If I were a very rich person, my wealth could still be measured by numbers, but it still wouldn't change the fact that I'm very rich. First of all, I would pretend to do charitable activities because it would be reasonable to avoid taxes, secondly, even though I would be reasonable to avoid taxes, I would still pay my fair share of taxes and it would cause me heartache, and thirdly, if I paid my fair share of taxes, nothing would ever cost me a larger sum of money again, and I will trend what I have on my hand as everything!!! I'll use the money I legally have to enjoy a life I've never enjoyed before, and that doesn't mean I need to spend on something luxurious or very flashy, I might just want to do something I haven't done before, something very expensive.
If I had a big company, not as big as Amazon or Facebook, but big enough to feed a few thousand employees as well as ensure I stay rich. There are a lot of things I want to do, but I think protecting the environment should be the last thing I want to do, even though there are all kinds of laws forcing me to protect the environment or save energy, but there are too many things to consider before that, because the company's income affects the income of thousands of families, and a whole host of other issues.
I'm just daydreaming, and I probably won't have to worry about these issues for the rest of my life, but I think it's very difficult to change the minds of rich people and big companies, because they represent more than just themselves or their companies, they can sometimes represent a city or even a country.
The current situation is that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, and those who are caught in the middle are indifferent, their mindset of not wanting to become poor keeps them surviving in the middle, but the oppression from the top keeps them from moving up.
It is just too hard to change..................
Hi Robert, I think your reflection of what it would be like to be a billionaire is both thought provoking and also very necessary! How are we to change the way things are if we don't first begin to understand what motivates billionaires and how maybe it's not entirely due to pure selfishness but that they also have commitments and ties to large entities like nations and political groups, which is definitely something to consider if we are to dismantle the systems that are perpetuating this problem.
Environmental laws are often at the bottom of the priority list like you explained, it's hard to think about your carbon emissions when you're thinking about the thousands of employees and their families you have to feed! It does feel like the middle class is stuck in a box, the poorest are never going to get out, and the rich just keep growing higher and higher with no limits :(
I think all companies are struggling to quantify the return on their sustainability investments, and what matters most to entrepreneurs is that a sustainable strategy of inaction may mean greater losses in the future. Failure to find a profitable strategy only leads these companies to produce a vague, unfocused sustainability plan.
I totally agree with you. Changing their mind is the most difficult thing. Protecting the environment is probably the most laborious and unappealing thing for entrepreneurs to do. Their own interests always take precedence over the problems which the whole world is facing, so they are always thinking of ways to avoid taxes and evade them. I really hate what most billionaires do to the world.
Hi Robert,
I think it's very interesting how you are able to abstract yourself from just thinking as an environmental activist and put yourself in the shoes of the billionaire. It's true that billionaires have much more to worry about than the environment, but I think they need have to follow suit with other companies like Patagonia in using their social presence. Being able to have that much influence globally, they should allocate just some of their efforts into that area. However, the difficulty of that is out of my scope but I just like how you thought from their perspective.