They own assets that own assets that own assets. They pay people to manage their wealth in hedge funds and “family offices”. They pay CEOs to manage their companies and the company assets. Although it’s more accurate to say the CEO pays the billionaires because the billionaires don’t know how to do anything and don’t know what’s going on with any of it, and the CEO is part of the group of people that decide how much to pay in dividends to the owners.
How can you describe such a person as anything but a parasite?
having been around born-unimaginably wealthy 1%ers for a bit in my early 30s… i think they focus their attention on personal slights/triumphs, drama among their immediate cohort, and are generally driven by some desire to prove that they are worthy stewards of wealth by accumulating more. it’s all straw grass bullshit to give their brains something to worry about.
compared to the rest of us, they seemed like children. gossip was an all consuming topic. they didn’t really know things or bother to learn them unless it suited whatever reputation or impression they sought to give others. “i know wines.” “i travel.” and even then, it was often surface level / trivial knowledge, because they have the time and money to wander into and out of interests while paid fixers handle all the hard-earned knowledge and experiences.
if you are the sort of person who could bullshit people according to their preconceived notions and vibes, you could talk your way into the circle and convince them of your nonsense. but others in the court would make an effort to dislodge you, because your presence on their turf could threaten whatever it was they were doing. and the childlike megarich could be mercurial too, casting some out without warning for breaking an unspoken vibe. and there were always staff that could be summoned to ask someone to leave, sparing them having to summon any courage or integrity.
but it’s not just the rich that are parasites, but they attract second and third order parasites to orbit their gravity well. the rich want to believe this attraction they draw from others has nothing to do with their wealth and everything to do with how charismatic and magnetic they are as people, something that makes them special and worthy of their outrageous political and economic power.
so it’s parasitism for sure, but a nested parasitism haunted by smoke, mirrors and self deception. like a maladjusted teenager still suckling at a teat, believing they are a great and wise lordling.
i haven’t been around people like this in over 10 years now, but i was thinking about it recently due to something a coworker said about how they struggled to have a conversation with some very rich person they met in some context and before i could stop myself i blurted out some line about how much of our dramas and conflicts in life are about the ebbs and flows in our relationship to material security and that people who lack this shared experience might as well be from another planet. a planet with limited gravity where all work is done by technology and all that remains to do is dream up things to want and fixate on them, before casting them aside after becoming bored.
There’s something almost tragic about it in a way. This system where they are allegedly in control stunts them emotionally and intellectually, preventing them from reaching their full capabilities as a human being. Of course, then you remember all the pain and suffering they inflict on the working class and that bit of sympathy quickly dies, but I think capitalism is bad for everyone, even the capitalists themselves.
compared to the rest of us, they seemed like children. gossip was an all consuming topic. they didn’t really know things or bother to learn them unless it suited whatever reputation or impression they sought to give others.
Yes, I’m glad I’m not the only one who notices just how childlike the rich are. Can’t get a job because porky acts like a picky eater 6 year old when it comes to hiring, and porks always throw a tantrum at someone suggesting they don’t get everything they want for the greater good. They’re massive babies all of them.
The more ownership is abstracted, the easier it becomes to nationalize everything.
