#1
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This is my first ever attempt at a rHizzonE OP, so please be gentle.

There was an interesting derail that got started in the minimum wage thread - how would you enact leftist change with $40 billion? The number was picked due to it being the combined assets of the Koch brothers, which launches a whole 'nother derail, but the discussion that it provoked was one I'd like to see expanded.

Imagine we somehow Kickstarted a leftist movement (someone should look into doing this for real, by the way. I think the Millenial generation would be all about it as opposed to normal political donations) and are now in possession of $40 billion. How would you enact change?

I want specifics. Would you throw it all into a massive advertising campaign? Get boots on the ground for close races? Use it to support a whole new wave of politicians who are actual Washington outsiders? Maybe spend it all on increasing the minimum wage or on direct cash stimulus to the poor? It's all hypothetical anyway, so go nuts!

Personally, I would finance Socialist candidates along the lines of Kshama Sawant in as many races as I could put them in. I would develop advertisements that inform the public about the terrible side effects of economic inequality. I would push a platform along the lines of "Every American citizen deserves food, shelter, and access to healthcare." which would become the new "A chicken in every pot." Make the American Dream real again, by pushing for a return to the New Deal social programs that made us the Greatest Country in the World.
#2
Kurdt
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the answer, as always, is phonebank
#3
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get jackboots on the ground for nazbol rahowa
#4
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i'd try to make a mondragon clone in detroit or chiapas or west bengal or something. but i'm a liberal and a trot and a cracker to boot and therefore am not to be trusted with that sort of influence in the first place
#5
sup b*tch
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construct a vanguard party of committed revolutionaries, guided by the science of marxism-leninism, to seize power through violence when the time is right, OP. i would of course find these revolutionaries by buying the reader list of jacobin magazine.
#6
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kickstart a pogrom
#7
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buy the private prisons, arm the prisoners, bus them to new york, and set them free
#8
Not Your S.H.I.E.L.D.
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$40 billion bitcoin worth of Silk Road assassination contracts
#9
Not Your S.H.I.E.L.D.
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serious post
#10
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#11
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oh god its so insipid and shitty im sorry im sorry i regret everything
#12
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ok seriouspost: create an investment banking firm, sabotage the global economy, use profits from above to buy off the legal slap on the wrist, repeat until capitalism collapses endlessly.
#13
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Anyone got change for $40 Billion? - Obama at teh meeting with Big Corn Executives
#14
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bitcorn
#15
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Doug posted:

Anyone got change for $40 Billion? - Obama at teh meeting with Big Corn Executives


Classic doug.

Edited by Lessons ()

#16
political car tune
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ugh please try harder.
#17
Dont Mess With Sucess
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this hypothetical is made a little complicated because the koch brothers have $40 billion in assets, so that adds layers of logistical work, and extra expense, to anything you want to try to do. warren buffett has had $40 billion on hand this year but i still doubt you can do much internationally with that money, and when you have such a fortune, its movements are watched constantly by the many thousands of people whose lives depend on its existence. like, i doubt warren buffett could arm thousands of workers with tree spikes and rations, and send them throughout usa forests, and actually get away with it. so really its about, how much can you siphon off of $40 billion for illegal means... it would be kind of fun to destroy $40 billion of physical assets i guess. buy some midtown skyscrapers, dismantle them, and truck the bits out to your ranch and reconstruct them, but - get this - horizontally, then build methadone clinics on your midtown properties. this idea copyright swampman 2013
#18
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weapons
#19
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I'd buy every skin in league of legends (most of themm anyways its only 40 billion dollars haha(
#20
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The Fermi Paradox and Motivation in "Post-Scarcity" Civilizations
#21
Zinovievist-Trotskyist gang
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40 billy in lottery ticks...
#22
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i would spend it on weed
#23
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buy thirteen billion three hundred seventy sven million nine hundred twenty six thousand four hundred twenty one mcribs
#24
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buy a nice house, find a tolerable wife, and retire to live out my days while the world burns around me
#25
[account deactivated]
#26
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$40 billion buys a lot of pants (classic lf joke thre for people in the know lol)
#27
Mike Nelson here.
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I would buy every family in the developing world a DVD player and a copy of The Matrix so that they begin to understand how trapped they are in the cage of global capitalism and join with me to fight the robots.
#28
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With that sort of money you could either take over or gain significant power in many large, government institutions. $40 billion dollars is literally enough to run extremely large law enforcement offices in the US for several centuries. If you were known, made connections, and put the money to good use, you could make leftists disappear.
#29
[account deactivated]
#30
puget's sounds
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getfiscal posted:

I would buy every family in the developing world a DVD player and a copy of The Matrix so that they begin to understand how trapped they are in the cage of global capitalism and join with me to fight the robots.


there arent that many DVD players in the whole world!!

#31
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The_Schliski posted:

getfiscal posted:

I would buy every family in the developing world a DVD player and a copy of The Matrix so that they begin to understand how trapped they are in the cage of global capitalism and join with me to fight the robots.

there arent that many DVD players in the whole world!!



#32
[account deactivated]
#33
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fund Hypergamy awareness superbowl ads
#34
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Related to this, spend about 1 billion on promoting "Democracy Vouchers", which gives every voting age citizen $100 in tax rebates to contribute to a campaign of their choosing. Instead of attempting to get money out of elections, flood the system with massive decentralized source of funds and make politicians more responsive to the rank and file. Extra money could go towards educating those less likely to understand the system, either because of education/class/access how to use it.
#35
[account deactivated]
#36
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holy crap thois
#37
Not Your S.H.I.E.L.D.
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swampman posted:

this hypothetical is made a little complicated because the koch brothers have $40 billion in assets, so that adds layers of logistical work, and extra expense, to anything you want to try to do. warren buffett has had $40 billion on hand this year but i still doubt you can do much internationally with that money, and when you have such a fortune, its movements are watched constantly by the many thousands of people whose lives depend on its existence. like, i doubt warren buffett could arm thousands of workers with tree spikes and rations, and send them throughout usa forests, and actually get away with it. so really its about, how much can you siphon off of $40 billion for illegal means... it would be kind of fun to destroy $40 billion of physical assets i guess. buy some midtown skyscrapers, dismantle them, and truck the bits out to your ranch and reconstruct them, but - get this - horizontally, then build methadone clinics on your midtown properties. this idea copyright swampman 2013



with $40 billion its less "how am i going to get away with this" and more "what is anyone gonna do about it"

#38
Not Your S.H.I.E.L.D.
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roseweird posted:

if only you ruled the world you could finally stick it to the rulers of the world



this. but! VERY unironically

#39
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roseweird posted:

VoxNihili posted:

kickstart a pogrom

VoxNihili posted:

buy the private prisons, arm the prisoners, bus them to new york, and set them free



how funny did you think this was going to be before you posted it and reality sank in



legit funnier than 80% of the posts in this thread, friend roseweird

#40
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Killing every jew and the entire population of nyc (redundant I know) is a proven winner humor wise just btw.