WHILE IT IS FASHIONABLE TO HATE ALL BILLIONAIRES I do draw distinctions between them. Taylor Swift actually created something people wanted, and treats her employees well in the bargain. JK Rowling created something people wanted, but insists on using her position of power to abuse a vulnerable minority – what’s up with that?
Jeff Bezos created something people wanted, but apparently does not treat his employees well. Elon Musk, who is on-track to become the world’s first trillionaire, is well known for being a capricious workplace tyrant who must be carefully steered away from doing dumb things. (Despite his renown, his engineers do all the heavy lifting.)
Then there are large numbers of billionaires who do little but shove money around and destroy otherwise useful companies in the process. Some of them trade in fundamentally destructive commodities like fossil fuels.
Then there’s the issue of what they do with their money. Being rich is a superpower, yet many of them would not rescue a kitten from a tree. They seem most interested in amusing themselves and competing for the “biggest yacht” award.
I doubt Scrooge would be good to work for – he is notoriously cheap and often off on adventures. It’s a miracle he hasn’t been killed in a submarine implosion or something.
Then there’s Dolly Parton, who employs thousands of people and *could* be a billionaire, if she didn’t give so much money to worthy causes including her own children’s literacy enterprise. She’s a role model for other rich people.
georgewiman 