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What would be your plans if you had a trillion dollars?

Piatzin

By Piatzin
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HansonKerman

HansonKerman

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On 9/4/2018 at 5:22 PM, Just Jim said:

Actually, I really like the education idea. Owning KSP would be fun, but I like the idea of opening some sort of technical school... Pure science, none of that other crap...Just classes devoted to future astronauts and engineers and such... 

Just JIm's school for Advanced Science Geeks!!! hehehehe

I'll join! :P

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StrandedonEarth

StrandedonEarth

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The world produces plenty of food, the problem is getting it to where it is needed. I’d fund a program run by logistics and distribution experts to collect excess and unsellable (but still edible) food and redistribute it to where it’s needed. Bulk staples could be shipped overseas, while supermarket “waste” would go to soup kitchens. 

Inspired by my brother-in-law, a sformer chef who now works in a soup kitchen at a homeless shelter, turning donated produce into healthy soups, stews and other good stuff instead of letting it all go to garbage/compost. 

I’d also start a program trying to shift ranchers from raising cattle to raising free-range chickens, or even crickets!

As for dropping money from a helicopter over slums, that would probably start / escalate a gang war. 

 

Edited by StrandedonEarth
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Bill Phil

Bill Phil

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8 hours ago, Kernel Kraken said:

Because microtransactions in an eighty dollar game. The intent is to provide the gaming community with a sense of pride and a complishment in knowing that EA is gone.

You could just buy EA, and then get rid of it. Keep all the good employees if you want...

From what I can find EA's value is less than 10 billion. Easy if you have over a trillion.

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Ultimate Steve

Ultimate Steve

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This is the point in time where I say I'd be a good man and donate to worthwhile causes to make our world(s) a better place(es). This is also the part where, in the stories, the one who was gifted turns evil and abuses his power. So would I be a good man?

 

Provided I don't go crazy from the wealth... The big things can wait. That takes geniuses with access to technology and money. It takes fresh ideas. And there's been several variations on the quote "If you have a roof over your head and a bed to sleep in you are richer than 75% of the world." I've also heard that if you make 50,000 USD annually you're in the top 1%, although I do not know if that one is true.

Assuming the distribution of people with potential, inspiration, and ideas is roughly equal, and only the ones with resources can ever advance the world, then we as a species could potentially only be utilizing 1% of our geniuses.

With this in mind I would spend most of my 1 trillion dollars on infrastructure projects in the poorer parts of the world, including large scale development of renewable energy and sustainable farming. I would also try, somehow, to make sure that population won't get out of hand. Unfortunately that money will run out quickly, it is estimated that the US highway system cost about 500 billion dollars in today's money. But if a trillion can power Africa or South America with renewable energy, then we're a big step closer to further expansion and more enabled geniuses who in turn will continue to make the world a better place.

And then of course I'd save a couple billion to donate to SpaceX so we can get to Mars soon. But tell them that they need to find a way, at least for early manned flights of the BFR, to include some sort of launch escape system.

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kerbiloid

kerbiloid

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10 hours ago, Earthlinger said:
13 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

Just put the trillion on Mars.

Yes, but, plaaaaanss

That is the plan.

Land a trillion heap of money on the Mars surface and twit the photo.

Then enjoy watching the Martian race.

Edited by kerbiloid
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Piatzin

Piatzin

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7 hours ago, StrandedonEarth said:

The world produces plenty of food, the problem is getting it to where it is needed. I’d fund a program run by logistics and distribution experts to collect excess and unsellable (but still edible) food and redistribute it to where it’s needed. Bulk staples could be shipped overseas, while supermarket “waste” would go to soup kitchens. 

Inspired by my brother-in-law, a sformer chef who now works in a soup kitchen at a homeless shelter, turning donated produce into healthy soups, stews and other good stuff instead of letting it all go to garbage/compost. 

I’d also start a program trying to shift ranchers from raising cattle to raising free-range chickens, or even crickets!

 
[Snipped a picture of a politician saying "Give that man a cookie"]
 
For doing something that wouldn't just exacerbate the differences between the developed and undeveloped worlds.
 
2 hours ago, Ultimate Steve said:

With this in mind I would spend most of my 1 trillion dollars on infrastructure projects in the poorer parts of the world, including large scale development of renewable energy and sustainable farming. I would also try, somehow, to make sure that population won't get out of hand. Unfortunately that money will run out quickly, it is estimated that the US highway system cost about 500 billion dollars in today's money. But if a trillion can power Africa or South America with renewable energy, then we're a big step closer to further expansion and more enabled geniuses who in turn will continue to make the world a better place.

Hey, we could team up. You build the transport/energy infrastructure and I make the towers :D

Edited by Deddly
Removed politician, sorry :(
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p1t1o

p1t1o

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Its a trick question: "What would you do if all restriction on what you could do were lifted?"

Too many options, the only answer is "Whatever I want to do, whenever I want to do it."

 

Almost every suggestion I have read costs WAY less than a trillion dollars. Want to make Tesla and JCB have a literal fight in Wembley stadium? Done, and you still have maybe 90% of your money leftover.

Want to design a space shuttle from scratch, build it and then an ISS of your own? Done, and still have maybe 80% of your money left...

 

 

So you spend the first year on the wembley thing and the second on the shuttle, now the roughly 700billion funds in your account have accrued maybe 100billion and change (conservatively) in interest...its actually going to be hard to spend all of this.

 

You could absolutely start a colony on Mars and still have silly money in your account, even taking into account regular supply missions, upkeep and expansion.

 

There certainly wouldnt be any point in giving any money to charity, because you could simply build a corporation, the largest corporation in the world, solely dedicated to solving a charity's problem, then move on to the next.  With a trillion funds, you could give 10billion funds (significantly more than is currently spent, globally, on all anti cancer research, annually) from the interest you are earning alone, to fight cancer, every year, and this will only slow the increase of your bank account, not stop it.

You could basically double the size of AND completely fund all global anti-cancer research...forever...and your bank account is still increasing.

 

 

This amount of money is large enough to make question like "What would you do with the money?" meaningless.

Its the difference between putting a large sum of money into a homeless person's hat, or doing a full "trading places" and placing him as a CEO into a large multinational (A brand new one that you have just built from scratch) with a multi-billion turnover. 

And it still woudnt cost you anything.

 

What would I do if I had a trillion funds?

I'd try to change the world as we know it, and I might succeed.

(In between having an absolute amazing life, obvsly)

 

***

People mention that countries like the US spend similar amount every year, but the money is never controlled by any one single person, it is controlled by many thousands of people, each responsible for a tiny piece. Some people are responsible for more, but the point is that its value is always spread very widely across many things.

With a trillion funds in the control of a single person, its pressure can be brought to bear on individual or small handfuls of problems and its full weight can be used.

The only example of this ever happening int he real world I can come up with is the Moon landings and that was still spent over several years.

More importantly, a country's funds are not the same as a positive bank balance and dont earn interest. Or not in the same way at least, much of it is offset by the money that the average country owes.

Edited by p1t1o
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p1t1o

p1t1o

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1 hour ago, Deddly said:

Can I invest in that bank please?? 

I'm going off 5% interest, you wouldnt get that on the high Street but for such a large amount, it is reasonably conservative, though some of it might need to be in a managed fund or whatever.

But even if it's 1% you still have an extremely significant income (10billion a year! That's all current cancer research and then a bit more, paid for in full, forever, for free)

Of course I admit to having no experience with billions of funds, this is all based on what little I know and, naturally, hyped a bit for fun ;)

 

What IS accurate, is that you *could* afford to buy Tesla and JCB AND Wembley stadium, and have them fight it out in a battle royale, cars vs. JCBs

 

Oh, if anyone doesnt know what a "JCB" is:

 

jcb-3cx-eco-2-units,644c0482-1.jpg

 

Edited by p1t1o
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Piatzin

Piatzin

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1 hour ago, Kernel Kraken said:

Nah. I'd issue a message to all the anti microtransactions employees to get out of the building before it goes up in a mushroom cloud.

You do realize you're talking about committing mass murder on a public forum, right?

As someone who heard this sort of thing often (I lived in Brussels during the lockdown and terrorist attacks) it's not something I particularly appreciate. Especially bomb threats.

Edited by Earthlinger
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p1t1o

p1t1o

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Im thinking that there are strange things you can do with that amount of money, that does not involve buying anything.

 

Eg: How rapidly would you have to make 1penny deposits into a bank account to lock it up from all other transactions? (basically a financial DoS attack)

1kHz? You could keep that up for 100years. Or attack 3,600 seperate accounts for 10days.

Sure maybe a bank could freeze the transactions and regain control pretty quickly, but it is an ability to futz with global finance in a pretty new way.

 

What other weird powers (other than buying stuff) does having a trillion funds unlock?

 

Another thing you could do, is win any lottery you want. You could purchase sufficient tickets (would only cost you 100mil or so) to win every prize in the UK lotto for example, netting you a decent profit (although...it might be pocket change to you...if you make 100mil profit [doubtful, plus I havnt done the math] thats the equivalent of having £10 and making...  0.1p profit... ). I dont know if you could do this to all lotteries at the same time, globally, but you might be able to.

Edited by p1t1o
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Kernel Kraken

Kernel Kraken

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1 hour ago, Earthlinger said:

You do realize you're talking about committing mass murder on a public forum, right?

As someone who heard this sort of thing often (I lived in Brussels during the lockdown and terrorist attacks) it's not something I particularly appreciate. Especially bomb threats.

Oh, yeah. I'll get rid of the murder part and teleport the offices to Mars or something.

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LaydeeDem

LaydeeDem

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Off the top of my head:

-Purchase and renovate dead or dying malls across the US and turn them into rent-free public housing.

-Donate heavily to charities for at-risk LGBTQ+ youth, or start my own.

-Donate to underfunded projects like SETI

-Sustainable farming projects, especially in places affected by climate change

-Use the rest to set up a small arcade with my girlfriend. I think it's important that alcohol-free social spaces exist, especially for LGBTQ+ people, who only really have gay bars. Plus arcades are awesome. :cool:

 

Idk what else. The last thing I'd want to do is hoard it though. A trillion dollars is a society changing amount of wealth.

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Piatzin

Piatzin

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6 hours ago, Nuke said:

definately evil lair on cruithne.

Related image
*Concern*
 
That thing is 2km wide. It could easily cause a mass extinction (albeit one less severe than the dinosaur one) :confused:
Edited by Earthlinger
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