Thread by @SteB777

Seeing this tweet reminded me of a long term thought experiment I've had. What if huge wealth is something akin to a powerful addiction to a drug like heroin?

That for all intents and purposes, those with it develop something close to a dangerous personality disorder.
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https://twitter.com/BonnieBouma/status/1491537425109327876

I use these thought experiments to test out how the world actually is. I do this very simply, by setting these thought experiments up, and seeing if I can reject these ideas. Often one single contrary bit of evidence, is all you need to reject the hypothesis.
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However, this is the very worrying thing, after many decades of running this thought experiment, I cannot find one shred of evidence to reject this hypothesis. I can't find one example of a very rich person, say a billionaire or serious multi-millionaire, who is normal.
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The most simple test to see if someone has a serious addiction to something, is can they give it up completely and live without that thing, or for at least for a long time? I think most people would agree that is the simple test for proper addiction.
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This is the frightening thing, I know of no real examples of this in all of history. Those examples that exist, might be mythical, such as Ashoka the Great.
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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashoka

Yes, I've seen a few accounts of moderately wealthy people, giving their fortune to a charitable foundation or something. But in all cases they have been far from being a billionaire and have been old when they did it.
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Most of these people have been very private. So we don't know how much of their wealth they actually retained. Nor whether they had a terminal illness or lived long after they renounced their fortune.
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We should be very worried by this. If all the most powerful people in our societies have a serious addiction, which totally distorts their perception and they WILL DO ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING TO AVOID GIVING UP WHAT THEY ARE ADDICTED TO - we have a very serious problem.
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This has profound implications for the climate and ecological emergency, and probably explains why quite irrationally our societies have completely failed to address this crisis, despite being theoretically able to do so. Again, all our leaders are such addicts.
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We've known for at least 50 years that our current system is completely unsustainable, and will end in catastrophe if we don't change direction. Both the 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment, and The Limits to Growth (1972) prove this.
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un.org/en/conferences…

There are quite a few examples of people giving up relatively well paid jobs, and downsizing to a simple lifestyle. Although actually it is surprising rare. But none of these people can be said to have had serious wealth, nor have they given up their wealth.
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Yet, and this is the worrying thing, there are plenty of examples of those with moderate means, giving up everything, becoming a monk, nun or something, and renouncing their worldly possessions.
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The circumstantial evidence is that the less wealth someone has, the easier it is for them to simply give up what they have accumulated, and to renounce their former lifestyle.
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The reason this is so profoundly serious, is that all the experts on sustainability and the planetary boundaries, suggest there needs to be a massive reduction in the carbon emissions of the wealthiest in society.
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Likewise, the very richest in society, must give up their general gross over-consumption of all resources, if we are to avert a planetary catastrophe. It is absolutely no use ordinary people cutting back, if the richest don't.
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Yet this is the thing, if serious wealth is an addiction, akin to heroin addiction, but possibly far more serious the situation is dire. Because every person in a position of power and influence, is a serious wealth addict. I know of no meaningful exceptions to this.
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We have the very worst type of people in decision making positions. Because if my proposition is true, and on the face of it, it appears to be true - the decision makers in our society, should be those with very modest means.
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Just let the profound implications of this sink in? I have no words to describe just how profound and fundamental the implications are. It says that unless we remove the power and influence of the wealthiest in our society, we are heading towards catastrophe.
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Before anyone accuses me of hating or blaming the rich, just let my raise another simple proposal, another thought experiment.
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Just imagine we leave the rich with their wealth. Just that we completely stop their influence over decision making and influence. Say make it that our leaders, politicians, have to be on very modest salaries, and agree to remain on them for the rest of their lives.
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That the wealthy cannot own media organizations. That the wealthy cannot have privileged access to our legal system, so everyone has the same representation and access to our legal system as anyone else. That it is illegal to use money for PR or political campaigns.
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Basically, that the wealthy have a choice. To keep their wealth, but that if they do so, they must renounce their ability to have any control over decision making, public perception, and influence in our societies.
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That's not very vindictive is it? Just suggesting they not be allowed to run our societies with their wealth? Of course if that happened, we'd have very different societies, and the very wealthy would likely end up paying far more tax. But that would be a democratic decision.
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Such a simple thing, which is only fair and just, would have such radical consequences, without any oppression or unfairness. How, can it be unfair and oppressive, not to let a small minority run our societies for their own ends, just to feed their pathological addiction.
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@GeorgeMonbiot @GretaThunberg @JKSteinberger @ClimateHuman @ClimateBen @ECOWARRIORSS @DoctorVive @NaomiAKlein

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