They just need to hire some psychologists to aid in their negotiations

It would eat your bacon

Sometimes people save the most impactful statement for the end. Word order doesn’t always correspond to precedence.

I wasn’t really concluding that you’re a billionaire, just stating a hypothetical. I doubt billionaires actually spend time on the fediverse, as the values that bring people here tend to conflict with those typically held by billionaires.

You seem like an overall decent human being, both for your perspective on traveling and your volunteer service.

And yeah, capitalism does reward the dark triad. That’s why whenever people try to tell me that society isn’t actually sick and broken and that I’m the problem for being poorly adjusted to it, I tell them to stop gaslighting me and remind them of all the studies that have been done on how society rewards dark triad and punishes empathy.

If I had all the money I would ever need, I would live in a castle and raise dozens of animals. I certainly wouldn’t be neurotically pursuing infinite growth and making everyone else’s lives worse to do so.

100m was a highball so that no one could try saying “but that’s not high enough!” 5% APY would be 5 million per year. No one could possibly need more than that.

And yeah, healthcare is an issue, but it wouldn’t be if billionaires were taxed fairly to fund state-run healthcare (and education to ensure a large enough workforce in perpetuity!)

How did we end up here from water where fishes pee into? 😊

Conversations tend to meander. At least mine do ☺️

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So in other words, you have nothing intelligent to say? Is that why you’re uglycrying?

That you?

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Yeah, you’re right. I meant it as a lighthearted jest since this post seems to be about class disparity.

I honestly don’t care whether you saved up to splurge on a scuba trip, or if you went for business, or volunteered with a humanitarian organization, or went as a government worker on a diplomatic mission, or made a port call there while you were sailing, or if it’s where you were born, or whatever other reason brought you there.

I think travel is cool, and if you’ve been there, neat. I hope you respected the local culture. If you’re from there, that’s rad. I’ve never met a person from the Maldives before (that I’m aware of, at least).

If you’re a billionaire I think you should be doing your part to make society a better place for everyone. Normally I’d say that includes paying a fair share of taxes, but right now (in the US at least) it seems all the tax money is just being pilfered by the fascist in-group anyway. But at least supporting social democratic causes can help to fix the tax code and government expenditures so that it actually serves the ordinary people.

That being said, if you’re a billionaire, I don’t envy you, and I’d be curious to know for what reason (if any) you feel you need to continuously grow your wealth? Like, a fairly stable, low-risk investment of just $100 million could produce enough annual yield that you would never need to work and still never run out of money. So why could anyone feel like they need more than that?

But overall, I’m not actually upset about you having been to the Maldives

That would probably be because I don’t use them? Why would I need that when I can use a calculator myself?

I’m not emotionally invested at all, that sounds like something you’re imagining.

You want to claim im doing ad-hominem

All I pointed out was that it’s an ad hominem to attack an innocuous action just because the person is a jerk. That’s literally what an ad hominem is. I wasn’t “claiming” anything, just stating the simple truth.

while calling me MAGA for not reading into these texts the same way you have.

I didn’t “call” you maga, I said you’re using the same disingenuous and irrational style of argumentation that they use.

Trust me it is not that serious.

If it’s not that serious then why are you and Velma making a big deal out of the fact that he took an hour to respond? I’d agree that it’s not that serious, but you’re the one trying to make a mountain out of that molehill, so don’t DARVO me about taking it too seriously.

Women have been generally conditioned into being placative because it keeps them from getting hurt.

Yeah, isn’t that what I just said? That kinda contradicts your previous point that it’s somehow his fault that she feels the need to be placating.

At least maintain consistency in your arguments instead of contradicting yourself whenever it seems convenient for you.

So can you though? Let’s see if you can make me