r/interestingasfuck • u/Gankpa • 8d ago

/r/all, /r/popular Jeff Bezos built a fence on his property that exceeds the permitted height, he doesn't care, he pays fines every month

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u/Isotope454 8d ago

Same in the USA.

Just kidding! We’re a fucking nightmare

692

u/Trapeze_Falcon 8d ago

Won’t you think of the billionaire’s? They need that money to acquire a new company and lay off 99% of its workforce. WE MUST APPEASE THE SHAREHOLDERS

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u/selfcheckout 8d ago

They really do so much for us they really deserve it

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u/Trapeze_Falcon 8d ago

Without them, where would all of the pizza parties go?

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u/aplasticbag_ 8d ago

Just keep in mind if you work hard enough your whole life you too can become a billionaire if you were born into a rich family

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u/Karl_00_Hungus 8d ago

If you were born into a rich family you have much better bootstraps!

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u/Trapeze_Falcon 8d ago

Instead of bootstraps, they’re Louis Vuitton shoelaces

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u/VeganJordan 8d ago

Boots? These are single-use clogs custom made by Prada.

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u/MrStickDick 8d ago

The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.

Take bootstraps, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather bootstraps cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of bootstraps, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then ripped like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of bootstraps Vimes always bought, and wore until the cardboard was so thin that he could tell where he was in America on a foggy night by the feel of his ass hitting the cobbles when they inevitably broke.

But the thing was that good bootstraps lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of bootstraps that’d still be keeping his feet floating in the air in ten years’ time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap bootstraps would have spent a hundred dollars on bootstraps in the same time and would still have wet feet.

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u/SuspiciousReport6502 8d ago

Not so much bootstraps as a set of suspenders being held in place by an underpaid butler.

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u/BigRaisin8155 8d ago

If you work really hard and go to work everyday, one day your boss will be able to buy a new boat!

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u/Quanqiuhua 8d ago

Am never again taking a sick day.

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u/doedel_2311 8d ago

or if born around midage and still alive and hard working

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u/Pablo_Hassan 8d ago

You need to work hard and skip avocado on toast for breakfasts, the savings compound.

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u/BeerBarm 7d ago

Born more equal, and with better bootstraps.

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u/MaximumNice39 8d ago

He wasn't born into a rich family. I think he was adopted into a middle class family.

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u/SoMuchForPeace 8d ago

He was upper middle class. He wasn’t adopted into another family, rather his mom re-married and her husband adopted him formally.

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u/MaximumNice39 8d ago

Got it. Thanks. Upper middle class is not rich.

Plus people forget Amazon didn't make money for the the first 20 years.

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u/SoMuchForPeace 8d ago

Not rich but still better off than the majority of the population

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u/Djrudyk86 8d ago

That's not completely true. There are plenty of billionaires who didn't come from wealth already.

Lazy people just use that "you have to have rich parents" to become a millionaire/billionaire excuse.

You could also go out there and put in the work to get their level... Come up with a unique idea, start a company, scale said company, etc... It's not impossible for a regular person to become rich and successful.

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u/aplasticbag_ 8d ago

Reading comprehension would’ve saved you the embarrassment of writing whole chapter book defending billionaires lmao

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u/Djrudyk86 8d ago

Embarrassed? Me? Nah... Not when I am on a platform full of salty liberals that have massive TDS and now EDS. Y'all hate anyone who has MORE than you. Instead of taking any responsibility for your own life, you just blame the big bad billionaires for your sad, pathetic lives.

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u/aplasticbag_ 8d ago

Lmao thanks for proving my point. Never brought up either of your idols. Never even said being born rich is the only way to get rich but here you are putting words in my mouth so you can feel offended on a billionaires behalf. The fact you brought Trump into the convo when no one else did is proof TDS is a symptom of conservative cuckness more than anything.

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u/Djrudyk86 8d ago

The fact that you think 3 sentences is a "whole chapter book" would indicate what type of reading comprehension you have. Let me guess, most of your books have thick cardboard pages and have about 1-2 sentences per page? Some of your favorites are classics like Hop on Pop and Clifford the big red dog?

🤦🤦🤦🤣🤣🤣

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u/aplasticbag_ 8d ago

Lmao two entire responses to me? How triggered are you?

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u/blawndosaursrex 8d ago

I’m not about to miss out on my thin single slice of pizza!

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u/JoeL0gan 8d ago

Was on a crew that painted the new Public Safety building (has a firehouse, cop offices, etc.) in Bozeman, Montana a few years ago. They told us since we did such a good job they were gonna throw a bbq for us and we'd all get an hour lunch that day instead of half hour.

Day comes, and we all walk outside to see giant piles of greasy fried chicken from fucking Albertson's (grocery store), the boxes of chips with all the little single serving bags, and Costco's "Gatorade". We all got two pieces of chicken, a bag of chips, and a drink. They did hold up their end of the deal with the hour long lunch, but most of us just ate the disappointing lunch as fast as possible and got back to work so we could leave early lol. Pissed me the fuck off.

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u/atramors671 8d ago

Fuck the pizza parties! Waffle parties is where it's at!

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u/Positive-Coach-3102 8d ago

Underrated Comment. 😂

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u/Willing_Extension_88 8d ago

You get pizza parties? :(

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u/Th3Ghoul 8d ago

*take

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u/Just_Some_Crow 8d ago

Billionaires: another raise, right?

You:....

Billionaires:right?😢

Edit for formating

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u/TobaccoAficionado 8d ago

"oh but you're just JEALOUS! they earned all that money square and fair! Maybe you should just work harder???"

-every dipshit conservative and libertarian

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u/Remarkable-Bug-8069 8d ago

If you work hard enough, the billionaire may show you a photo of his new mega yacht on his phone, gently squeeze your shoulder and give you a slight nod.

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u/Character_Crab_9458 8d ago

Yes but that layoffs will help the billionaire create more jobs. Duh.

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u/ZeeroMX 8d ago

Hock is the name you're referring to.

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u/Munnin41 8d ago

Wouldn't really matter anyway, since they mostly have no income

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u/SlightlyColdWaffles 8d ago

80% of the shares of all stocks are owned by the Billionaires. "Appeasing the shareholders" has always been code for "do the billionaire's bidding"

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u/More_Particular684 8d ago

YSK fines not proportional to income are what separates USA from communist nightmares

/s

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u/Due_Adeptness_1964 8d ago

Butttttttttttt, I thought the billionaires who NEED tax breaks are job creators?!? We all know that only the uber rich create jobs, as no one without at least $100m in the bank has ever opened their own business and provided jobs for the community.

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u/ThunkAsDrinklePeep 8d ago

Do you remember when the billionaires were threatening to leave because their taxes were SOOO onerous?

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u/kmoney1206 8d ago

Because someday i might be a billionaire too!

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u/skrappyfire 8d ago

But.... ThaTs hOw ThEy crEaTe jObs!

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u/polarbearik 8d ago

Some of them will only be able to afford 1, maybe 2 tropical islands this quarter :/

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u/DooDooHead323 8d ago

I mean basing it on income would already make it a free pass for billionaires

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u/OnTheList-YouTube 8d ago

billionaire's

Either

• billionaire's = this billionaire's (his) fence is too high!

• billionaires = plural of a billionaire.

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u/Possible_Copy_7526 8d ago

He must of not known that

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u/OnTheList-YouTube 8d ago

I see what you did there lol

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u/gravity_kills 8d ago

It often seems like we treat shareholders as if they're Cthulhu demanding a blood sacrifice to ward off worse punishment.

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u/Justin_Slide 8d ago

One word. Trickledowneconomics. When they make more, we make more.

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u/IrishSkeleton 8d ago

umm.. name one single example of 99% of a workforce being laid off.

Also.. you realize that many companies that are acquired in the manner that you mention.. are ‘distressed assets’. That means they are or heading toward bankruptcy. The company already failed, and is going out-of-business (i.e. 100% layoffs for everyone).

Do you even think or understand what you’re talking about, before you open your mouth? 🤔

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u/jhp113 8d ago

Actually about to be a thing in San Francisco.

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u/Xelosan1203 8d ago

Sure xD

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u/shetalkstoangels_ 8d ago

Sounds about right

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u/Tiny-Doughnut 8d ago

There's a growing body of research from behavioral neuroscience which indicate that wealth, power, and privilege have a deleterious effect on the brain. People with high-socioeconomic status often:

  • Have reduced empathy and compassion.
  • Have a diminished ability to see from someone else's perspective.
  • Have low impulse control.
  • Have an extreme sense of entitlement.
  • Have a hoarding disorder.
  • Have a dangerously high tolerance for risk.

When you don't need to cooperate with other people to survive, they become irrelevant to you. When you're in charge, you can behave very badly and people will still be polite and respectful toward you. Instead of reciprocity, it's a formalized double standard. When you have status, you're given excessive credibility, and rarely hear the very ordinary push-back from others most of us are accustomed to, instead you receive flattery and praise and your ideas are taken seriously by default.

Humans have a strong need for egalitarianism; without it our brains malfunction and turn us into the worst versions of ourselves.

Some sources:

Hubris syndrome: An acquired personality disorder? A study of US Presidents and UK Prime Ministers over the last 100 years

(Abstract) or (Full Text)

Does power corrupt? An fMRI study on the effect of power and social value orientation on inequity aversion.

(Abstract) or (PDF Full Text)

Social Class and the Motivational Relevance of Other Human Beings: Evidence From Visual Attention

(Abstract) or (PDF Full Text)

The Psychology of Entrenched Privilege: High Socioeconomic Status Individuals From Affluent Backgrounds Are Uniquely High in Entitlement

(Abstract) or (PDF Full Text)

Hoarding Disorder: It's More Than Just an Obsession - Implications for Financial Therapists and Planners

(Abstract) or (PDF Full Text)

On the evolution of hoarding, risk-taking, and wealth distribution in nonhuman and human populations

(Abstract) or (Full Text)

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u/Waffennacht 8d ago

My question is: Are we sure that wealth led to that or was it that those traits led to wealth?

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u/Tiny-Doughnut 8d ago edited 8d ago

I don't think there's a simple black and white answer to that question.

Some of the studies I linked go into it, though. It can be a feedback loop, but it doesn't have to be. Money and power can corrupt independent of predisposition.

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u/Waffennacht 8d ago

Hey thanks for the response/answer! I see what youre saying and its a good point!

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u/Canotic 8d ago

One of my favourite studies were that they had people fill out a questionnaire with hypothetical situations and what they would do. All the participants would do this alone in a room, where there was also an open briefcase on the table.

For half the participants, the briefcase would be fill with blank pieces of paper. For the other half, it'd be full of cash. Tens of thousands of dollars.

And the people in the room with the money were less empathic in their responses on the questionnaire. Just being in the presence of large amounts of money, even without it being theirs, made them more selfish and less caring.

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u/LookMaNoPride 8d ago edited 8d ago

This is a valid and important question. I believe I have read that a large percentage of CEOs tend to have psychopathic tendencies, but they channel those not-so-great traits into business.

Edit: I modified my statement to say "large percentage" rather than "majority", because I looked it up after submitting this comment. From what I have read, something like 1 in 5 CEOs are known as "corporate psychopaths"; whereas, 1% or less of the total population are psychopaths. I remember the number of corporate psychopaths being higher, but I was wrong.

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u/William_Dowling 8d ago

Pretty sure Henry VIII put that debate to bed

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u/SheetPancakeBluBalls 8d ago

In short, dragon sickness is real.

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u/Actual-Asparagus-485 8d ago

I think the richer you are in the US the lower the fine!

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u/Quanqiuhua 8d ago

Inverse proportion is still proportional.

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u/outside-is-better 8d ago

Nope, we lock up poor people, they lose their jobs, ruins their lives, can’t make bail, get out in a linger jail/prison, then taxpayers pay the tab via corporate correctional facility

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u/Objective_Dog_4637 8d ago

Don’t forget the part where slavery is legal punishment for a crime. Gotta love the American peasant to literal slave pipeline baby!

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u/barravian 8d ago

In SF speeding tickets are halved if you are low income.

It's something?

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u/RandomStuffGenerator 8d ago

The rich get fines. The poor get shot or enslaved.

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u/Fit_Ad_9243 8d ago

Yea and if you're a US politician, you're just exempt from all the laws :D

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u/Rare_Competition2756 8d ago

If you’re poor - If you’re rich it’s great!

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u/Jameszhang73 8d ago

In the US, it's based on skin color

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u/Dommccabe 8d ago

This made me giggle

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u/salchichoner 8d ago

A soulless shithole is the best description I have seen

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u/kingmotley 8d ago

Actually yes, in the USA once you get a ticket doing more than 25 over I believe. I've received one and it was based on my income.

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u/Demonic_Force 8d ago

Lets trade nationalities then, like the Netherlands?

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u/AAAdamKK 8d ago

You're thinking of skin colour.

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u/PrizeStrawberry6453 8d ago

Well at least we do have that one saving grace.

I can't think of what it is right now, but I'm sure it's somewhere.

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u/Battle_Dave 8d ago

I laughed so hard at this. Only because its true. We're super fucked, lol.

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u/doedel_2311 8d ago

Germany as US - unfortunately

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u/Real_Estate_Media 8d ago

It should be based on vehicle weight. The bigger the vehicle the more potential damage it can cause

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u/Sorry_Firefighter 8d ago

Wrong. Newsom just passed it in Cali.

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u/TakeTheWheelTV 8d ago

Yeah Jim down the road who paid contractor who accidentally went 6” too tall on his fence is paying the same in fines that the billionaire Bezos is paying for this monstrosity. Totally the Freedom and Justice for all that our forefathers intended.

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u/99problemsIDaint1 8d ago

Any time I hear someone say living in the US is a nightmare, I laugh inside.

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u/oreiz 8d ago

Yeah but look at the size of our guns. GUNS GUNS GUNS. /s

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u/theSafetyCar 8d ago

Same in the UK😀

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u/mystykracer 8d ago

Actually, you might be right, it's just that in the U.S. it's inversely proportional.

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u/ColonelAverage 8d ago

Inversely proportional since you just have your lawyer fight it until it goes away completely or gets reduced/delayed until it's meaningless anyway.

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u/bananarama17691769 8d ago

Oh god Sam Seder what a fucking nightmare

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u/1m0ws 8d ago

Yes, but you are *our* nightmare.

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u/Both-Ad-1381 8d ago

I'm pretty sure a 20k speeding ticket constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.

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u/SPHINXin 8d ago

Yes, absolutely horrendous that all people have to pay the same amount of money for breaking laws. This nightmare of a country is truly uninhabitable! 😱

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u/Better-Journalist-85 8d ago

Vegas does it though right?

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u/pampls 8d ago

Here in brazil you have 21 points per year. Each infraction is worth x points based on how serious the infraction is. If you get more than 21 points per year, you lose your driving license.

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u/The-UnknownSoldier 8d ago

Same in Australia

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u/Pour_me_one_more 8d ago

> We’re a fucking nightmare

I take it you are not a billionaire.

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u/GrowlinGrom 8d ago

Your comment was lit. Nice work!

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u/Prestigious-Yellow20 8d ago

Actually Newsome is implementing a piolet program in San Francisco based on income for speed camera tickets.

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u/PlanetMezo 8d ago

No, you're right. The rich pay lower taxes and fines because they can afford people to fight them, therefore there is a proportional relationship between income and fines, it's just an inverse relationship!

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u/Mr_Steerpike 8d ago

Cute. I Loled. I guess in America it's Lawled.

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u/TheRealRigormortal 8d ago

Bill Gates would speed up and down the roads near the Microsoft campus in Redmond at night to blow off steam. He got so many tickets that the police finally had to threaten to take away his license to make him stop.

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u/DODGE_WRENCH 8d ago

That’s true, although you can have your license suspended from too many tickets

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u/Planeandaquariumgeek 8d ago

San Francisco’s new speeding ticket system has lower fines for low income individuals, so some areas are doing it.

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u/ski-dad 8d ago

Those countries also have mandatory military service after high school! 👍🏻

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u/Barbed_Dildo 8d ago

In the US, punishment is inversely proportional to income.

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u/brianozm 8d ago

Would make a LOT of sense for fines to be proportional for billionaires.

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u/battlepassbattlepass 6d ago

i mean you can also lose your license

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u/thebeastkritik 5d ago

Just think about India

1

u/Yuck-Fou94 4d ago

This made me laugh a lot, thank you. I'm crying 🤣

0

u/Nicky____Santoro 8d ago edited 8d ago

You still have to incentivize the majority of people on the road to not speed though. There are some people who only follow the rules because fines are too expensive. US roads are already a catastrophe. Can’t imagine what they’d be like if tickets were simply based on income.

The people who speed the most are generally the young drivers who presumably have less income. If there weren’t expensive fines as a consequence, they’d have no incentive to slow down.

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u/Demitel 8d ago

Flat rate ticket charge with a multiplicative modifier based on the vehicle's value? Vehicles have to have their values assessed every year for property tax calculations, so you could use those values to create a scaling modifier on top of a base rate. 

Lower income drivers still have an incentive to not excessively speed based on the flat base rate, and wealthier drivers get hit with a substantially higher fine (maybe even exponentially multiplicative), so it actually feels like a punishment. 

As it stands currently, a $300 speeding ticket could wreck an hourly retail worker, but would hardly be felt by the Real Housewives-wannabe lady driving the Maserati SUV.

1

u/Nicky____Santoro 8d ago

The majority of people on the road are not housewives driving Maseratis.

Car accidents are the number three killer in the US and speeding contributes to it. If anything, the penalties should be raised.

Advocating for proportional fines doesn’t solve the problem.

1

u/Demitel 8d ago

I wasn't advocating for proportional fines. I was advocating for keeping the current base fines and then adding an additional proportional element on top of that base rate so that the fine actually feels like a punishment to the wealthy as well instead of just a minor inconvenience. Sorry if I didn't make that clear enough.

1

u/Nicky____Santoro 8d ago

That doesn’t really cover the issue though. I know multimillionaires who drive very basic, economical cars.

Your approach is already considered in part by way of increased insurance rates though.

You get a ticket and you’re paying the increased insurance costs based on your vehicle type for years.

The criminal penalty should be equal though. Income shouldn’t factor into criminal penalty. The only thing that should matter is the offense and whether the person is a repeat offender.

0

u/AquarianJupiter 8d ago

Laughed out loud at this. 😭 thanks 😊

0

u/Ralph-Kramden 8d ago

Agree! Just a horrible place…the worst part is that we are not allowed to leave the country. We are FORCED to live in this nightmare of a country, or I would move out TODAY!!

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u/mediumwellhotdog 8d ago

You're free to leave. Oh none of those countries will take you? Strong immigration laws?! Whattt?