(12-20-2023, 06:17 PM)Lucky2Last Wrote:

(12-20-2023, 10:32 AM)The Real Marty Wrote: Would it be in the best interest of a rich person to fight the establishment?

I think there are a lot of people for whom fighting the establishment would not be in their best interest, and they are neither corrupt nor uninformed.  Obviously, people who have benefited from the way things are, or expect to benefit from the way things are, have a vested interest in keeping things as they are.  But that doesn't make them corrupt or uninformed.  

Seriously, to say that anyone who doesn't "fight the establishment" is either corrupt or uninformed is kind of egotistical, isn't it?  You're saying that people who don't believe what you believe are either dishonest or stupid.

You sure you want to get philosophical? If the system is corrupt, and you benefit from it knowing it's corrupt, and have no desire to change it because you benefit from it, what are you, Marty? You are part of the exploitation. Now, you may be unaware of that, but it doesn't change. So, you're either complicit in perpetuating it, or your ignorant. Not sure how you find a middle ground there. 

Giving you as much grace as possible, no system will be perfect, so perfection is an unobtainable goal. However, transparency and accountability have to be the standard. Without it, you can't course correct, which is important in a democracy. 

Almost none of the antiestablishment guys in this board want to abolish the system. They want transparency and accountability to restore it. From our media, to our politicians, to our universities, to our corporations... all of them are subverting ideals that made this nation great, corrupting the bedrock principles that maximize prosperity for the most people, not just the few. 

So, I don't really give two turds whether or not you benefit from that. Your ignorant if you can't see it or corrupted if you don't care.