Memes

Not that I don’t believe you but I’d love to cite this in future discussions, where did you get your stats from?

I’m pulling the lever as hard as I can, I swear!

Thats their investments, not their personal use. According to your source anyway.

And when the sniper gets paid off?

No, it would not cause change. More would quickly take their place. The problem ultimately isn't the billionaires, but the system that allows them to exist.

I think a more efficient tactic would be to, once a month, execute the person with the highest net worth. Billionaires would be scrambling to get rid of their money

You're correct. It would cause some disruption and a lot of joy, but system would continue. It need to be overthrown entirely and new one built. That is, proletarian revolution is needed.

Let’s say some extremist, highly organized group manages to successfully assassinate the 10,000 richest people in the world, and then disappears without a trace.

The problem is that these billionaires profit the most from a system of resource exploitation, but they do not benefit exclusively. We'd still have hundreds of billions of dollars in fossil fuel centric infrastructure that we'd need to replace and reconfigure. And that reconfiguration would require a national organized effort.

Ultimate, you can't just wave a wand and make Rich People Go Away. You need a national project that is both popular and efficient. One that reduces emissions while improving quality of life. You need a Green New Deal.

That's not something you can affect purely from subtraction.

I’m guessing those people would all be succeeded by their next of kin. Would that cause a wave of change or…?

Something would happen on the micro level. Some families would fight over the power vacuum, other families would slowly fall into obscurity due to the loss of a loved one, some might spend resources to track down information, some might a come to Jesus moment about the wealth, etc.

Would anything change on the macro level? Doubtful. New people will rise to the top as the system that created unimaginable wealth still exists.

You'd have to also threaten to assassinate their inheritors from taking the estate, or just take the estate. Either way that's violence. The question then becomes is it okay to use the Master's tools to build your own house, to which my answer is no I can't. I can use the Master's tools to tear down their own houses. I may be a bit too idealistic though.

It's not the people, it's the assets you must destroy.

To go after Warren Buffett you need to destroy Apple, Coca-Cola, Kraft, etc.

Are you (and everyone else) willing to do without your comforts?

Another consequence of inflation, I suppose.

Exactly. There's no moral dillema here. I'm keeping the switch in the "left" position and welding it in place, just in case.