I remember when people used to say that Rowling was different because she made her money from writing or whatever.

  • UmbraVivi [he/him, she/her]@hexbear.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    10
    ·
    edit-2
    9 days ago

    I think especially in the digital age you could theoretically earn a billion dollars without exploiting anyone, like if you wrote an ebook or made a video game that pops off like Undertale, where there is little to no labor required for distribution. It’s still unethical to hoard that much wealth and society should tax it away from you. Even if we were to accept the narrative that some billionaire celebrities made their wealth through ethical means (which they didn’t), they still very much have the ability to give it to people who need it and choose not to.

    • hello_hello [comrade/them]@hexbear.net
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      9 days ago

      The wealth gap between just being a millionaire and being a billionaire is so unfathomably massive.

      Millionaires are believable in a single lucky lifetime, but billions? One thousand millionaires in one person?

      • UmbraVivi [he/him, she/her]@hexbear.net
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        8 days ago

        The Harry Potter books have sold over 600 million copies. Of course there were a lot of people involved, but I think nowadays with digital self-publishing, it could be possible to have a book series that sells millions of copies while only requiring the labor of a handful of people.