We've all heard the saying, "The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer." In today's economy, with rising prices, tougher job markets, our first trillionaire, and even social media influencers becoming millionaires, the saying feels too true for comfort.
Seth Rogen, Keanu Reeves, Keke Palmer, and Aziz Ansari, who all starred in the film Good Fortune, directed by Ansari, appeared for an episode of Esquire's Table Read, and a major point of conversation was how the film's message applies to real life.
The core of Good Fortune centers around a wealthy man, played by Rogan, being guided by an angel, Reeves, who urges him to make better choices, both socially and financially.
This opened up a discussion about paying it forward and providing for those in need when the funds are available.
Rogen observed:
"Maybe this is naive of me, but it seems like these rich people... who have outsized wealth..."
"It seems like they used to have their names on things that were able to be used by the public."
Reeves agreed, which prompted the pair to offer examples back and forth.
Rogen continued:
"Yeah, parks, observatories, libraries, museums, things like that. And now it's like, people don't do that stuff anymore."
He then gave the example of Elon Musk, who opened a burger joint in LA and charged for food when he could afford to do otherwise.
"It's not free. He's still charging people for smashburgers."
"There's a Tesla Diner in LA! That should be free!"
"You don't need burger money when you're the richest guy on earth."
"I'm sick of these billionaires charging us for burgers."
The conversation continued over on the "Fauxmoi" subReddit.
Redditors were admittedly skeptical at first about four people with net worths in the millions commenting on giving back to their communities, until it was pointed out that Keanu Reeves frequently donates money and time, and Seth Rogen started Hilarity for Charity, a center for dementia research and treatment.
The community could otherwise agree that people like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg should be giving back much more than they do, based on their extreme wealth.
"The people they’re talking about still make more money in a year than all of the people at the table combined have made in their lives." - PMMEJALAPENORECIPES
"I know net worth isn't the most reliable indicator, but Keanu Reeves is the wealthiest person at the table by far (like comically), and his charity and philanthropy are well known."
"His alleged $400 million is nothing compared to the 'outsized wealth' of the multi-billionaire (and now trillionaire) class, who have a combined net worth of $20 trillion. How the f**k did we get here?" - LezbianaGrande
"I mean, look at Kristin Stewart. She purchased an old cinema and plans on restoring it and building something in a neighborhood."
"Nothing is stopping these big names from producing something similar." - DontOvercookPasta
"Dolly says, Hold my beer." - southendgirl
"The people we should be talking about are billionaires or the hundreds-of-millions kind of money outside of 'regular' wealthy people money."
"Like yea, why would they need more profit and capital when they’re already a f**king billionaire and hundred billionaires. That’s generational wealth enough as is. Tax those f**kers, and we might just achieve some semblance of world peace." - sunshinexxi
"In the past, the rich were told buying goodwill was important."
"Today, they realize they can just s**tpost online to have the same effect."
"Honestly, what’s changed is the public has become… disgustingly ok with excesses of wealth." - Prophet_Tehenhauin
"Carnegie built over 2,500 libraries. Imagine if today's richest people tried to outdo each other that way instead of in net worth." - Jealous-Tie
"Having wealthy people pushing ideas like this is a net positive, and I’m all for it." - HolyMoleyGuacamoly
"The rich these days view the general masses as aspiring to give as little as they can back, which historically has never worked in the long run. Gotta find my pitchfork." - dubhkitty
"I want to put this on a billboard:"
"'I'm constantly astonished that billionaires would rather ignore the climate crisis and prepare to live in a bunker with DVDs and baked beans than devote a modicum of their bottomless wealth to saving the planet, where we have fresh fruit and soft grass and blue skies,' written by @omgsidewalks on X." - Debtastical
You can watch the full Table Read episode here:
- YouTubeyoutu.be
This is an important conversation for us to have about wealth and resources, especially in a country that preaches equality when it should be striving for equity instead.
@sanho/Bluesky
@dytsras/Bluesky
