In the case of Bernie I always felt it was one of his weapons to let the object of his disapproval know there wasn't anything they could do about it. Even if one did have that kind of money what a poor judgement to sink so much into a system one is being abused at just so they can then devote a lot of time to warring.
I love that story too. I heard it told a little differently many years ago, but the gist of it was still there. 😀
A real sign of a mental health issue right there.
I was told that by a friend on Hive I respect when up against a whale curator that had a beef with Natural Medicine (the straw that broke the very overworked back of me, leading that community). I was flabbergasted as I'd been trying for three years and wed finally made 70k in Hive power through blood, sweat and tears and community delegations - small, mind, as we had no whale support as none of them get alternative health - and to be told that I should invest more to make a difference floored me. I think the lack of empathy was perhaps what did it. Since then I've been far more disheartened with the whole thing. Anything to do with marketing, PUD, etc feels like brainwashing to me. The little people blindly do all the work whilst the big profit. Wait that sounds like real life. Oh yes. The utopian dream utterly fell apart for me. Now I focus on writing, which I love, and the creative, interesting, human souls I connect with globally every day. Be damned if I was going to keep breaking my back lifting up my corner when no one would help hold the tent poles so I could have a pee.
I've found that to be a common theme in these stake models. It's a shame that so many get to big for their britches once they hold a lot of stake. I'm sorry you had to go through that, I've seen firsthand many who have found themselves on the receiver end of abuse like that for no apparent reason usually.