He definitely wants us to think that about his integrity, his fans even more so and in fairness, he's pretty good. Not quite the sunday-school capitalism perfection that some would have us believe. Which can grate a bit if you've looked in detail at his career.
Maybe, but I’m not perfect either. The scale is just different. It’s clear that the standard for rich people isn’t all that high, so in the company of the remaining 1B+ crowd he looks pretty decent.
Yeah he’s not quite Jack Welch level of dissonance between reality and his fanboys, but he’s hardly some superhero for profiting from the great financialization of the US economy. He made sure his book got bailed out during the GFC. He cheered on Wells Fargo while they opened up a bunch of fraudulent accounts. And so on.
And when he found out about Wells Fargo's behavior, he liquidated the position and has remained out of it. I fail to see the problem with what he did in that case. As a ~5% holder he (Berkshire) had no special control over the company in terms of micro-audits to surface such fraudulent behavior promptly as it was happening.
I’ve never quite understood the meme about Warren Buffett being a More Ethical Billionaire™. The defenses are always like “It’s not fair to judge him solely for BNSF giving rail workers one paid sick day per year because he also owns GEICO, which settled a suit last year about (among other things) illegally surveilling and telling employees to call the police on people that approached them about unionizing”
Ask the railroad workers of BNSF about Buffet’s “integrity”. He’s responsible for them being rampantly abused. If you’re not familiar look up interviews with actual workers. They are asked to work insane hours and with little scheduling, and are unpaid when they’re waiting around. The (local) monopolization of the rail industry and constant lobbying against regulations by Buffet’s minions have let this continue to this day.
Let’s not forget Buffet also funded BYD significantly and is responsible for their growth, which basically is undermining his own country and European industry as well. Ultimately it’ll be responsible for putting masses of auto industry workers out of a job. I don’t see integrity as much as just basic private equity style capitalism.
> Let’s not forget Buffet also funded BYD significantly and is responsible for their growth,
What is this weird nationalism? Investing in a company from a foreign country does not make you a bad (or good) person. There is no moral duty to make your own country the most economically powerful one.
To be washed in an addiction, in his case, money, is to give up so much of life.
I hope that his end is free of regret, and that his passing is memory of the wonderful things that he was able to build for so many people that he didn't even know he touched.
I'm sure that the way will be found to do this, as it will be for us all.
What a non story. God forbid people build homes in this country. Manufactured homes, no less, that are extra affordable, but the actuaries require higher interest to make the business work because the buyers are higher risk
He definitely wants us to think that about his integrity, his fans even more so and in fairness, he's pretty good. Not quite the sunday-school capitalism perfection that some would have us believe. Which can grate a bit if you've looked in detail at his career.
Maybe, but I’m not perfect either. The scale is just different. It’s clear that the standard for rich people isn’t all that high, so in the company of the remaining 1B+ crowd he looks pretty decent.
Yeah he’s not quite Jack Welch level of dissonance between reality and his fanboys, but he’s hardly some superhero for profiting from the great financialization of the US economy. He made sure his book got bailed out during the GFC. He cheered on Wells Fargo while they opened up a bunch of fraudulent accounts. And so on.
And when he found out about Wells Fargo's behavior, he liquidated the position and has remained out of it. I fail to see the problem with what he did in that case. As a ~5% holder he (Berkshire) had no special control over the company in terms of micro-audits to surface such fraudulent behavior promptly as it was happening.
1 reply →
I’ve never quite understood the meme about Warren Buffett being a More Ethical Billionaire™. The defenses are always like “It’s not fair to judge him solely for BNSF giving rail workers one paid sick day per year because he also owns GEICO, which settled a suit last year about (among other things) illegally surveilling and telling employees to call the police on people that approached them about unionizing”
Ask the railroad workers of BNSF about Buffet’s “integrity”. He’s responsible for them being rampantly abused. If you’re not familiar look up interviews with actual workers. They are asked to work insane hours and with little scheduling, and are unpaid when they’re waiting around. The (local) monopolization of the rail industry and constant lobbying against regulations by Buffet’s minions have let this continue to this day.
Let’s not forget Buffet also funded BYD significantly and is responsible for their growth, which basically is undermining his own country and European industry as well. Ultimately it’ll be responsible for putting masses of auto industry workers out of a job. I don’t see integrity as much as just basic private equity style capitalism.
> Let’s not forget Buffet also funded BYD significantly and is responsible for their growth,
What is this weird nationalism? Investing in a company from a foreign country does not make you a bad (or good) person. There is no moral duty to make your own country the most economically powerful one.
> There is no moral duty to make your own country the most economically powerful one.
No? Then why do we ask people to give their lives to make it a safe one?
1 reply →
Is this satire?
Alas, this is not his only foible.
https://www.cnbc.com/2015/05/02/warren-buffett-defends-clayt...
Still, some nostalgia and romance is called for.
"Moon River" is appropriate. I've seen him a few times in Omaha at the stadium. I guess that forgiveness is best for most everything.
After all, that's what I want for myself.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uirBWk-qd9A
I feel sorrow for him. I really do.
To be washed in an addiction, in his case, money, is to give up so much of life.
I hope that his end is free of regret, and that his passing is memory of the wonderful things that he was able to build for so many people that he didn't even know he touched.
I'm sure that the way will be found to do this, as it will be for us all.
What a non story. God forbid people build homes in this country. Manufactured homes, no less, that are extra affordable, but the actuaries require higher interest to make the business work because the buyers are higher risk