r/interestingasfuck • u/eliseereclusvivre • 1d ago

From 2014 to 2025, Mark Zuckerberg bought over 1,400 acres on Kauai Island and stole any land the natives wouldn't sell him, earning the moniker 'the face of neocolonialism.' r/all

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u/RoboticGreg 1d ago

They should buy aren't. Steve Case basically said "these people are getting the shaft and I'm going to do something about it" it is unfortunate that without him they would have been screwed, but it's what happened.

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u/Left_Double_626 1d ago

Why doesn't he give the land back to them? Why must he own it to protect it?

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u/RoboticGreg 1d ago

He pays all the taxes and takes care of required upkeep on roads etc.

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u/Left_Double_626 1d ago

He doesn't need to own the land to do that.

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u/RoboticGreg 1d ago

You have reached the limit of my knowledge. I encourage you to find your own.

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u/lostintime2004 1d ago

Sure, however, owning the land ensures he can continue to do so instead of someone coming in and saying he can't or gets tempted to sell it for development.

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u/Left_Double_626 1d ago

He can also change his mind and sell it off, or use his power over the land as leverage over the locals who depend on him. Who inherits the land when he dies? What if they aren't so benevolent?

While it's good they have a benevolent landlord, the natives should have autonomy.

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u/lostintime2004 1d ago

Again sure, anything is possible. But he currently is the best option for any of those being the best option.

You seem to have a "give it to the natives no matter what" so if I'm correct, you can stop responding and agree to disagree. I am not arguing why one is better than the other, I'm simply answering your questions.

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u/ZombieAlienNinja 1d ago

What if the natives go broke from too many billionaires on the island and they are forced to sell? At least he can afford to own the land.

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u/shroomsAndWrstershir 1d ago

How would one's neighbors being billionaires cause a landowner to go broke? (I'm assuming that you're a landowner, because otherwise, selling wouldn't be applicable.)

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u/-mancomb-seepgood- 2h ago

Land becomes more expensive, taxes go up

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u/Muscle_Bitch 1d ago

The obvious answer is that a billionaire can't be bought by another billionaire.

If he distributes his 38,000 acres among 380 native families then it's easy for some other less benevolent billionaire to come in and make 380 offers that can't be refused.

I like my house and could happily live in it for the rest of my life, but if someone knocks on my door tomorrow and offers me 4x it's value. It's theirs.

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u/CrossplayQuentin 1d ago

Ding ding. it's nice to think that oh, the best thing is to give this land to the native families! But those families are subject to the same pressures as the rest of us normies - and they'll cave under them. The Decendants is literally about this exact thing.

Case holding the land staves off that pressure, bc he is not subject to it. Yeah, maybe someday he might sell if the price is right - but that price would have to be MUCH higher than if normies owned the land. Or, honestly, even the government, given the state of the BLM these days.

Billionaires shouldn't exist, they are all immoral by nature. But they're also people, and people have shit they care about. Case cares about this - and I hope he saves as much of the island from Zoinkiboinks's greedy clutches as possible. Let them [the billionaire jerks] fight!

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u/ChrisThomasAP 1d ago

maintaining land is extremely expensive even without building. disbursing the land to a select group, even a group of natives, does not guarantee the land will still continue to serve all natives and residents equally

i mean i'm not him, but that would be a solid line of reasoning, and in effect it's what's happening there now