The Big Lie: When They Say They’re on Your Side

The super rich always want you to believe they’re on your side. I’m just like you, they say. We’re the underdogs, fighting for a better world. But the truth is, they’re nothing like you, and they’ll never let you win. The rich aren’t underdogs; they’re wolves. And the more money they have, the more they want. They will say literally anything, and do literally anything, to keep what they have. And if you fall for their tricks, they’ll crush you.

The billionaires and CEOs of the world only have one thing in mind: profits. That’s it. Sure, they talk a good game about philanthropy and social justice, but it’s all a con, propagated either because they genuinely believe they’re good people or in a cynical attempt to trick you into liking them. Either way, the end result is the same: the super rich will always protect their own interests, and any generosity on their part is just collateral.

If we look at the most powerful people in the world, it’s easy to see this dynamic at work. Consider the following figures:

Bill Gates: A tech giant and one of the richest men in the world, Gates was instrumental in developing the Windows operating system and has amassed a considerable fortune. He has become known for his philanthropy, but that doesn’t stop him living the lavish lifestyle of a billionaire – or from continuing to rake in money hand over fist.

Mark Zuckerberg: The founder of Facebook, Zuckerberg’s platform has grown into one of the most ubiquitous and powerful corporations in the world (Meta). Zuckerberg always spoke highly of the need to “connect” the world (never stopped harping on about it, in fact), but that hasn’t stopped him from creating an online platform that is deeply harmful to mental health and democracy alike, with its algorithms constantly pushing people towards extremism, all for the sake of revenue.

Elon Musk: This particular manchild is now the richest man in the world, with his space travel company SpaceX and car manufacturer Tesla. He makes large philanthropic donations to various causes and claims to be working on the future of space colonization. But of course, such a future will certainly be in service to billionaires like him, and his businesses are also enormous polluters.

These are only three of many examples.

You can take a person seriously only when their words match their actions. If a politician claims to support women’s rights and yet votes against funding women’s shelters, you shouldn’t believe them. If a corporation promises to “go green” and continues to operate in ways that harm the environment, you shouldn’t believe them. And if a billionaire claims to serve the public yet continues to enrich themselves while making comparatively small donations to improve their public image, you shouldn’t believe them.

It’s time to stop taking the rich at their word. Because they haven’t remotely earned the benefit of the doubt. No rich person will ever seriously compromise on their lifestyle in order to do the world a service. Even those who are nominally “giving back” to the community are always serving themselves. Yes, they do good things, but at the same time, they maintain a system that creates more ills than you could ever cure by throwing money at them.

You cannot trust a single one of them. These people are nothing like you. They don’t feel moved by the plight of ordinary people. They got rich because they relentlessly pursued money at any cost. Don’t kid yourself. Do not accept the naive and frankly ridiculous idea that a person like Jeff Bezos isn’t an extremely selfish individual who cares about nothing more than enriching himself.

The super rich will never make major sacrifices for the benefit of anyone else, and they will always fight tooth and nail to keep what they have. It doesn’t matter how much good they do or how much money they throw around. They love it when you praise them and call them heroes for giving what is, to them, pocket change to a worthy cause. But they’re NOT heroes.

If you donated one cent to a charity, that wouldn’t accomplish much. If a billionaire donates a million bucks to charity, that would do a lot. But for both you and the billionaire, exactly the same amount of sacrifice went into the donation. The absolute value involved is vastly different, but the relative sacrifice is exactly the same. So, of course they’re going to donate millions if it improves their public image. Why wouldn’t they?

In the UK, the monarchy has adopted similar tactics, hoping that by doing charity work, they can convince everyone they’re still relevant and actually care about their people.

Stop mistaking appearances for reality. Don’t get caught up in the appearance of “giving back.” What matters is how you ACTUALLY give back. If the super rich really cared, they’d be putting themselves on the line and making a lot more sacrifices. Instead, they give token donations and get lots of praise for it.

And no, it’s not “work” for them. Billionaires claim to work, but their version of work is nothing like yours. They don’t have to subject themselves to external rules and lock their personality in a cage to do an employer’s bidding. They don’t have to sit at a desk from 9am to 5pm and then get scolded for having a family or being tired. They don’t have to deal with coworkers who steal credit for their work or treat them like shit. They don’t have to deal with any of the real problems most of us face every day. Their lives are filled with perks, opportunities, and the kind of money that means they’ll never have to worry about anything.

The super rich are parasites convincing you they’re symbiotes. A symbiotic relationship is one in which both parties benefit. A parasitic relationship, on the other hand, is one that benefits one party and harms the other. The rich benefit; the poor are only harmed. They do not reap any systematic rewards from the extreme wealth of billionaires.

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