Our country is being run by billionaires. Do you feel comfortable about that?
I don’t.
I don’t think they have the slightest understanding of living a life not dripping with money.
I’m a lucky thousandaire. I have a roof over my head and I’m not starving or wondering where the next meal will come from. But so many people are. Or are living on the streets because they can’t afford rent. To the billionaires, the concept of poverty translates to keeping those pesky misfits out of their lives.
One of those billionaires is our president. He lies so much and cheats so much that it’s hard to know just how much money he has amassed. It’s a good thing that when he was younger he had Daddy to pull him out of trouble.
Another one is Elon Musk. The richest man in the world. There is a lot that impresses me about him. To me it takes a gigantic amount of courage and self-confidence to start a huge venture like a company of the magnitude of SpaceX. And to have the vision to believe in recoverable boosters. It truly is remarkable that he could have become so much of a leader in space flight in an area requiring massive investment that only the government could do in the past. I certainly don’t begrudge him amassing huge wealth from his courage and success.
But he’s not a nice man.
And his success as a businessman doesn’t mean he understands government and governing. Seems to me he’s more familiar with the “king” concept of government than the democratic one. After all, a kingdom is a lot easier to understand than a democracy because it’s a much simpler idea. And, in fact, his actions the past two months prove the point that he doesn’t understand (or care) about democracy. And he’s just one representative of all the richies now in charge.
Their inability to understand thousandaires makes it easy for them, in their quest to save money, to propose a decrease in Social Security benefits or a cut in Medicare reimbursements. After all, in their minds it amounts to a trivial cutback for any one individual, a cutback which, if applied to themselves, would be filled with just the tiniest bit of their great fortune. But to many thousandaires such a cutback means loss of a meal or eviction.
Similarly, can a billionaire even conceive of not being able to pay a medical bill. To them it would be no big deal to cover a medical procedure. But to many thousandaires it could result in delay of medical treatment and be a death sentence.
But I bet the billionaires will accept any benefits they might happen to receive.
Because when you’re a billionaire you can never have too much money.
Alas, when you’re a thousandaire you can never have enough money.
So why don’t the people do something about it. After all, the thousandaires overwhelmingly outnumber the billionaires?
I wish I had an answer. It’s discouraging, because in a recent poll conducted in my state well over half the people thought Trump and his henchmen were doing a wonderful job. My caring neighbor about whom I’ve spoken before agrees.
What is wrong with us?
I don’t.
I don’t think they have the slightest understanding of living a life not dripping with money.
I’m a lucky thousandaire. I have a roof over my head and I’m not starving or wondering where the next meal will come from. But so many people are. Or are living on the streets because they can’t afford rent. To the billionaires, the concept of poverty translates to keeping those pesky misfits out of their lives.
One of those billionaires is our president. He lies so much and cheats so much that it’s hard to know just how much money he has amassed. It’s a good thing that when he was younger he had Daddy to pull him out of trouble.
Another one is Elon Musk. The richest man in the world. There is a lot that impresses me about him. To me it takes a gigantic amount of courage and self-confidence to start a huge venture like a company of the magnitude of SpaceX. And to have the vision to believe in recoverable boosters. It truly is remarkable that he could have become so much of a leader in space flight in an area requiring massive investment that only the government could do in the past. I certainly don’t begrudge him amassing huge wealth from his courage and success.
But he’s not a nice man.
And his success as a businessman doesn’t mean he understands government and governing. Seems to me he’s more familiar with the “king” concept of government than the democratic one. After all, a kingdom is a lot easier to understand than a democracy because it’s a much simpler idea. And, in fact, his actions the past two months prove the point that he doesn’t understand (or care) about democracy. And he’s just one representative of all the richies now in charge.
Their inability to understand thousandaires makes it easy for them, in their quest to save money, to propose a decrease in Social Security benefits or a cut in Medicare reimbursements. After all, in their minds it amounts to a trivial cutback for any one individual, a cutback which, if applied to themselves, would be filled with just the tiniest bit of their great fortune. But to many thousandaires such a cutback means loss of a meal or eviction.
Similarly, can a billionaire even conceive of not being able to pay a medical bill. To them it would be no big deal to cover a medical procedure. But to many thousandaires it could result in delay of medical treatment and be a death sentence.
But I bet the billionaires will accept any benefits they might happen to receive.
Because when you’re a billionaire you can never have too much money.
Alas, when you’re a thousandaire you can never have enough money.
So why don’t the people do something about it. After all, the thousandaires overwhelmingly outnumber the billionaires?
I wish I had an answer. It’s discouraging, because in a recent poll conducted in my state well over half the people thought Trump and his henchmen were doing a wonderful job. My caring neighbor about whom I’ve spoken before agrees.
What is wrong with us?
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