5d ago

Ex-Amazon VP explains why rich a-holes with helicopters and personal assistants don't get why you hate your commute

Just to be clear: My main point of sharing this article is about how detached the life of rich people is.

I do not at all agree that most of them are “Not evil, just disconnected”, I am pretty sure (and know some of the privileged), who are actively evil, know exactly what they are doing and just don't give a shit.

Antiwork: Unemployment for all, not just the rich! @lemmit.online

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6d ago

Ex-Amazon VP explains why rich a-holes with helicopters and personal assistants don't get why you hate your commute

boingboing.net /2025/03/03/ex-amazon-vp-explains-why-rich-a-holes-with-helicopters-and-personal-assistants-dont-get-why-you-hate-your-commute.html

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14 comments

"Not evil, just disconnected"
Yes, drawing from the old adage 'with great power comes great private jets' or something like that
- "the nobles that were killed under the French revolution weren't bad people! They just kept sending people to death in pointless wars and kept mistreating them because they were disconnected! Have som sympathy for the rich assholes!"

"Why don't you just stop being poor?"
- Once you start noticing projection, it gets hard to stop.
  "Why don't you just stop being so rich?" Is a question they are terrified of being asked.

Ah yes, we need this explanation, the jet trackers, and billions in profits while nothing improves for us, are totally not obvious markers.

When you've got a pilot handling your helicopter commute while you keybump ketamine and draft tweets about how remote workers lack 'hustle culture' in the backseat, and your PA manager is overseeing your team of PAs who handle everything from your kid's therapy appointments to your next ayahuasca retreat in Peru, heading to the office probably does sound like a delightful way to spend the day.
lol

The helicopters and personal assistants and private jets and staffed mansions aren't the problem. With all of those, money is moving from the rich person to pilots, crew, maintenance staff, laborers, builders. Workers are making a living, earning paychecks from all these expenditures. Their lavish lifestyles are not the problem.
The problem is their stock portfolios. They aren't converting their wealth into worker paychecks. They are leveraging their wealth to take more and more wealth from workers throughout the economy.
- I would argue that the fact that they are using only for themselves an amount of labor and resources that would normally serve a large number of people due to the sheer extravagance of their needs increases costs for everyone else by increasing scarcity.
  
  To be fair, if they really were just living lavishly and not using their wealth to amass more wealth like some kind of wealth black hole, then the extreme expenditure of such a lifestyle would one day drain their money dry, since they couldnt possibly actually earn enough to live like that. Were it not for the effect of wealth begetting more wealth, the issue you refer to would eventually solve itself.
- With all of those, money is moving from the rich person to pilots, crew, maintenance staff, laborers, builders.
  Gulfstream is an excellent example of this in action. Gulfstream jets can double the price over comparable products from brands like Bombardier or Cessna. And all of the crew, maintenance, training, and other operating costs can easily double as well. And, IMHO at least, there's nothing about the Gulfstream aircraft that justifies this extravagant expense. As far as I can tell, the Gulfstream name is a machine that transfers money from unsuspecting and vain rich people straight to Gulfstream and a few aerospace workers.
  
  Not mad about some scientists fleecing rich morons.

Theyare acutely aware, though. They love to have beaten the hustle. The only sure way they know to remain on top is to scuttle the chances of others climbing the same ladder.
They know the frauds that they are. They fear being ousted from their cosy spot.

Elon deliberately pulled a scam long enough that cali wouldnt be able to build out thier fast rail ways, long enough for trump's elaine chao to block funding. now the budget is being mismanaged, plus public transport in the west is suffering cutbacks. there are places in those states that its very difficult to get to biotech and tech campuses without the use of cars,(a fast rail way would solve that), they just dont have any that are close enough to those hubs(the last stop is usually far enough away its pointless to use a bus.

14 comments