Member-only story
Who Are You to Tell Billionaires How to Spend Their Money!?
Recently I was asked, “Who are you to tell billionaires how to spend their money!?” when I suggested online that the 0.1% aren’t paying their fair share underneath a post featuring someone’s mega yacht. Ignoring how confused I am by how many cheerleaders the rich have cultivated amongst the very people whom they are exploiting, I gave a simple reply: “I’m someone who is living on a planet being destroyed by unregulated consumption, as are you.”
For me, it is just that simple. The ultra-rich’s wealth is not created in a vacuum; it comes from vacuuming up a disproportionate share of everything they can get their hands on. So, how they choose to spend their money and, just as importantly, make it, impacts other people; therefore, other people should have a say in both. At a time when the shortcomings and inefficiencies of capitalism and its sacred “free market” are growing increasingly obvious, one gigantic, glaring flaw of it stands out: capitalists get to socialize the harm they cause while privatizing their profits.
Take my daily drive to work. I’m lucky in that it usually only takes 20 to 25 minutes, but nearly a quarter of that time is spent stuck…
