonight's episode will be a little bit different fellow conspiracy, realist just us here. You me Paul and the
It s gathered around the digital fire in the great darkness of civilization as well.
Recording the: u S, congress just held a another hearing on the existence of ufos or you a p as they call them and several
of our good friends were in attendance. I want to give them a shout out. This include.
Folks like Jeremy, core bell and pain lindsey both of you
some are recurring guest here on stuff. They don't want you to know. I do check out there
shows paying does shows like up and vanished and, of course, high strange, and I can't
enough good things about jeremy show weapon ized with george nap, any
We will be following up on those events very soon,
in the meantime, of course, lesson
the choir poured out loud
Things are getting rough. The world seems chock full of looming ecological disaster. This will affect every living creature on the planet and every human being, regardless of demographic, still gather
ye rosebuds, while ye may has Robert herrick once wrote, we can spend all our
fleeting time on the planet, worrying about stuff and
billionaires, are no different, so this got me thinking.
Returning to something I've been thinking about for quite some time- and maybe you ve thought about this too- why? What about those billionaires
you know when they are not moving nations and corporations. What are they doing for fine you're? What
Stu billionaires have, and what should we not billionaires, think about those pursuits here are. The facts
First things. First, it helpful to get past the noise and figure out just how many billionaires exist figure this out.
is really tricky for a couple of different reasons. The
First reason is
concept of money and wealth gets colonel muddy at very tip top
of the socio economic hierarchy of our time. Wealth estimates four billion years,
don't just rely on physical goods or physical assets like cash in prague.
They also rely on things like an individual stock and individuals. Investments and both of those as we proven in previous episodes, can be alarmingly intangible concepts. They play a huge role in the calculation of billionaire wealth. I mean not to
long ago. They isla must
had his wealth. Estimates vary widely and it was all do too.
the platform formerly known as twitter, now known as acts. The second reason this can be difficult is because
some very, very powerful individuals are frankly be on any realistic estimate of well
One excellent example of this in the west would be the current strong man of russia, vladimir putin. No one,
Really knows how much money our influence, vladimir putin per
controls, that is by design and.
Has troubling, as it is to admit.
this individual, prudent, is not unique in that
situation. Privacy is a
huge currency of the very wealthy and
trolling. The way they are presented to the public is another big big part of their
Those are two problems: what is money at the very top or what is wealth and how transparent or how to
is an individual's possession of this, so, outside of
intelligence circles, one of the best public sources for billy
our wealth is
annual list compiled by forbes magazine it's been coming out for many years now. It is now
in a burst of creativity, the world's billionaires as of twenty twenty three, the year we record this
forbes magazine found that there are a total of two thousand six hundred and forty billion errors. That feels like a lot of
people, two thousand six hundred and forty different people person,
we possess a billion
or more dollars sounds like a lot
until we realise that there are
Officially, an estimated
eight thousand fifty million
eight hundred seventy seven thousand six hundred and sixty one two, three seven people on earth
you can go to a handy website called world dominar to catch the up to the second asked
it, is a scary.
this statistic to watch so that a very small percentage of the population and
number two thousand six hundred and forty billion years. That's actually down from the previous couple of years,
last year, for example, there were two thousand six hundred and sixty eight billion errs on the planet in the space of just one.
calendar year too.
hundred and fifty four people lost
a billionaire status, like you, ve heard
A lot of these people, or you ve, certainly heard of their industries, we're talking about former crypto,
birds like sand, bateman freed or
co founder gary, Wang, we're talking about
like the musician and entrepreneur, yea, formerly known as kanye west, and sorry that chad
about the bad news here, Paul com
is officially no longer a billionaire where
Talking about scared of tech tycoons, at least nineteen founders of what are called unicorn companies? These are people.
Alex taller in devon censure of the enough t, marketplace, open sea and folks, like Pedro, Francesco iii of the crew,
A card associated company breaks out. There are some
oh who drop out of the billiard air club by their.
hand by choice. One would be the founder.
Of patagonia,
given should ard created this
outdoor clue the and gear making empire way back in nineteen. Seventy three
recently donated, is personal fortunes to a trust and
injury old has meant a fight environmental crises,
This move was made in september, twenty twenty two so last year almost
we go now and when yvonne did this
he removed himself from the rankings
He is no longer a billion air and he had long criticized the sort of forging of wealth so good on you. You want as a bridge
knowledge of the population that obviously billy.
There's or a laughably small demographic, yet it should go
There is no surprise that this tiny, tiny slice of humanity has a cartoonish leave out influence, I'm pretty much anything. They touch
anything they're interested in some people
in this demographic, can simply go on air.
On your local mass media, and they can say I think you know
The council wants or case india's are interested and it will affect the price and value
of everything related to cows owns or case dia. It's it's crazy to quote yea.
No one man should have all that power at this level,
our add money, their fight
Actual movements become less like that of a human.
An individual and more like the movement of a nation, the movement of an institution
Raise the old observation,
when a normal person owes the bank
thousand dollars it's that person's problem when a billionaire oda,
a hundred million dollars, that's the bank's problem. So let's talk about the wealth livestock, turkey right now,
all of those people. We named all those
thousand plus people are collectively worth twelve point. Seven trillion dollars dead,
fella conspiracy, realist, I'm going to be honest here. Most of us, your faithful, corresponding included. We can't really
rock. We can really understand. We can really get our heads around the idea of a trillion as a number, so looking for the best way for we,
not billiard, billionaires, to understand it
when you get to shout out to usa today and agree
article by ryan soup. They said this. For starters, we can think
of a trillion dollars. As
a million million.
so to start small, you could buy up
really nice really posh apartment in san Francisco four million dollars. It would be a one bedroom, but it would be yours with
a trillion dollars. You could buy
a really nice apartment for every body in this city of san Francisco, has their population was
close to a million at the time of radio. This article, you could also think
of a trillion dollars as a thousand billion
thousand instances of a billion dollars for what
billion dollars. You can just go
and by a sports deep
the miami marlins billion dollars
gratulation you own, the marlins for one choice
billion dollars. You could buy the marlins one thousand times and by the way you would
be able to pay for this in cash going back
the weird idea of money at the very top my interests
thus did know that, as of twenty eighteen, there are just over
one trillion dollars in
the in the? U s, so the bulk of this money. This value. This idea of wealth
It is in tangible. It is
only in the realm of ideation concept and arguably imagination, which makes it again very close to religion. If we want to go back to
tangible and see where the rubber really hit the road. Well out,
Does a trillion dollars way going
to this usa. Today article we can say
I don't u s. Dollar bill currently weighs about one grab, so
I'm a trillion dollars would way
one trillion grams easy enough. Let's converted,
rams two pounds, then we're looking at two point: two billion pounds that can wait.
over six hundred and thirty thousand in mid size cars. You know I mean not not like hummers not
a gay like a huge ford, have one fifty or something, but still that gives us a physical.
Sets of just how much money we're talking about, and
only a little over two and a half thousand people have that much wealth in the world. Believe it or not,
this enormous dragons hoard represents a decline.
Here over year. Just
as there are fewer total billionaires? They
of a lower amount of aggregate total wealth
this year in twenty twenty three total billionaire wealth dropped by five hundred billion. Again we can art
That is proof. No one is truly immunized against the present and coming chaos. In short, it is a dog eat dog.
My friends and the billionaire still bark, just like any other pooch a day in the life
billion areas
Thirdly, in some ways is, as familiars wrote,
and other ways, of course, it is and incomprehensible alien
the existence it is strangers, imagining the dreams of an octopus us it stuff. You couldn't
Your stand unless you experienced it found a couple. Poles are this one from twenty twenty two.
You talked to sixty five of the richest people on the planet at the time.
And they found surprisingly a lot of billy near still choose to do at least some household chores and other domestic task on their own. You know all the stuff that you
wish you could pay someone else to do some of these
still do it more then
Thirty per cent of them said they regularly go grocery shopping or they take out the garbage. Forty per
and still love to cook love to walk their dogs.
More than half of the people said they like to
watch, their children or there
and children's sports games only
I thought this was funny to Paul only eight percent.
Billionaires bother with their own laundry re cosette some
points you got, enjoy the side, perks of enormous financial success. There's all
funny story about how bill gates still washes his dishes at home, because he thinks
when else. Does it the right way, then very particular dude, but
the reading this and I kept thinking, ok, thought it makes sense for the public mass media
to publish things humanizing these folks? But what are they do for fun? You know what is
is there a recreation and should the public know should the public hair is,
rennie stuff billionaires, don't want us to know about their hobbes. We're gonna pause,
or a word from our sponsors and then
we're going to dive in assuming a billionaire doesn't by this podcast cast power on the outbreak.
At ford.
pride ourselves on building strong, capable vehicles
but we're only as strong as the people who drive them. People like you,
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Is an off road dirt path, because bill ford, proud, is more than just a set of words. It's a pact between us, our drivers. What we can do together and will do it built ford, proud
some models, trims of features may not be available or may be subject to change horsepower and torque ratings based on premium fuel per se ha one. Three, four nine always consult the owner's manual before off road driving, know your terrain and trail. Difficulty and use appropriate safety gear forward is committed to the preservation of the environment and treading lightly hey. This is jason alexander for visible wireless that you may associate me with a few important phrases like yada, yada, yada, meaning the details, and I dunno some people might think they just gloss over that. But not me
when I saw a wireless company recently say they didn't have any of that yadda yadda stuff didn't have any details of feeling. Something was because there's always
details and they matter, and you deserve to know what you're signing up for yadda yadda. That's. Why I'm in a gas that for a different wireless company, visible
on the visible plan, get one line of wireless on verizon's five g network for twenty five dollars a month every month. That's it there's! No activation fees, no need for a family plan, just unlimited data talk text and hot spot, but twenty five dollars a month, all taxes and fees included, there's no
the prizes, like some of those other guys. So if you're more interested in knowing the details, then pretending they don't exist, learn more about
Invisible wireless, invisible data management practices at visible dot com, additional terms, apply, save big on groceries with drop the shopping rewards app during black friday download the drop app to earn points with your everyday shopping and redeem them for gift cards want a free dinner for the family, with those groceries drop it. How about daily la tastes, drop it shopping for the holiday cut, shane, even more points baby, so download drop today and get five dollars just
for signing up use. Invite code get drops seven, seven! Seven! That's invite code, get drops seven, seven, seven, this episode of snow
they don't want. You to know is brought you by top gatt tomcat makes rat snap traps and a bunch of other rodent control products and since their fans of stuff, they don't want you to know they wanted to share a little rat history with us. Did you know, folks, back in the fourteenth century, flee ridden rats inadvertently helped spread the black death this wiped out about a third of europe.
Population during world war? One soldiers in the trenches had to contend with not only enemy forces, but also with massive rats. They spread disease and added to the psychological stress of the soldiers making the harsh conditions of trench warfare even worse and in october
I eighty seven, a rat chewed through a power cable causing
significant blackout in new york city, financial district. This led to the new york
doc exchange delaying its opening, which was a big deal. Given the aboard
it's the n y se on the entire global finance system and now, inter tom cat routing control, the modern solution to an age old problem, ensure history doesn't repeat itself in your home. Tom cat kills and prevents the years weird
creasy, my fellow conspiracy realist, the answer
there's stuff they don't want, is to know about billionaire hobbes. Yes, absolutely yes,
matt and nor can confirm. I have kept a list of aspirational billionaire pranks. We can pull if ever we make it into that rarefied financial air and I was surprised to find that some billion air seem.
Weirdly on board with a couple of my eccentric ideas, move
We get all of that. Let's start with a
Where would you still with little a little text? A moose
a gift from the chef regarding specific
weird billionaire hobbes over in the philippines, there's a billionaire.
named William Bello. He
He owns the country's largest home improvement chain.
any is super into raising crocodiles. That's like his other thing.
Being a billiard air and then also raising crocodiles he has to cross
dial farms. Materials out about
de three thousand different reptiles and though he breeds, but he breathed some for fun and profit because
when he harvest these creatures. No one is people. Do it for being honest. Their skin
are sold to luxury fashion brands and their meat is sold to hungary where it makes sausages. You can also find
in some local filipino dishes. If we,
travel away from the philippines.
we'll see a google co founder surgery, bread now kid you not in addition,
into starting probably the biggest
tat company, which generation surgery is a trap, ease guy
did. The dude is really into
adrenaline exercise and he loves the flying trapeze he's even
A couple of occasions convened
Some of his Google employees with
ensure decent shot. Bravado to try out trapeze
as a team that
like an interesting thing to be. That seems like
something where you know me some
my breakin arm. Somebody might hurt their rister their ankle, but it's not.
overthrow a country,
It seems like a wholesome activity and then there's there's jack more. Who is often cited as the richest man in
In addition to being the former ceo of the online giant alibaba jack ma,
is a well known performer in china
he appears at music festivals, stuff, his most well known performance
in twenty seventeen wearing
personated. We kid you not Michael Jackson,
can see the video on youtube? It is honestly pretty good it's a pretty good performance.
I'm going to say that as someone he's never impersonated, Michael Jackson, I was reluctantly impressed so do check out that you to clip what is
your thoughts and, of course, there are more examples. Jeff baisers likes to search for discarded space rockets beneath the waves and honestly
at one feels like a service to humanity, you I know
thought I'd, say folks, but nice when Jeff cheers, cheers men in general,
we have to understand. There is a huge problem with our concept of billionaire free time. These are folks who can
and then will exert massive influence to control how they are portrayed to the public, to investors, to other companies and to other corporate entities,
And it's just like when any one else takes a self reported pole right or post
social media? These people will tell
to disclose the
information they want us to see, so it should
am, is no surprise that among notches just billionaires, but anyone with
pretty million or more in assets? They sound
I don't want to see unrealistically wholesome, but here's the list number one philanthropy philanthropy pre
was to be by far the most popular hobby more than one third,
of the wealthiest people on the planet say they
of pursuing charitable activities,
the second most popular interest
in general, we could say is sports that includes watching sports play sport,
investing in things like sports competitions or teams.
there's a lot of love for tennis, scoff, skiing. What what people
call football in the? U s, but, most importantly, what people call football in the rest of the world:
soccer, is by far the moon,
popular sport amid the wealthy class.
which is a surprise right, because I
I think a lot of people in the west would assume gulf would take the crowd their sorry gulf,
other lobbies include the hunting, diving boating watch,
cultural events fashion,
rare automobiles. I hand props, by the way, to the
Fifteen point: nine percent of respondents in this poem who admitted yeah. I like booze
they dig wine and spirits now for the average person that might be some
like saying in my free,
I'm at the end of the week. I like
to happy hour when my friends no grab a beer, grab a cocktail or something, but in this case
digging wine and spirits means I will buy a spirit company. I will create
a brand. You know what I mean. I will invest in this and that's not. I mean, of course,
cause all sorts of dangers, but that is not the most dangerous self reported hobby. Why possible
one of the most dangerous self reported hobbes is category.
I used under the very general term politics in both
for we get into why that can be dangerous. We want
your understand what a hobby actually is.
This may help us clear up some popular misconceptions
in general. A hobby is
something you liked to do rather than some
you have to do to survive. For example, eating is a half to pursuit for now
if you want to continue living, you have to eat food, you have to drink water. You have to somehow in
asked nutrients to keep the engine. That is your body in your brain running. However, choosing
to eat at high and restaurants.
are choosing to teach herself to cook fancy
at home, like I do
like, nor does that's a hobby,
no hobby can also serve multiple purposes. Yes sure, of course, some hobbes require you to spend money and what you're doing is
investing
in some way of in that.
And intangible benefit right
I am, for instance, ones buying a p s five, because they want to play a game. They will think they're gonna make a fortune
awful play that game, but it will interest them. It will
keeping their time; it will intrigue them and it will be
some degree learning experience. I was thinking about a good example for this
as met can assure us a lot of people
and the amazing card game magic gathering are playing
with no illusions that it will become their full time. Job then there's nothing wrong with that. I mean
I can personally assure you that no one is really in improv comedy for the money, but
At the same time, a hobby can yield tangible results,
when you invest your time or your resources into it exercise is the best example.
Exercise is a hobby and
would be so for everyone doubt you might do it because you
enjoy exercising, but over time you will reap tangible rewards from physical exercise. Your health will improve. Your life expectancy will go up
europe, if you're inclined, you can get a lotta great selfies along the way. This idea, this dual been
This sometimes paradoxical pursuit of goals. This applies to
virtually every hobby. You know
you may paint you may sculpt you may play guitar like Paul is a great guitars.
One day, you may sell the results of your work.
You see where we're going with this folks
when you are a billionaire, this potential, dual purpose of aid.
vote on hobby becomes much much more extreme. Michael Bloomberg did not
come mare of new york city because he needed a job. You know it's not like the guy also had an applicant
it is done, can doughnuts with his fingers, crossed to become assistant manager. Something now don't I mean. Maybe he did, but you get the gist.
Es like physical exercise yields physical benefits over time, politics and philanthropy.
as a hobby. Can you
the enormous financial and socio economic advantages for those who can afford to play the game
investing in local elections like the cope brothers did.
So successfully in recent years, in the united states that hobby that hobby of politics,
Directly to control of politicians and transform
those politicians in the cat's, paws
I don't want. Why call minions but into employees
all, but name that worked to enact favourable legislation for their primary funders.
Winning a political position. Personally, like Bloomberg can obvious.
We open the doors to influence over all sorts of things. You have a powerful
wasting the room now passed.
is concerning environmental regulation or who should be?
extant. How what does or does not constitute a monopoly in the world of business.
This is an enormous power and, of course, if we are being fair
This is not to say that all billionaires in politics or somehow griffon along for their own benefit to know
for sure, we would
after no hack him, a lot more
Every single one of those two thousand plus billionaires currently taken it with you on the planet this evening and those folks.
Every single one of them there
what amounts to small armies of people working around the clock to manage their public persona yoke
get. Remember. Privacy is going to become one of the most valuable.
one of the most elusive resources of the coming age, the
real lake. We see all these articles about you, the this. Here's, what the
healthy and famous. Do blah blah blah blah block four
lot of these individuals. When you get,
asked a certain threshold of wealth, fame becomes disadvantageous, they don't want you to know
do too much about what they're doing why what the end game is fame can
A disadvantage is what we're safe. I am your privacy
resource or a currency? Make no mistake, folks in the
I guess mid horizon of the future privacy.
Is going to be right up there with water in terms of value, potable water,
I mean shut out our water war series, so that's budget stuff, for god's sake,
what we are saying in absolute fairness is simply this the opportunities
corruption and conflicts of interest exists and in world politics as a hobby. That opportunity is so wide. It's so broad it so easy. There
would be either wilfully ignorant or wilfully misleading to pretend that out
the thousands of people doing this literally. No one put there
and in the cookie jar, not one. I mean come on.
there's another troubling example to paraphrase rick james philanthropy
It is a hell of a drug will tell you what we're talking about after a word from our sponsors hey. This is jason alexander for visible wireless that you may associate me with a few important phrases like yada, yada, yada, meaning the details, and I dunno. Some people might think to just gloss over that
but not me when I saw a wireless company recently say they didn't have any of that yadda yadda stuff didn't have any details of feeling. Something was because there's no way.
Details and they matter- and you deserve to know what your signing up for yadda yadda- that's, why I'm in a pot gas there for a different wireless company, visible
on the visible planned, get one line of wireless on verizon's five g network for twenty five dollars a month every month. That's it! There's! No activation fees, no need for a family plan, just unlimited data talk text and hot spot, but twenty five dollars a month. All taxes and fees included theirs
surprises like some of those other guys to view more interested in knowing the details, then pretending they don't exist, learn more about
invisible wireless, invisible data management practices at visible dot com, additional terms, apply, save big on groceries with drop the shopping rewards app during black friday download the drop app to earn points with your everyday shopping and redeem them for gift cards want a free dinner for the family with those groceries drop it. How about daily la tastes, drop it shopping for the holiday kuching, even more points baby, so download drop today and get five dollars.
for signing up use invite code get drops seven, seven! Seven! That's invite code, get drops seven, seven, seven! This episode of
If they do, what you do know is brought you by top get tomcat makes rat snap traps and a bunch of other rodent control products and since their fans of stuff, I don't want you to know they wanted to share a little rat history with us. Did you know, folks, back in the fourteenth century, flee ridden rats inadvertently helped spread the black death this wiped out about a third of europe?
population in during world war. One soldiers in the trenches had to contend with not only enemy forces, but also with massive rats. They spread disease and added to the psychological stress of the soldiers making the harsh conditions of trench warfare even worse and in october,
Nineteen, eighty, seven, a rat chewed through a power cable cars,
the significant blackout in new york city, financial district. This led to the new york
stock exchange, delaying its opening, which was a big deal given the aboard
it's the n y se on the entire global finance system and now enter tom cat routing control. The modern solution to an age old problem, ensure history, doesn't repeat itself in your home tom cat kills and prevents
Hey guys. You know what the problem is with all these wireless services, these days, all the yadda
yeah. You can sign up for what seems like a good deal, but then they hate you with long term contracts, random price hikes fees out. Nowhere, you write a bunch yadda yadda,
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and we have returned philanthropy first philanthropy is
it's kind of an umbrella term, you know what I mean like. How was it
Clear example. Chair is the umbrella term. There are lots of things that qualifies chair and they don't all look this.
Philanthropy is kind of similar in that regard. Any act
very that quote actively promotes human welfare. End quote that council philanthropy and the tricky thing is that, just like the concept of
duty? The concept of philanthropy is very much an eye of the beholder situation in
one billion air think solve as the good of the planet or the good of you
manatee overall made not vibe with what the public thinks it may be. Downright dangerous,
or even fatal for some members of humanity and that break a few
to make an omelette concept comes into play in board rooms in us
eight offices all the world over and again we're not gonna hear a lot of
back room conversations
There are also so so very many philanthropic
outfits organizations, institutions, ngos, column, much wish there of all
all shapes and sizes all across the world you know ever
thing from a everything
from a local on
the ground initiative to promote education and literacy. All the way up to massive things like the bill gates, foundation, millions of people
work in association with these outfits. Billions of people are affected by their work and if we
you're being unfailingly absolutely honest
out of these employees,
would never know if the folks, at the top of the organisation had
an ulterior motive when weapon ized in bad faith
these ngos can circumvent existing laws. Regulations to enact a billion will just like the global. Our trade
they can function as a loophole, a back door.
for all kinds of nasty things like money laundering and tax dodges. You know all the hits all the good, slow, jazz and, of course, just like with politics
says a hobby. This does it mean all ngos, nor all philanthropic organizations are corrupt. They can, and still
do a lot of good. It's very difficult, if not impossible,
You estimate just how profoundly day
these organisations have collectively improved life on earth and not just for humans, and that stands true.
Even if hypothetically some of the
prime movers of these organisations are Amy,
four goals. The public would ultimately disagree with what
we're on the subject of philanthropy. I want to note an excellent article over the guardian by karl roads and peter blue. This peace comes from
the eighteen. It's called the trouble with charitable billionaires and
no, it's a few years old. I think it's still
holds up today remains relevant rule
in bloom argue that there is another problem with what they call for land: throw capitalism
Maybe we can make that our word of the data philanthropy capitalism.
Is the idea that very powerful people in the corpse
we're all toward the world of finance, etc. Anybody's very powerful, but not a state figure nor a religious figure say idea that they are applying concept.
from the board room to the concept of philanthropy which again actively promoting something, that's good for people
And roads in bloom are pretty sceptical about this. They argue first, that this
could be seen as corporate hypocrisy. Their say look a lot of these folks
billionaire class there, creating these organizations or they're making these donations to fix problems. Shore, gas, but their fixing, proud,
once that they themselves caused in the pursuit of their fortunes. Nor it I mean it's like us,
the argument is something like ok, we do.
It caught off someone's hand. So, let's give them a bad. Did you stop the bleeding a little bit? It's not the same as not cutting off the hand
the first place, and they looked at a really compare.
when twenty seventeen report by oxfam oxfam itself, an ngo, publish this report,
old, an economy for that ninety nine percent, and in this report, would you
and re for free online,
They highlight the injustice and unsustainable he of a world suffering
widening levels of inequality and regard
where's of any of our own personal ideology
I identifications, regardless of what we
think about various various policies in so called culture war. The numbers here hold true since the
early. Nineteen nineties, the top one percent of the world's most wealthy people have gained more
come then the entire bottom fifty percent,
No, I'm I'm no math surgeon, as I always liked a joke, but that math seems pretty lopsided. Oxfam ask why this is happening.
They placed the blame on certain culprits. They say the blame goes fully with corporations and the global market, a car.
these in which those corporate entities operate. These statistics as
Odin bloom point out are alarming. The world's ten biggest corporations right now have revenues,
exceed the total combined revenue of
hundred and eighty of the
he's the wealthy nations on the planet and for
comparison there very frightening one, the united nations currently recognises something like that
maybe too little
well over a hundred ninety two ninety three countries so out of those
the majority of those countries all put together
less money per year, then the world's ten biggest corporations and the authors argues
you're, that corporate social responsibility. Is it really making a difference?
don't, and there are things like initiatives by warren buffet and previously mentioned bill gates and doing big, big things like hey. Let's, both of those guys pledged they don't want to be billionaires by the time they pass away and bill
gauges through the bill. Melinda gates foundation, fighting the spread of disease across the world. But let's go back to this oxfam report because this report says the following and I would love to hear what everyone thinks about this
quote when corporations increasingly work for the rich. The benefits of economic growth are denied to.
those who need the most impressive.
Of delivering high returns to those at the top.
Corporations are driven to squeeze their workers and producers ever harder and to avoid paying taxes which would benefit everyone, and the poorest people in particular,.
so neither the philanthropy of the super rich.
Nor socially directed corporate programmes seem to have any real effect.
Combating this trend there
Treating some symptoms but they're not treating problems. Only the authors talk in depth about mark Zuckerberg creator of
not formerly known as facebook Zagreb,
New there's a housing crisis in san francisco and made a donation,
of three million dollars
and I can really move the needle on san francisco housing pride.
prices. You know, as I said at the top of tonight's episode,
billion dollars is like a nice one bed room apartment in san francisco, so fine, three people apartments is nice right. But what is
fix and, of course, we can still say something is better than nothing right and that's true. Something is logically better than nothing. But what about the vast fortunes that are being earned off this weird feedback? Loop that has been created, fled
capitalism, doesn't answer that it doesn't solve that it is instead a spoonful
sugar approach, and I would
due to you that spoonful of sugar is hiding
bad medicine. These enormous fortunes
the hands very, very few people. Indeed,
the point it doesn't matter how they urge. You know, of course, there's that,
found a saying at the heart of every great fortune, there's some great crime.
but it doesn't really matter how people earned it or looking at these problems,
there's a lot of people earn this through inheritance. The east,
The best way to become wealthy in the united states is doing
or into a wealthy family, obviously lee
it doesn't matter, whether came through honest commerce or crime.
continues to grow as a result of this
wobble sided economic griffith. That is the current.
financial regime and, of course, in the last part, there are hobbes that billionaires, don't want you to know they have
they expand some of them great amounts of energy to make sure doesn't get in the news. I'm talking about the stuff we're not going to hear about until these people have passed away or made very powerful enemies or their respective walls of silence.
Fallen due to a court case where a grisly murder or accident so on in these
include very, very unclean things active roles in human trafficking, the commission of violent crime,
up to and including homicide rampant use of drugs trade in drugs. Why not
the illegal trade in artifacts
Wandering through art
endangered animals poaching that kind of collecting right. There are people out there with
inclination and means to collect illegal things.
Then there are the needs very true. There are things that have been killed.
did in mass pupils estates in homes,
that belong in a museum
If I sound indiana jones about it, the aldermen
It was this we're talking about billionaire hobbes when you have a significant chunk of humanity's
overall wealth
You will inevitably begin
to lose perspective at when we are capable of writing.
And rewriting the rules of society as we see fit when we can by the authorities when we can collect
the politicians just the way my collect poker mine, the things
we describe as hobbes the things we do for a quorum, recreate
with maybe aside benefit packets,
what less cutesy it becomes much more dangerous, and at this point let's pass it to you long time, listers fellow conspiracy, realist. What do you think? I will admit? I am a bit torn about this, because
my policy has always been, and it cut it
we'll be at heart that a pie.
since money and choices are their own,
You know what I mean: people do foolish things with their money all the time, but it's there.
t and taking away that autonomy? Taking away that decision? I think
takes away. Some agency did takes away some part
of a person's humanity and their right to exist. Even if you don't like what thereby, however, just like the concept of money itself, doesn't change a little bit at the top.
Should it wouldn't know your answers, this is a gordian knot. It's a heck of a dilemma would all
like to hear about what kind of pranks or hobbies
The word engaging with, let's say nothing to beg for this conversation, lets a what
is your dream? Prank
your dream hobby. If you had one point four billion dollars,
That's it. That's all the money you get.
that includes whatever you have to live off of whatever your fabricate
budget already is so nothing fields, for example
don't it not a total doubter note. I would
back through my list of dream, I called it pranks for deranged to
there's. This is one of my dream. Pranks I'd like to share with you, as we close the show quote, I want to buy used astronauts.
it's from multiple international space stations. Then mail them too.
Random residential addresses, with the phrase prepare yourself printed on a card on the
act of the card? There will be a list of the other addresses than I mailed the other suits to and, of course, no return address. We're just gonna ghost these
having make their lives. The little
or interesting. I so that's the kind of
that's it get a wholesome prank, we're thinking about
we want to know your pranks. We want to know your hobbes. We want to know your philanthropy. Let's do that. Tell us what you would do if you have one point, four billion dollars. How would you attempt to make the world a better place, or would you just get real weird with it for
for an old style, can't wait to hear your thoughts. As always, you can find, as in so many places online we're on facebook, where we ve got the group, here's where it gets crazy, we're on you too,
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Transcript generated on 2023-12-06.