Watch the full debate here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/gs-ViqeSpqeRZn0.html

Get rich , avoid large amounts of taxes and keep people happy by giving them jobs and paying them just enough to come back for more. Crumb, crumb, crumb.

Seeing the low viewerships of these videos, I still find that the topic of debate is extremely important, hence I have set out to provide the following summary of the points covered by both sides, and my opinion on their arguments for those that might be interested. First, if the topic is “is it immoral to be a billionaire” as stated in the topic, to make sure we are all on the same page, the debate should be on whether BEING a billionaire is by itself, immoral. It Is Immoral To Be A Billionaire Charlie Coverman, Amy Gregg, Prof Mehrsa Baradaran - highlights the things that what billionaire did was immoral. Did not address the question directly. Anand Giridharadas - I think he brings up the most crucial question to this debate: is it immoral for a person in power (i.e. in this case, billionaire) to not take an action to benefit millions of people at the sacrifice of oneself. It Is NOT Immoral To Be A Billionaire Sara Dube - being a billionaire isn’t immoral, but it is the ACTIONS that billionaire do that are immoral. I think her argument is decent. Liam Willis - ownership and spending of wealth are 2 different case. I think his argument is decent. Helen Thomas - sorry, what she say is just logically flawed, I am disturbed that she is even present for the debate. Peter Singer - suggest a change in motion as debating whether it is immoral to be a billionaire does not make sense. I think his point argument is similar but brought across the best. In Summary, listen to only if you want to: 1) Anand Giridharadas and 2) Peter Singer As I believe they are the best speakers on both side. And I feel that they should have changed the motion to -> is it immoral for those in power (i.e. in this case billionaires) to not take any action to make changes (usually at the expense of themselves) to better the lives of millions across the world.

OxfordUnion Debate and everyone acted like a regular high school.

The speaker completely avoids the question. The motion is, "it is immoral to be a billionaire". To prove this statement, it is necessary to prove that being a billionaire is immoral on its own. The speaker talks about all the immoral things billionaires do, but this does not prove anything. Even if all billionaires were immoral, this would not prove that being a billionaire is immoral. He needs to establish a causal mechanism. I am not saying I disagree with his side. For example he could argue that sitting on a pile of cash that others desperately need is immoral. This is different than saying that billionaires are rich because they exploit the poor (which is what he seems to say). Instead of coming to a debate he came to do a speech about all the evils he thinks billionaires are responsible for. He is arguing his views instead of arguing the motion.

it is moral for me to be a billionaire, not for others

It immoral to to be greedy and cheap. You just need moral principals to deal with this.

It is NOT immoral to be a billionaire. What can be immoral is how the billionaire make his money and what a he or she choose to do with the money. And that also pertain to everyone and not just the ultra rich. No one has to impose a self-limit on himself or herself just because many others cannot can't get there. Extend this to other things some unique people seemingly have in excess than others (apart from money) and you will realize that lurking behind this thinking is envy and resentment.

Can anyone explain what is going on between 7:40 and 8:00

It isn't "immoral to be a billionaire", it's immoral for billionaires to evade consideration of pressing global issues and not to feel compelled to infiltrate their $millions$ funds into areas of need, which are otherwise untouchable through other financial sources

I don't think it is inherently immoral to own a billion dollars. Theft is immoral. Murder is immoral. Adultery is immoral. Simply owning money is not immoral. No matter the amount. If a man misuses his billion dollars, then his ACTIONS are immoral, yet the simple ownership of that money is still guilt free unless if illegaly acquired.

$20 this clown uses his degree to converse with his comrades in the welfare line.

The government's carbon tax is basically designed to target civilians rather than companies that continue to produce carbon emissions.

I find it odd that this is being debated where a lot of billionaires studied, though I do like some of the speakers.

Know that there isn't a fixed amount of money (value) in the world for everyone to fight for. Elon Musk didn't have to take money (value) from anyone to become rich. He created more value from nothing and hence more money. I can't speak to the morality of anyone but becoming very rich is a really hard task and usually makes life much better all around.

The answer is in the question really because contemplation on this subject has entered your mind . Being a billionaire is not a good thing when your country or even needy people around the world are hungry or in hardhips . Our society and economy is all wrong , we should never have a economy that allows recession , or greed , or poverty . The small groups of leaders around the world should have joined together and made life easier for all , create an unlimited purse , where they can make everyone abundant and share the world's resources giving everyone a job and also money in abundance and opportunity for all and keep tbe population down low . Instead we have a slave society where by people in power feed off others and leave them in hardhips Once again this is due to weak people in leadership who are criminal minded , they like big business and they like to make money and stand out from others and exalt and say I'm rich and powerful . And this is very unfair when you think they can't have that with out security Our military trains and works very hard to fight our enemies and keep us safe in the most dangerous of conditions and they get paid a pittance compared to All these big buisness people . They can't have there luxury lives without the security that our brave armed forces personell give them . And so to be wealthy this way , and live a luxury life when you offer little in return meaning , you don't risk your life to serve your country and go through the hardhips others do is wrong So in effect although you may work for a living you have not earned all the money you have being a buisness person So it was irresponsible to allow you to earn so much and the excess money above a reasonable wage should have been pumped back into the country to help others in need We as a country are a family and we need each other to survive so we have to look after each other and share resources to give each other the best quality lives we can afford them . Take a business man , who sits in his top floor of his office block which he runs Look at all the hard work around him that allowed him to sit where he is The men who laboured and designed the building , the furniture makers that furnish the office block The catering staff , the farmers who feed the buisness man to keep him going The electricians , plumbers designers , the police he can call on of he's buisness and Wealth is ever threatend the military keep outside invaders away from our shores so he can stay safe The medical staff who patch him up when he's sick or injured So many people work hard to keep that man sat in that building and most if not all do it for such a little wage compared to him . So you can see he is exploiting . And he is nothing without the hard work and dedication of all those people on low wages who he can't seem to live without to get where he is in life

What does he mean by that the poor gets poorer? Extreme poverty is diminishing at a rapid rate.

How do we solve wealth inequality? No one is talking about solutions.

I am going to watch this debate with the initial idea "F the ultra-rich". let’s see if I change my mind.

Dam this channel is fire

Great speech dude ! Statistical, logical & to the point 🔥

The offspring of the ultra rich living, still in their parent's basements, have all voted thumbs down for this incredible presentation I see. Ha !

Morality isn't about what you have. It's about what you do. The proposition is childish.

Th prompt should be extended to ‘is being a billionaire immoral within our current system’. As I believe that being a billionaire in itself is not immoral, but within the context of our system it most certainly is.

love the Shade thrown at minute 4

I like his words though

The tuxedo undercuts his argument.

Where are the results of this debate?

Capitalism is bloody no doubt, but I'd still like to try and become a billionaire whenever possible just to gain a bigger control of my own life so I am not constantly under the mercy of others who doesn't even know me, let alone actual care. Yes I'm aware that some of these influential and powerful or wealthy people do still care, but it is necessary to point out that once they reach a point and beyond, although they do still care, their priorities do change. Which is why I'd stress the need to have a more than "sufficient "control of my own life despite whoever defines "sufficient control of individual life".

Its not immoral to be a billionaire most people in zimbabwe are billionaires are you calling them immoral you must be racist

This debate illustrates the corruption of math represented by money.

Im sorry, but can oxford union use technology for once, i heard the entire debate and come back to post here. I realised the debaters keep forgetting what the previous person before them just argued. Its useless to keep restating points over and over again if they argue over different stuff..... Even a board to list down the pointers will be good? E.g. he pointed out 1 2 3, and i think 1 2 3 is wrong. Not he pointed out 1 2 3, now lemme tell you why 4 5 6 suports my point. I think this is a really important debate, but it gets pointless if they dont address points the other side argues about....

As the skyscrapers go up in London, I already see the national instability soon to come. Looks like the British libertarians are learning from the Americans how to ruin a good thing.

If I can't be the billionaire I will not let others get there too

When someone can't memorize their speech. Aggravating!

How can any "debate" conclude it is or it is not "moral" to be anything. No moral issue is debatable for any kind of absolutist answer. There are 100 people's varying morals in that room. Two speakers, or teams of speakers, cannot pose a binary dilemma and then subseqtently MAKE those who vote in favour "right" and those who vote against "wrong".

By the speaker's logic the Nobel Prize should be eliminated as only a minicule percent of the population win it .

Peter Singer says it’s not immoral to be a billionaire? I’ll have to watch this. I must have a fundamental misunderstanding of Singer.

does anyone know who walked out at 7:31 😭😭

Consolidation of wealth and power is not a good idea.

I've said this many times to many different individuals, but generally the average person doesn't fully understand what a "billion" actually is, and it's not until you break it down do people realise just how ridiculously rich these individuals are along with the enormous amounts of power and influence they have over the rest of us. I have to say though, one issue I had with the debate is the NHS being brought up, the NHS has enough money as it stands, what they're doing wrong is what they're spending that money on, they are misspending billions upon billions on sectors such as Mental Health when this very rarely benefits individuals and solely benefits the private companies that the NHS are outsourcing to. The average stay in an NHS Hospital for a week (which are in reality an Asylum) is between £5000 - £10000, these stays, which are a lot of the time forced upon individuals, benefit the private sector and the private sector only, those who are suffering don't need locking up, and the research shows just how damaging and destructive these policies are, yet they're continued. For years I've seen the NHS mentioned when discussing a lack of funding, but that just isn't the reality, if there's underfunding it's done on purpose for whatever policies are in place, and if parts of the NHS are run dry to then be sold off privately, that isn't on accident, it's a well thought out process to slowly privatise and fund it out of house so to speak. Apart from that, he's not wrong, Billionaires are in a position of essentially being Demi-Gods and they do so little with their wealth, sure there are a few that are helping the World, but many, including the families of Trillionaires, are sitting quietly, doing very little.

Greed is a vice not a virtue. However, if you donated 51% to 100 worthy causes, that would be the majority of your wealth and you would be called virtuous and you'd still have more than enough to go to future generations of your family 100 years into the future. Win-win

A 5 year old can debunke all of his nonsensical.

Awesome fella!

More virtue signalling, more economic stupidity, more class hatred and of course more Marx. You’d think this kid would be better educated.

This is erelivant to people that don't have that kind of money.

He doesnt take the point of information because he knows he is lying, interesting.

Who won the debate ?

Would it be immoral to make more than average income? What a silly debate.

Georgia

I get it that these kids are like "Ferrari" cars, so I grant they think quickly and use logic and speak very well. However, the lack of life experience and maturity of worldview can make their views silly and childish.

It's obviously really hard to heat thousands of empty warehouses and churches for the homeless when all you have to do it is nuclear power stations.....

Why go for a billionaire and not a millionaire? Oh because it's the kids off a bunch of millionaires. Off with their heads.

imagine what people can do if they combine their money, buy in bulk...and sell it at a fraction cheaper than what billionares do

So if by a combination of genius, hardwork and stroke of luck, I develop a product that meets a billion peoples need and they are ready to pay just a dollar each for it, that somehow makes me immoral?

Wish I had a few more for communication purposes

why does everyone in the backgrund really annoy me? So damn wired or something...

Not my fault or problem that I am successful and rich and you are not.

This entire argument can be summed up in 30 seconds starting a 4:36.

People liked the word loophole and money trickle down from it ..they applaused amused at this😅...law authorities should take notice of this as he is referring to the loops in laws what lawyers mint money from millionaires 😅😅

15:23 Sorry bud, only peasants high five.

Yes

To construct an arrangement that enshrines our ideals and empowers the better angels of our nature, which rewards fairly the honest efforts and success, building the potential of our fellow man, ultimately benefitting our collective societal advancement. Egalite, Fraternity, Liberty!🗝️🗽🌄

the guy is at least addressing it..............?

I always hate when I hear the myth that Amazon paid no taxes. This is just not true. Amazon might not have paid corporate tax, but they paid many other taxes like: employee taxes, state taxes, etc.

I switched the other day from my Samsung J3 to a 10 which is not even the latest because that was cheapest one available, for some reason if I got an older one they would've charged more. And I had that cell phone for like 7 yrs, never fell for the consumerism trap. The hardest aspect to resist is the clothes one.. Everyone wears clothes, at least I think they do.. Oh and emperors too, those sometimes wear nothing jajaja. But as oppose to a car or phone which some people keep theirs for a long time because; "Hey it still works just fine". Clothes are different and are a necessity, but nowadays it's not a matter of necessity because no one likes to wear old clothes or the same clothes. Cars can be considered a necessity too but even anti corporate sub cultures have their own "fashion style" and are marketed towards, irony. Reminds me of Einstein and his crazy hair, because we all know a guy that spends time thinking about the universe ain't worrying about how his hair looks. Think about that 😉

real debate topic: "I'm jealous of anyone that has more than me"

A Billion dollars is unnecessary, need better wealth distribution, a single mum who is looking for a roof over her head and how to feed her baby need some money, or the elderly stripped of their assets in 2010, or hard earned money taken after the tech crash, should never have gone back to the current financial system after the 1930s market crash, not reliable

This man merely announces that there are two big crises -- income inequality and climate change -- which he asserts are the world’s two biggest crises, without so much as the hint of an argument, then goes on to say that it’s immoral to be a billionaire because billionaires disproportionately contribute to both. I don’t think income inequality is a crisis at all, and we don’t need to deny an iota of climate science to say that “human beings are on the brink of extinction” is complete nonsense. These crises aren’t nearly as big as he makes them out to be. I don’t even think the first one is a crisis at all.

If so then wouldn’t that make God immoral since he has exponentially more and can give it to you if need be? Maybe take morality out of the question and you can arrive at an answer quicker.

i m millioner i have 1 million this is a very beatiful situation

Good speech from Niko Omilana

Wouldn't it mess up the economy if billionaires just gave their money away

Extavigant

Money can not buy everything but almost can be bought by money. Everyone needs money but Don't you sell your love or the important things from your life caused the name of money. Do you wanna sell your families?. The sadly moment when Abraham wanted to follow the God's instruction to his son Ismael, after that moment no one wants to sacrifice their family or people, because human is very more important to be sacrificed. Frankly Abraham got the great test from God. So that God send His famous Prophets, they are Jesus Christ and Muhammad Saw to finish every problem in our daily life. Jesus Christ said " I was created in the same land as well as Muhammad ". That's why, Christianity and Islam are very close. 🇬🇧🌐

He sounds like Karl Marx, poor kid, so brainwashed and he doesn't even know it.

outstanding!

Bad arguments. So many fallacies, so many red herrings.

no lol

Will Trump use liverage to segregate genuine billionaires or heirs?

5:41 after that lots of enploiees were fired because it they werent worth the increase. ironicaly the interventio n that seaked inprovement ended destroying people livelyhoods

1:00 Gosh, nothing like starting off a bad debate with three stereotypical clichés. That's more worthy of a tabloid newspaper not a university debate. Don't have the courage to listen any further.

Jesus would have said to be a billionaire is immoral.

WHAT A FOOLISH SPEAKER - INDUSTRY PROVIDES EVERYTHING HE HAS. MANT VERY RICH INDUSTRIAL LEADERS HAVE. GO TRUMP.

“Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life (business medicine) The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs.” (St. John Chrysostom, quoted by CCC 2446)

There is no such thing as a moral billionaire