r/Damnthatsinteresting 9d ago

Video Coal mining

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u/Moosplauze 9d ago

No, these people work hard in extremely unsafe work environments for less money per month than we in the west spend for 1 meal in a restaurant. That's how effed up this world is, everything is designed so that 10% can live in luxury while the other 90% live in poverty although they work twice as hard as the 10%.

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u/usgrant7977 9d ago

These coal miners will have black lung and broken backs by the time they're 40. The top 1% will plan their 80th birthday party at Burning Man.

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u/Moosplauze 8d ago

Don't narrow it down to top 1%, don't pretend you and I and everyone else who has leisure time to browse reddit isn't part of this problem. We all benefit from 3rd world country workers living the way they do. We couldn't uphold our lifestyle if those workers were paid and treated properly.

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u/ThePikeMccoy 8d ago

…we could if billionaires didn’t exist…

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u/Moosplauze 8d ago

There's some truth to that sentiment for sure, billionaires certainly shouldn't exist. But I don't like to blame everyone else but me, I know I play my role in all of that, obviously not as big as that of a billionaire, but all of us are responsible in some way.

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u/pentagon 7d ago

>I don't like to blame everyone else but me

You should. You are not responsible for the structure of modern economies nor can you impact it in any way. Billionaires are, and can.

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u/Moosplauze 7d ago

It's true, Bill Gates and the few who donate to his foundation are actually making a real difference. But don't forget there's hundreds of millions of us who could spare 1000$ and that combined would be more than more billionaires own.

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u/pentagon 7d ago edited 7d ago

A hundred million times a thousand is a hundred billion. Less than some single people control. That is the scale of the insanity. And even after they lost a hundred biillion, they'd still have more wealth than some royal dynasties. Shit Elon pissed away twice that in a few months just by being an asshole.

The scale is so unimaginably vast that people don't really understand it.

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u/Moosplauze 7d ago

and that combined would be more than more billionaires own.

a typo, meant to say "more than most billionaires own"

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u/pentagon 7d ago

Reread the comment above, too.

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u/Moosplauze 7d ago

I read it, you claim that only billionaires have the power and responsibility to change the world while I've already told you that everyone who isn't poor in the western world also has a, albeit smaller, responsibility. The change you and I can make are small and will only effect individuals instead of the whole system, but if you and I wanted to, we could save several children from dying from malnutrition every day and provide them with shelter and education. You and I chose not to do that, because we are egoistic and greedy, the very essence almost all humans are made of.

I fully agree that billionaires shouldn't exist and since they exist they all should act like Bill Gates and the other few that use their money for a good cause, there is no discussion about that. I disagree with your sentiment that we are free from any responsibility, just because others own insanely much more than we do.

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u/pentagon 7d ago

everyone who isn't poor in the western world also has a, albeit smaller, responsibility

You're comparing a grain of sand to the desert.

The most powerful thing we can do about the oligarchs, as individuals, is follow Luigi's example. Fear is a powerful motivator. But few are willing to pay that price, for many reasons.

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u/Moosplauze 7d ago

Luigi?

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