Document: WM-098 P. Webb
Category: Personal 2026-07-08
What I’d do with a BILLION dollars
Abstract
Hey Siri, play "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)" by Nas
and Lauren Hill.
Body
There’s been much hullabaloo about the world’s favorite frog-built
barrel-chested Ewok[1] with hourglass ankles[2] becoming the first
TRILLIONAIRE as of late, with his most fervent and financially-poor
supporters celebrating this achievement as if its theirs. Personally,
I don’t get it but I imagine it matches my elation about Kendrick
Lamar at the Super Bowl (same with the Spanish diaspora when Bad
Bunny was at the Super Bowl). The difference is, these musical
artists speak truth to power and spread messages of unity and love.
Anyhoo.
The scale of wealth in America is staggering. A few months ago I saw
a post[3] on Instagram attempting to illustrate just how massive the
gap between a million and a billion is. Look at like this:
- a million seconds = 12 days
- a billion seconds = 32 years
The median U.S. household made $83,780 in 2024. This average
household would need to work eleven THOUSAND (plus 943) years to make
a billion. The average person not being able to fathom this (hi) have
difficulty understanding wealth policies.
An overwhelming majority of the world’s billionaires live in the U.S.
How do they keep it? Unrealized gains are never taxed; these are
things like stocks and real estate. Billionaires don’t spend their
own money if they can help it. With so many assets, they’re able to
take out low interest loans…a loan isn’t income. No income, no tax!
Must be nice!
I believe if Bernie Sanders wasn’t cucked by the Democrats, the U.S.
would be in a much better place. A 10% wealth tax would raise nearly
$700 BILLION to:
1) end child hunger for a decade
2) free pre-K for every child for five years
3) expand affordable housing nationwide
4) cancel ALL medical debt in the U.S.
And you’ll still have ~$200 billion left over, and the billionaires
would still be billionaires!!
I read an article[4] this morning where the author ponders why
billionaires put on flowery performances regarding their philanthropy
and why they aren’t just honest about it? Instead of "I’m donating
my money to charity," it’s "I’m going to use my money to do charity."
That nuance is key and reading Ibrahim’s article pushed me to finally
write what’s been in my head for the past week.
## The Wibby Billy Plan
I’m a millennial. The future we were promised as kids has yet to
materialize. I’m now 38 with a wife and kids. Three wars and a couple
recessions has led me to an inconvient truth; we’re gonna have to
build what we were promised (while sidestepping edgelords, senile
emperors, and angry nerds intent on cosplaying the megacorps in
Cyberpunk 2077).
Here’s what I’d spend a billy on:
- dumb appliances, made tough
- The brand would simply be WEBB (like SONY, but my surname). TVs,
washing machines, dishwashers, tractors, you name it.
- the Apple of Linux computing
- Linux is having an incredible moment thanks to companies like
Framework and Valve. It could have an even greater moment if a
company with the resources of an Apple or Microsoft entered the
fray, giving Linux equal footing with these behemoths. I have
ideas[5] in this realm, gotta finish other projects first. The
desktop modding scene of the early 2000s holds a special place in
my heart and I want to (help) bring it back.
- replace ICANN
- ICANN is supposed to steward the internet but they’ve been doing
nothing for decades but collecting fees. I do think blockchain is
the way to go (with DNS!!) and am slowly working on this[6].
- hoverboards
- Every billionaire has their pet project. I’ve wanted one since I
became aware of hovercrafts as a kid. My dad ordered a blueprint
from a magazine so we could build one…we never did but I still
have the blueprint! Somewhere! Lexus, for some reason[7], made a
hoverboard as a marketing stunt and that’s the last time any
company has done something about this.
- invest in eco-friendly stuff
- There’s this company making bricks from fabric[8] and they look
pretty cool. Western countries generate so much waste and it sits
in landfills on floating barges. Gross and fucked up. Companies
who have already identified opportunities and processing need
support to scale. I love space as much as the next billionaire
(my rap alias is Spaceman Fresh FFS) but let’s take care of where
we’re at, first. When you’re on a plane and the flight attendants
are informing us what to do in the event of an emergency, we’re
instructued to put our own face mask on before helping others.
Makes sense to treat our planet the same way.
- overhaul healthcare in America
- Okay, I might need a few billion for this. There’s money to be
made in keeping people sick so after I pay off everyone gleefully
in healthcare for perverse incentives, I’m left with understaffed
facilities and Mark Cuban. Or maybe, start a new healthcare plan
for non-billionaires/non-millionaries. I’m just excluding a few
thousand people, right?
- Kimoyo Beads
- I mean, come ON![9] Miniaturizing tech for these to exist IRL has
gotta be expensive af. Apple could never…unless?
- build a city
- Today’s billionaires are cowards. Y’all have all this money and
decide to move to some cramped area code where you can hobnob
with celebrities. LAME. You don’t like the government so you
donate millions to PACs when you could just make your own
government. SMDH. My city would have self-repairing roads and
piezo-electricity everywhere. My grid would make other cities beg
for the same. Every citizen would have next-generation fiber and
many crops would be local. Rooftop gardens everywhere. Frutiger
Aero music mixes on YouTube would use literal pictures of
my city.
The hundreds of billions I’d make as a result of these efforts would
go towards ending child hunger and improving education. All that good
stuff. The sad part about all this? I spent an hour working on this
list and not only am I sure I’m missing some things, I bet I’d still
have money left over. 🕸️