The World's Billionaires - Part II

For those who missed part one, click here.

Many of the world's billionaires built their billions by making products or offering services that are actually a detriment to society. Some examples are:

1) Lending/credit companies: These companies feed on society's vanity. They lend people money regardless of whether or not they have means of paying it back. Then, they have the gall to charge an exorbitant APR or interest amount when people don't pay off these loans in a timely fashion.

2) The food industry: Despite "recent" findings that certain foods are much better for you than others, the food industry makes the healthier foods more expensive and keeps the less healthy food at lower prices. For instance, there's no reason for a box of Raisin Bran to cost $5.99 at Sam's Club versus a box of Special K or Kashi cereal costing $7.99. Furthermore, food manufacturers spend millions advertising food that they know is unhealthy so that people will buy it. Meanwhile, they'll spend a fraction of that promoting healthy foods.

3) The tobacco industry is among the worst offenders. The tobacco industry is targeting younger and younger people even though you have to be at least 18 to purchase cigarettes. Then, they're offering solutions on how to quit and I'm sure they're receiving kick backs from companies like GlaxoSmithKline for offering said solutions.

4) The pharmaceutical industry is part of the problem too. They seem more interested in bandaging a problem than actually finding a solution (i.e. cure). For instance, why not find a cure for male pattern baldness rather than topical bandages for the problem that you have to keep using for the rest of your life. To make matters worse, some of these products aren't even effective, but desperate people buy them anyway hoping for a miracle. Drugs like Viagra are the real kicker. The fact is that erectile dysfunction is generally caused by either health issues that restrict the flow of blood or psychological issues that prevent a man from becoming erect. Yet, pharmaceutical companies have manufactured products that either play with hormones causing an erection within an hour after the product is taken or that dilate blood vessels for a period of approximately 36 hours to induce better blood flow. However, both the physical and psychological issues associated with ED are indicators of bigger problems (i.e. clogged arteries, "I just don't find my wife attractive anymore" or "My wife cheated on me and I don't feel comfortable having sex with her anymore").

5) The oil industry is probably the most corrupt of all. For one thing, big oil bribed Charles Nelson Pogue to keep him from selling his blueprints to car manufacturers. If someone could design an efficient carburetor engine in the 1930's, imagine what someone could do with the efficiency of fuel injector engines. Also, OPEC has capped oil production. They have done this despite the fact that there's more oil than most people currently know about right here in North America. There's a great article starting on page 64 in the April 2008 issue of Popular Mechanics that shines light on this fact. Unfortunately, that article is not available online. Nevertheless, big oil continues to earn record profits according to the 2007 report. Disgusting isn't it?

Those are just a few examples of the horrible things that billionaires do to acquire that much money. While no single person could ever put a stop to this, the government could step in and say "This is wrong and we are not going to condone such disgusting behavior." Then, tax and penalize the heck out of these companies until they change their ways.

The solution to these issues begs the question: What should government do?