this post was submitted on 29 Jan 2024
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SneerClub

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Hurling ordure at the TREACLES, especially those closely related to LessWrong.

AI-Industrial-Complex grift is fine as long as it sufficiently relates to the AI doom from the TREACLES. (Though TechTakes may be more suitable.)

This is sneer club, not debate club. Unless it's amusing debate.

[Especially don't debate the race scientists, if any sneak in - we ban and delete them as unsuitable for the server.]

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EAs shocked to discover how billionaires make their money (forum.effectivealtruism.org)
submitted 10 months ago by dgerard@awful.systems to c/sneerclub@awful.systems
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[–] sc_griffith@awful.systems 26 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (11 children)

Often, things become crimes that get prosecuted when they are done by the wealthy vs. normal people. To be clear, the reason for this is that governments/prosecutors want money and there is a lot of money in going after Kjell Inge Røkke for an illegal boating license but there isn't for a father letting his 15-year old child drive in a parking lot. There's a lot of money going after a billionaire for tax evasion but not in someone having a side hustle where they make money under the table selling $50k worth of widgets per year.

lmao

I suppose I recommend people think something like "ok, how bad was this really" when they look at billionaire crimes.

double lmao. triple, even

The rates do seem subjectively very high. Way fewer than 10% of people I know have been convicted of financial crimes! But I wonder if founders and CEOs are being blamed for financial crimes that their companies commit, and approximately all successful companies commit financial crimes, defined broadly.

so... close...

[–] maol@awful.systems 17 points 10 months ago (2 children)

"There’s a lot of money going after a billionaire for tax evasion but not in someone having a side hustle where they make money under the table selling $50k worth of widgets per year."

Lol and indeed lmao. "One death is a tragedy, a million is a statistic".

(...and who has a """side hustle""" with a $50k p.a turnover?! At that point it is no longer a side hustle)

[–] mpk@awful.systems 10 points 10 months ago

It’s a sign of how completely economically detached from reality these guys are. The annual turnover threshold here for mandatory VAT registration is around €35k, and a lot of small businesses don’t even reach that. Selling widgets and turning over €50k max would not be considered to be minor tax evasion..

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