There's a lot of hostility toward "the rich". Especially billionaires. The hostility is misplaced.
The real divide is not "the rich" versus "everyone else". It is those who seek to rule, versus everyone they seek to rule.
Some of your enemies who seek to rule you are also rich; most of them are not. Even with the rich, it isn't the wealth itself causing the problem; it's how the wealth was amassed and how it is used.
If someone becomes rich by providing products and services people want and are willing to pay for, they are a benefit to us all. They are not your enemy, even if you don't like them as an individual. You are free to trade elsewhere.
Even as a child, I didn't understand the anger toward rich people. I hoped to join their ranks one day, but it didn't happen. It's not Jeff Bezos's or Elon Musk's fault I'm not a millionaire. It's weird how many people seem to imagine it is, like the economy is a pie and the size of someone else's slice means my slice has to be smaller. It doesn't work that way- the pie can keep growing exponentially. In a truly free market, there's enough pie for everyone.
Unfortunately, instead of a free market, we have governments.
Riches gained through politics are different. Political deals where your life, liberty, property, or data are the assets being traded harm you. You are violated by every one of these deals, even if you don't notice. Getting wealthy through the political means is cheating. The only real monopolies are maintained by government. You can't refuse to do "business" with those controlling the political realm.
It's not "the rich", but government, that makes you poorer.
It would be easier to build a successful business without government's roadblocks. Especially the taxes it extracts at every step of building a business, doing business, or trading. Honest businesses are forced to fund their adversary with the taxes extorted from their accounts.
Honest businesses don't use government to stifle competition, force people to do business with them, or chase government contracts. They don't help government control you.
I understand envy. It's possible to feel envy without wanting to hurt those you envy- those you wish you could join. Unless you're a "the grapes are probably sour, anyway" kind of person who thinks more money couldn't possibly do anything to improve your life- against all available evidence.
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A superb article, all the better for having been given wide exposure to public view by the Eastern NM News. How can any reasonable person fail to see its wisdom?
ReplyDeleteYet I don't expect a revolution to result, for I suspect a shortage of reasonable persons. If that's so, only one culprit is a candidate: the government school system. It is a machine for depriving children of he means to reason.
There's a definite dearth of reasonable people in society. I agree with your suspicions as to what is responsible. Govschooling is a plague.
DeleteI know many local readers of the paper have gotten angry at my columns and skip them. Some have told me so. I also get emails from those who've kept reading, though. That's always nice.