Is the original Simpsons episode making fun of people that climb Mount Everest as a feat while also paying the Sherpas to carry all their equipment, food, & water?
this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2023
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In the episode (s09e23) Homer is being used to market a bogus nutritional bar by climbing the tallest mountain in Springfield. The company owners are aware that he'll never be able to survive the climb on his own because their product doesn't work so they pay two Sherpas to advance through the climb while he's sleeping.
"the tallest mountain in Springfield" which was basically never seen again
so, yes
So, I was curious. I looked up what percentage of the Forbes 400 is 'self-made' and it turns out to be about 60%. If measuring as coming from a middle-class background with no inheritance of the wealth.
If measuring as coming from a middle-class background with no inheritance of the wealth.
that's still doing better than a lot of people tbh.
It's still a long way off being a millionaire or billionaire.
It's pretty impressive someone can make that much money in a lifetime.
millionaire or billionaire
You know what the difference is between a million and a billion? Roughly a billion.
By which I mean that grouping millionaires and billionaires together is downright detrimental to understanding wealth inequality and supports the kind of right wing narratives that keep the ultra-rich from being taxed fairly.
It's pretty impressive someone can make that much money in a lifetime.
It's really not, mainly for two reasons
1: beyond a certain point (which is LONG before a $1b, probably before $100m), you have more than you could possibly spend even when living lavishly and are just hoarding money that could have a life-changing or even life-SAVING impact on less fortunate people.
2: it's impossible to get anywhere near that point without a SHITLOAD of luck, exploitation of others or both. Usually both.