Since 2020, billionaire fortunes are up while the wealth of the bottom 60% has declined. Oxfam has urged governments to rein in the "billionaire class."
It estimated that 148 top corporations made $1.8 trillion in profits, 52 percent up on 3-year average, allowing hefty pay-outs to shareholders even as millions of workers faced a cost of living crisis as inflation led to wage cuts in real terms.
I guess we know where all this “inflation” came from.
And stop calling it “profits”, it’s theft. They are stealing from customers by overcharging, and they are stealing from employees by not paying them enough.
There’s absolutely no reason why their workers aren’t getting a large chunk of that money, especially when “profits” are up an average of 52 goddamn percent.
When the hell is enough money enough for these assholes? What are they planning to do with all this hoarded wealth? Buy a country?
They plan to buy bunkers and staff (I really do not mean hire staff, I do mean buy - they are debating how to control their staff once the economy collapses, and have floated the idea of bomb collars) to ride out the apocalypse they are actively causing.
It’s all very backward thinking. They can’t even envision not ruining the planet, they are planning for it as an inevitability.
I disagree, because profits can be used to upgrade equipment, reward employees, R&D, invest in expanding the business, etc.
When used properly, profits keep businesses healthy and self-supporting without relying on shareholders, the government, or bad actors to get involved.
But absurdly excess profits shouldn’t exist, and absurdly excessive wealth hoarding by individuals should never be allowed to happen.
Profits are the what is left over after upgrading equipment, paying employees, doing R&D, investing in expansion, and every other business expense. Profit is literally the money left after subtracting expenses from revenue. All profit is wealth hoarding, definitionally.
If I have money, then I can ignored because I am a hypocrite. If I’m poor, then I can be ignored because I’m a loser.
If you must know, I’m a general operator in a factory. I weld stuff onto car parts and watch robots all day. It’s fine, I have enough money to pay off the loans for my car and trailer, but I damn well know that the company reports profits off of the surplus value created by my labor.
I’ll probably never retire unless I take out the 9mm retirement package 🤷♀️
In business, you can’t predict what your expenses will be next year or in 10 years, so you need profit to act as a buffer. Some years, your revenue exceeds your expectations, and you profit that year.
This could allow you to spend more money on those legitimate business expenses next year, or bank it for years when your expenses exceed your revenue.
Even a non-profit has to have leftover to bank for the future, expand, etc.
But consistently having billions in profit tells me that there’s a massive problem somewhere, and it’s more than likely as a result of wage theft or gouging customers.
That’s not what profit is either! Funds that are set aside for future expenses or to act as a buffer are also just business expenses.
Profit is purely the money that is left after all that shit. Profit is the money the business owner and/or shareholders take for themselves, after everything (investing, saving, wages, everything) has been subtracted. Profit is literally only the money they take for themselves.
Your impression isn’t unique - most Americans don’t really understand what profit is. But like I said, profit is theft and it always has been.
The dictionary defines profit as “income in excess of costs” i.e. subtract all expenditures from revenue, that’s profit. It gets more complicated, there’s gross profit vs net profit, but money that is specifically set aside by the business for the future is an operating cost.
Dividends are just a way for profits to be distributed to shareholders.
Yeah, I guess that’s how modern corporations are using profits.
I come from a small business and charity background, so salaries/wages/employee benefits would be considered a business expense. Profits would be banked and used to cover expenses in the future.
It’s different on a small scale because the line between “business expenses” and “personal expenses” can sometimes get blurred. Though technically, if the money is earmarked for future use then it is definitely not profit. That’s a business expense.
I guess we know where all this “inflation” came from.
And stop calling it “profits”, it’s theft. They are stealing from customers by overcharging, and they are stealing from employees by not paying them enough.
There’s absolutely no reason why their workers aren’t getting a large chunk of that money, especially when “profits” are up an average of 52 goddamn percent.
When the hell is enough money enough for these assholes? What are they planning to do with all this hoarded wealth? Buy a country?
They plan to buy bunkers and staff (I really do not mean hire staff, I do mean buy - they are debating how to control their staff once the economy collapses, and have floated the idea of bomb collars) to ride out the apocalypse they are actively causing.
It’s all very backward thinking. They can’t even envision not ruining the planet, they are planning for it as an inevitability.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/sep/04/super-rich-prepper-bunkers-apocalypse-survival-richest-rushkoff
https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-inside-luxury-bunkers-ultra-rich-prepare-for-doomsday-2022-9
Profit is theft and it always has been.
I disagree, because profits can be used to upgrade equipment, reward employees, R&D, invest in expanding the business, etc.
When used properly, profits keep businesses healthy and self-supporting without relying on shareholders, the government, or bad actors to get involved.
But absurdly excess profits shouldn’t exist, and absurdly excessive wealth hoarding by individuals should never be allowed to happen.
That’s not what profits are.
Profits are the what is left over after upgrading equipment, paying employees, doing R&D, investing in expansion, and every other business expense. Profit is literally the money left after subtracting expenses from revenue. All profit is wealth hoarding, definitionally.
Profit is theft and it always has been.
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“Heads I win, tails you lose.”
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You made it clear that the answer doesn’t matter?
If I have money, then I can ignored because I am a hypocrite. If I’m poor, then I can be ignored because I’m a loser.
If you must know, I’m a general operator in a factory. I weld stuff onto car parts and watch robots all day. It’s fine, I have enough money to pay off the loans for my car and trailer, but I damn well know that the company reports profits off of the surplus value created by my labor.
I’ll probably never retire unless I take out the 9mm retirement package 🤷♀️
The answer didn’t matter, because of the philosophy you espoused. You are the architect.
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oh, and as for “any substantial” his POV is profit is theft. it follows.
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eh. not the ones complaining, apparently.
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observation.
In business, you can’t predict what your expenses will be next year or in 10 years, so you need profit to act as a buffer. Some years, your revenue exceeds your expectations, and you profit that year.
This could allow you to spend more money on those legitimate business expenses next year, or bank it for years when your expenses exceed your revenue.
Even a non-profit has to have leftover to bank for the future, expand, etc.
But consistently having billions in profit tells me that there’s a massive problem somewhere, and it’s more than likely as a result of wage theft or gouging customers.
That’s not what profit is either! Funds that are set aside for future expenses or to act as a buffer are also just business expenses.
Profit is purely the money that is left after all that shit. Profit is the money the business owner and/or shareholders take for themselves, after everything (investing, saving, wages, everything) has been subtracted. Profit is literally only the money they take for themselves.
Your impression isn’t unique - most Americans don’t really understand what profit is. But like I said, profit is theft and it always has been.
Actually he’s correct as to the dictionary definition of profit. What you are describing are called dividends in business parlance.
The dictionary defines profit as “income in excess of costs” i.e. subtract all expenditures from revenue, that’s profit. It gets more complicated, there’s gross profit vs net profit, but money that is specifically set aside by the business for the future is an operating cost.
Dividends are just a way for profits to be distributed to shareholders.
That’s my point.
You said
But the money they take for themselves are called dividends, and is a subset of profit. Profit can stay in the business too.
Yeah, I guess that’s how modern corporations are using profits.
I come from a small business and charity background, so salaries/wages/employee benefits would be considered a business expense. Profits would be banked and used to cover expenses in the future.
It’s different on a small scale because the line between “business expenses” and “personal expenses” can sometimes get blurred. Though technically, if the money is earmarked for future use then it is definitely not profit. That’s a business expense.
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Profits can become expenses when it is spent, for sure.
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A trillion is a million millions, or a thousand billions. That’s a truly unfathomable number.
They are buying countries - or parts of it. For example Larry Ellison bought Lanai, which is an Hawaiian Island. There are probably more examples.
And that rich people are building sophisticated bunkers is a known fact.
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We’ll basically be turned into fuel cells… like on The Matrix… but it’ll be billionaires controlling the machines… probably made by Tesla.
They will literally always need us, read chapters 15 and 16 of Capital which covers automation.
Isn’t that all inflation and all profits? There’s a pretty clear correlation with inequality for both.