this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2023
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So, I was curious. I looked up what percentage of the Forbes 400 is 'self-made' and it turns out to be about 60%. If measuring as coming from a middle-class background with no inheritance of the wealth.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2021/10/05/the-forbes-400-self-made-score-2021-from-silver-spooners-to-bootstrappers/?sh=2b960ac730c2
that's still doing better than a lot of people tbh.
It's still a long way off being a millionaire or billionaire.
It's pretty impressive someone can make that much money in a lifetime.
You know what the difference is between a million and a billion? Roughly a billion.
By which I mean that grouping millionaires and billionaires together is downright detrimental to understanding wealth inequality and supports the kind of right wing narratives that keep the ultra-rich from being taxed fairly.
It's really not, mainly for two reasons
1: beyond a certain point (which is LONG before a $1b, probably before $100m), you have more than you could possibly spend even when living lavishly and are just hoarding money that could have a life-changing or even life-SAVING impact on less fortunate people.
2: it's impossible to get anywhere near that point without a SHITLOAD of luck, exploitation of others or both. Usually both.