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This reminds me of the speech Bill Murray’s character gives at the start of Rushmore [0]:

> You guys have it real easy. I never had it like this where I grew up. But I send my kids here because the fact is you go to one of the best schools in the country: Rushmore. Now, for some of you it doesn't matter. You were born rich and you're going to stay rich. But here's my advice to the rest of you: Take dead aim on the rich boys. Get them in the crosshairs and take them down. Just remember, they can buy anything but they can't buy backbone. Don't let them forget it. Thank you.

0: https://youtu.be/m5RbdReBMLE?si=ZfY166PU1ti5_QCg


This guy: best chapel speaker I have ever seen.

In all seriousness, I took that speech on as my own personal motto for the rest of my life. Take dead aim at those rich kids, indeed!

I'm sure they make good friends, being perpetually bored and all [like us] ;)
The current crop of ultrabillionaires may lack many things but I don't think backbone is on the list. They are as ruthless as any robber baron or industrialist of old. They can buy, sell, and eliminate people and governments as they see fit. Good luck getting close enough to take actual or metaphorical aim.
The ones who "made" their billions, sure. Not their kids.
The Trump children haven't fallen far from the tree. Don't know about Bezos, Gates, etc. but if their kids (if they have them) were off doing socially redeeming works I'm sure it would be known. Private security is pretty good insulation against consequences, spine or no spine.
I think “backbone” in this context is a stand-in for “integrity” and/or “honor”. I think the fact that they can “buy, sell, and eliminate people and governments as they see fit” is the obvious proof that they don’t possess any real integrity, dignity, or honor for themselves or other people - so, no, they don’t have “backbone”. Power, wealth, sure. But not backbone.
I don't know the movie. I took 'backbone' as a synonym for strength, will, and/or an iron fist to accumulate power and wealth vs. the other terms.
Rushmore, I think one of the greatest movies ever (and i don't like other Anderson's movies [1]).

Going back to the topic I think Jensen is right 99.9999 % of the time. An exception could be Bill Gates and I don't think that is because him was born in a priviledged family but because he has an unique drive [2].

[1] https://www.imdb.com/user/ur0601133/ratings

[2] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41611.Hard_Drive

Man, I dunno, I tend to agree that Rushmore is his best (at the least, it has had the most influence on me), but I think it's a very close thing between it and The Royal Tannenbaums. (But after that there is certainly a large gap to the next best.)
I agree that could be a stretch but Rushmore does not only depict a nerd but one that is creative and iconoclast. Many times we have a bond with a movie for personal reasons that are not shared with the rest. I shared my ranking where there are movies which are classical top and others personal takes. That is the reason to create these (non algorithmic/AI) lists: share and help others to move from the average^average.
No Bottle Rocket?

I think that is the best.

It's certainly the most raw and personal, to its benefit, but it's too unpolished to be as great as the others.

I wish he had remade it like a decade ago, after honing his style and technical talents, and with a right-sized budget. I'd still go see it if he did a remake now, but I doubt it would maintain enough of its spark at this point :)

Bill gates’ mother was an executive at ibm, many say that has played a role when he was trying to sell dos to ibm. On top of being born in a privileged family, i mean.

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