With Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) making the headlines again, with her statement against Representative Ted Yoho and the faux-pology for his disorderly conduct, it’s worth revisiting the reason she created ripples within the American media back in 2019. In an interview with author Ta-Nehisi Coates, AOC elaborated upon the suggested 70% marginal tax rate for people earning over $10 million a year and questioned the moral existence of billionaires. Since then, the issue has been gaining traction. The image of billionaires as larger than life, eccentric and philanthropic figures, flaunting the typical “rags-to-riches” story and reinstating everyone’s belief in the potency of the American Dream is slowly being dismantled.
The existence of billionaires in a society riddled with poverty, high unemployment rates and gaping wealth inequality becomes a highly questionable phenomena. In the times of the pandemic, when jobs are being lost left, right and centre, the super rich have actually been growing richer by the day, given that the stocks market has become completely unhinged from the ground reality.
Billionaires of today have consumed our collective imagination. We feature them on magazine covers, speculate their political preferences, laud them for doing the bare minimum and dream about joining the league some day. For long, billionaires have been branding themselves as the pall bearers of world-changing innovation. When the government fails to create employment for the citizens, it’s the mighty stalwarts with heavy pockets who sweep in to save the day by doling out jobs at minimum wage and inhumane working conditions. As we ail them for saving the day, we forget that it is on the backs of labour exploitation that they make all their money. Given the digital and entrepreneurship ecosystem of today and the rise of AI, the very job-creation that saves them outright vindication is going to vanish.
What argument then, would they use to legitimize the wealth they hoard? Philanthropy?
Philanthropy can be touted as another farce of our times. In the garb of charity, the top 1% shell out just enough to make a statement with the masses, while doing little to tackle the bigger issue at hand, that of systemic inequality. More so, they have gone ahead and co-opted the cause of wealth equality and shaped it to their benefit. The fact that fewer than 200 billionaires signed the Giving Pledge formed by Warren Buffet and Bill and Melinda Gates is a tell tale sign that charity is a branding strategy that allows the rich to hold on to their wealth. If they were so inclined to help, they could have ensured better wages and humane working conditions for their employees.
So, if we can agree that wealth accumulation is immoral, can we work towards undoing it? Well, not if we look at it as an overnight project. More than the individual, subscribers of this school of thought question the larger economic and political framework that allows for capital to accumulate with the chosen few. In fact, this, right here, is a prime example of failure of capitalism.
As much as neo-classical strains of economics would want you to believe that all people are like atoms in the economy, coming from the same backgrounds, having access to equal opportunities and privileges, the ground reality stands in stark contrast. Most billionaires are born into wealth, have access to premiere education and have the necessary contacts to climb the economic ladder. In doing so, they make the barriers higher and higher for those who want to follow a similar trajectory but don’t share a similar background.
Wealth redistribution is a mammoth, but inevitable task. The aim should be to dismantle wealth accumulation enabling institutions on a societal level. While taxing the super rich sounds like a good plan, it might not be redistributive enough. We would also need to reshape the digital economy to improve the ratio between the super rich and others.
Some might argue for the need of “ethical billionaires”. While we do have morally conscious people in the 1% club, their numbers just don’t suffice. In justifying their presence, we are inevitably making space for the bad ones to exist as well. With them, they bring their problems and their politics and their influence over policies which affect millions of people.
At this stage, where the issue of wealth inequality is set to become worse, it’s high time we end our dalliances with billionaires and instead of chasing the American Dream, we muse about a more just and equal society.
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