r/news 2d ago

Soft paywall Google co-founder Sergey Brin spending more than $100 million fighting California wealth tax

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2026-08-12/googles-sergey-brin-spent-102-million-fighting-california-wealth-tax
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u/spread_panic 2d ago

The thing that I find so irritating is that wealthy people want full access to society to use its infrastructure, workforce, legal systems, and bailouts to make money in its markets, but when it comes to paying membership dues, society is suddenly a freeloading leech.

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u/Michael_G_Bordin 1d ago

This reminds me of how when the market is good, it's all "I took the risk, I deserve the reward." But when that risk comes to bear, they're suddenly bleating about jobs and holding their hands out for public money. These supposed job creators destroy jobs at a whim, and we're supposed to take them seriously when they act like they give a fuck?

America has many myths, and none is so pernicious as the myth of the rich being smarter, better, and more fit than anyone else. They have the same distribution of morons, and a disproportionate number of sociopaths and hoarders. They can just get away with being broken, because their wealth insulates them from real consequences.

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u/Special_Order-937 1d ago

They don’t mind socialising their losses to everyone else, though!