>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?

Pretty much, yes.

Yesterdays vapid conspicuous consumption is tomorrows minimum living standard.

Three meals a day every day forever?

Even medieval kings had to go on a diet when famine struck.

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mandmandam 7 months ago | parent [-]

> Yesterdays vapid conspicuous consumption is tomorrows minimum living standard.

The way of life of our billionaires is threatening all life on the planet, particularly the poorest [0]. There might not be a living standard if we don't fix this issue.

0 - https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/billionaires-emit-mo...

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Jensson 7 months ago | parent [-]

It isn't the billionaires emitting that, it is all the factories they own that produce products for the middle class. If the middle class didn't consume those then they wouldn't have been made and the pollution wouldn't be there.

Billionaires emit a bit more, but not that much more.

Note the very disingeneous comment here:

> tracks the emissions from private jets, yachts and polluting investments

"Private jets" and "polluting investments" were in the same sentence as if they were in the same ballpark, but its the investments that count for almost everything and they would be polluting regardless if the billionaires owned them or not.

	▲	mandmandam 7 months ago \| parent [-]
		> Oxfam found that, on average, 50 of the world’s richest billionaires took 184 flights in a single year, spending 425 hours in the air —producing as much carbon as the average person would in 300 years. In the same period, their yachts emitted as much carbon as the average person would in 860 years. That's not "a bit more". That's insane. And there's absolutely nothing disingenuous about it, because the article clearly states: > the average investment emissions of 50 of the world’s richest billionaires are around 340 times their emissions from private jets and superyachts combined. > Through these investments, billionaires have huge influence over some of the world’s biggest corporations and are driving us over the edge of climate disaster. ... I don't know why this isn't convincing to you, but it's not Oxfam's fault.