this post was submitted on 30 Jun 2023
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Considering the way there are people completely out of touch with reality (Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos come to mind, among many others), is it possible that maybe all that greediness made them lose their humanity? Probably not literally but I guess moreso in a metaphorical way.

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[โ€“] crypticthree@lemmy.world 32 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I've spent a lot of time around the wealthy. The vast majority are living in a highly distorted reality. I think it comes from the fact that they are surrounded by yes men and sycophants. They never get told no, no matter how shitty they behave or how stupid their ideas are .

[โ€“] diskmaster23@lemmy.one 4 points 1 year ago

Thank you for sharing that perspective with us.

[โ€“] Bacon1001@lemmy.blahaj.zone 17 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I don't like the rich, and I do think that to get that kind of money you fundamentally have to give part of yourself away. But lizard people specifically is an antisemitic trope, and also just outright a lot less believable than them being human but deeply flawed. That sort of thinking can happen to anyone if they get enough money and power, after all.

[โ€“] animist@lemmy.one 14 points 1 year ago

Exactly. Calling people who do terrible things "animals" or some specific type of animal almost separates them, as if the only reason they did something bad is because they have a fundamental flaw. This line of thinking allows us to believe we could never be that bad because we are humans and not animals like them.

[โ€“] applejacks@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

But lizard people specifically is an antisemitic trope

lmao explain

[โ€“] Cralder@feddit.nu 2 points 1 year ago

From what I can tell, the lizard people conspiracy theory was started by David Icke, an antisemite and Holocaust denier. There are lots of conspiracy theories that come from the belief that Jews control the world either through media, some secret society or, in this case, by being shapeshifting lizards. This is just another iteration of the idea that Jews are different from everyone else and are trying to control the world.

[โ€“] trachemys@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago (2 children)

All Iโ€™m saying is that there has been a conspiracy to get us to burn oil, avoid clean energy, and it just so happens that lizards like higher temperatures.

[โ€“] speaker_hat@lemmy.one 2 points 1 year ago

That's a smart move

[โ€“] Scew@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago

Second coming of Littlefoot?

[โ€“] Gadg3tm@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

Oh absolutely. I'd argue they were barely in touch with their humanity in the first place. How else can you accumulate that much wealth off the backs of others without stopping and saying to yourself, "who have I become".

[โ€“] Steve@compuverse.uk 5 points 1 year ago

I think the word your looking for is compassion or empathy.

And yes studies have shown an inverse corelate between them.

[โ€“] appel@whiskers.bim.boats 4 points 1 year ago

Lizards are cool, we shouldn't shame them by comparing rich people to them

[โ€“] manitcor@lemmy.intai.tech 2 points 1 year ago

Billions

If you manage to make it through life to retirement you usually are a multi-millionaire in many countries.

I don't know where the line is though I suspect its somewhere around the level where buying regulations becomes pocket change.

[โ€“] webghost0101@lemmy.fmhy.ml 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Greed is a horrible addiction, these people have sacrificed so much time and energy they could have spend on loved ones simply because they where thought that your life worth is measured cash. There is no way back for them, its literal investors fallacy. They can spend the rest of their life in luxery leissure while tipping generously to anyone poor they face and they still wouldnโ€™t be able to spend the majority of their fortune.

And yet they chose to do whatever it takes to gain even more. Truly sick and really really sad.

[โ€“] timeisart@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Actual psychopaths have brains that are wired differently than normal people, they are literally not capable of feeling empathy or are able to feel the pain they caused that allowed them to amass their fortune. So yeah in a way I think that makes them less than human.

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