Government performs services, and acceptd payment for those services in the form of taxation. The thing that is missing is the recognition that the powers exercised by government are possessed by We The People. We own those powers. We “invest” those powers in the government, who uses those powers to provide paid services to its customers.

We are each owed a return on our “investment” of political authority. Our political authority should not be given to the government freely. We should be individually compensated for it.

We are shareholders.

Universal Basic Income is one possible method of compensating the citizenry for the use of our political authority.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bag_limits

Increasing the bag limit on “billionaire” to something greater than “0” would have a much more appreciable effect on the climate than a thousand families forgoing children.

Oh, this one went somewhere, just not anywhere you wanted it to go.

You can say “billionaires harm society, literally”. That’s a literal statement that is true.

You can say “billionaires benefit society, literally”. Thats a literal statement that is untrue.

You can say “billionaires are human, literally”, so long as you are talking about individuals, and not corporate entities.

You can say “billionaires are steaming piles of shit, figuratively”. They are not literally turds emitting water vapor. That metaphor is quite apt, but not literally true.

Likewise, they are not masses of mutated cells. That metaphor is also apt, bit is not literally true.

You can say “teratomas are cancer, literally”. You can’t say “this argument is literal cancer”. It is figurative cancer, not literal.

I think you will see that OP is saying that “Billionaires are cancer” is not a figurative statement at all, but a literal one.

It is a metaphorical statement rather than a simile, but both metaphors and similes are figurative, not literal.

So, billionaires are not “literally” cancer, but “billionaires are literally cancer” is supposedly a correct use of “literally”?

That is my point. Literally can be used correctly in a statement that is not correct,

This is generally true, but in this particular sentence, the reason the sentence is false is specifically because of the meaning of “literally”.

“The sky is literally purple” is a correct use of “literally” in a false statement. This is what you are trying to argue.

“Billionaires are a cancer” is a correct, figurative statement.

“Billionaires are literally cancer” is false specifically because “literally” does not mean “figuratively”.

Watts are a unit of power. Regardless of voltage, if your appliance is drawing 3000 watts, it is heating up the same as any other device that draws 3000 watts.

Wires are not sized on the number of watts they can carry. They are sized on the number of amps they carry. If a wire is sized for 10amps, and you are using 12v, you can only get 120 watts through it. Increase the voltage to 120v, and you can get 1200 watts through that same wire. Increase to 240v, and you can get 2400 watts from that wire. The higher the voltage, the less copper you need to carry it. You need thicker insulation to handle that increased voltage, but insulation is cheap. It’s more dangerous to humans who come into contact with the wires, but you can build in additional methods to restrict human contact, such as fancy plugs and sockets.

The UK and Europe had a severe copper shortage when they rebuilt after WWII. They standardized on 240V to reduce the size of wires they needed in their homes. Instead of dozens of, low-amp circuits, they installed only a couple high-amp circuits for their entire home. They designed their household wiring so that the same circuit that powers the alarm clock on their nightstand is also used for their 3000-watt space heater.

They further reduced copper consumption by using undersized wire in a “ring” circuit instead of properly sized wire in a “branch” circuit. Failures in ring circuits are extraordinarily dangerous, because there is no immediate indication that they have failed. Each outlet receives power from two sides of the ring; if one side fails, they draw all their power from the other side, overloading the ring.

The US solution to these problems is intrinsically safer household wiring. We threw copper at the problem, because we had the copper to throw. But what we got in return was a vastly safer system. We managed to get a 240v system that only carries the risks of a 120v system.

I listen to the same ~30 songs, over and over and over again.

The issue isn’t the voltage. It is the wattage. UK kettles draw 3kW. US outlets are (typically) only rated for 2.4kW. We can easily get dedicated 30A, 120v outlets that will provide 3.6kW.

US 240v is not the same as UK 240v.

The UK uses a single live phase, (240v with respect to ground), and a neutral (0v with respect to ground).

The US uses two live phases. Each phase is 120v with respect to ground, but they are 180 degrees apart from eachother. Phase to phase is 240V, but either phase to ground is 120v.

A UK kettle expects its neutral phase to be at the same potential as ground, which can’t happen in the US without a 1-to-1 transformer

You are refuting an argument that I did not make.

I am refuting the argument that would need to be made in order to support your position. I clearly specified that necessity in my refutation. “Cancer” and “billionaire” would have to be synonymous, not analogous, for “literally” to have been used correctly.

What type of cancer are billionaires? Carcinomas are cancers of epithelial tissue, but “society” does not have epithelial tissue. Sarcomas are cancers of musculoskeletal and connective tissues, but “society” does not have bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, etc. Myelomas are cancers of the plasma cells in bone marrow, but again, “society” doesn’t have bones. Leukemias are cancers of the various blood cells, but society doesn’t have “blood”. Lymphomas are cancers of the lymphatic system, but society doesn’t have one of those either.

In fact, “society” does not have biological tissues or organs that could even become literally cancerous. (Members of society do, indeed, have these various organs and tissues, but no member of society has been diagnosed with a “Bezosma” or “Muskaemia”.)

“Billionaires are cancer” is a metaphor. “Billionaires are literally cancer” is simply a false statement, unless “literally” was used, incorrectly, as hyperbole.

My point is that I believe OP was using the word “literally” to mean what it literally means,

You can only rationally make that argument if you are claiming that “society” is a biological organism, like an amoeba or a babboon, presumably evolved from other common ancestors of all life on earth. When you can tell me the scientific name of this organism, and what organs have been affected by tumors, we can start talking about the literality of the “cancer” OP referred to.

As the underlying logic was metaphorical, “literally” was used as figurative hyperbole, not literality.

They said anti-hero.

My generation’s retirement account:

I don’t think you’re understanding me. I’ll see if I can rephrase.

There is no “jail them for life” option without the law. If you try to imprison them without the law, the law will just come in and free them. You’re suggesting a middle option that is simply not feasible.

I’m asking you to choose between:

• “Guillotine Party”, a political party, much like the Tea Party, dedicated to stripping the problem-class of their excessive political power, perhaps by creating laws to justify their permanent imprisonment. We politically, figuratively decapitate them. This approach can (theoretically) jail them for life, by creating the law that would allow it to happen.

• “guillotine party”, where we solve the problem-class in much the same way that 18th century France solved their aristocracy problem. We literally decapitate them. This approach will not jail them for life; this approach will execute them for anti-revolutionary activities.

While the specific details will vary wildly, these are the only two general options we have available to us to effect reform: politics, or force.

No, actually, it doesn’t make you liable for manslaughter. It probably doesn’t even rise to the level of civil liability for wrongful death. They are compliant with the law, and they make sure of that by having their lawyers write the laws. The “anyone involved in the deaths” includes the deceased themselves, who is determined to bear primary responsibility.

We can override the laws they are writing (Guillotine Party) or we can suspend the laws to hold them accountable (guillotine party). But jailing them without a conviction just isn’t feasible.

You hold the pencil and twirl the cassette around on it.

I think OP used literally correctly here.

Then you do not understand what the word “literally” literally means.

While several treatments would work for either, (such as carving up the offending subject with a knife, or sufficient application of chemical or radiative agents), billionaires are an economic problem, not a biologic one.

There is no law providing for such a sentence, so what you are talking about is either “make billionaireism illegal” or “extrajudicial punishment”. In the case of the former, we need a Guillotine Party to take over the DNC much like the Tea Party took over the GOP. Or, we need a guillotine party, French Revolution style, to resolve the problem-class at its source.

Freshwater fish can still have mercury. Even farmed fish can have mercury contamination, if their feed is sourced from the wild.

If you won’t eat fish though that sounds more like a you problem.

Nah, I’m perfectly happy with my hot dogs. You’re the one eating broken thermometers and fluorescent lights.