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Yes, the ultra wealthy have different priorities to what I would call important. The yachts, deregulation, tacit (or not) support for torture, illegal wars, pollution, private jets, ostentatious displays of conspicuous and pointless wealth, etc, leave that in no doubt.

Were you trying to say that maybe all that destruction in the pursuit of insatiable greed could be 'good' somehow? Like Zorg's little speech [0] about the benefits of destruction (the broken window fallacy)?

0 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkFAcFtBD48

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alexashka 5 hours ago | parent [-]

> It's astounding how people can have all the facts and teachers in the world, while dodging genuine understanding of everything most important.

You said they are dodging 'genuine understanding'.

I am saying you aren't the final word on what 'genuine understanding of everything most important' is.

In other words - you are using lots of words to say 'I want others to do more of the stuff I want them to do and less of the stuff they are doing because the stuff I want them to do is obviously good and the stuff they are doing is obviously less good'.

Thing is, almost everyone thinks this. Given that almost everyone already thinks this way and the world isn't what you want it to be, maybe something about such a worldview is off. Or maybe we just need more of people like you in positions of power and you'll fix it :) Where have I heard that one before?

	▲	mandmandam a few seconds ago \| parent [-]
		So anyone who uses the phrase "genuine understanding" is secretly a wannabe power-hungry authoritarian? Dunno about that one bud. And anyone who calls out vapid conspicuous consumption, or the greedy exploitation of the planet for personal gain, that's not obviously perverse to you; it's just one person's opinion and easily disregarded - because they're not the final word on genuine understanding? Well, pick your prophet; pick your genius; they all say the same thing: "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." - Jebus. "By his craving for riches the foolish man slays himself, as if he were slaying others." - Buddha "The mutual rivalry for piling up of worldly things diverts you, until you visit the graves." - The Qur'an "He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have." - Socrates "It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor." - Seneca "The more you have, the more you want. The more you have, the less you are." - Tolstoy "A calm and modest life brings more happiness than the pursuit of success combined with constant restlessness." - Einstein "Wealth is like seawater: the more you drink, the thirstier you become." - Schopenhauer "A small terrace by the mountain stream, living at ease, free from the burdens of the world — this is better than the glory of an emperor." - Zhuangzi Etc, etc, etc. Some people, really, truly, have a genuine understanding of this concept. And some incredibly wealthy people with every possible opportunity can't grasp it for the life of them. That's not really "my opinion"; it's the opinion of anyone worth listening to.