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Wealth worship makes a high hurdle [1]

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Date: 2023-05-02  

‘Raising taxes on the super wealthy is a hurdle that even the nation’s most left-leaning states have yet to overcome.”

Maya Miller, THE SACRAMENTO BEE, 1/25/2023

We Americans harbor an enduring myth about the remarkable personalities of wealthy people, as if their unparalleled singularity allows them to perceive realities that are beyond the ken of us humble commoners—making them superior. Though the myth shows signs of crumbling in the light of electronic day, millions still believe that our moneyed elites, being special, create the means by which the entire human race can progress—therefore, they should be allowed to do whatever they want, and to keep whatever they get, which will allow everyone else to prosper. The super-hero status of our greediest citizens goes back to the American Revolution, when well-to-to commoners took over from the British nobility as our upper class. With independence, plutocrats replaced aristocrats. Since then, they have ruled by perpetuating the myth of their singular superiority—“rugged individualism”—fighting off many challenges along the way.

Upper classes have always depended on myth to set themselves above the riff-raff they rule. Who would obey them, if they were perceived as no better than anyone else? For millennia, elites everywhere claimed descent from divinities to explain why they deserved special status. With the advent of Christianity, the myth morphed into “Divine Right,” implying that monarchs were human, but anointed by God to rule the lower classes in His name. That theory was open to interpretation—witness the countless wars fought by the “anointed ones” against one another, apparently over who had the “real” divine right to rule. Modern elites promote the myth that their avarice advances the entire human race—theoretically replacing divine right with divine purpose. For proof (as if actual divine intervention would require proof) the plutocrats’ spokespersons incessantly point to all the jobs we underlings get paid to do. But those who hire can also fire, which leaves the vast majority of Earth’s population dependent for survival on decisions made by the upper crust—decisions which history shows us are not all that wise.

Since the American Revolution debunked the claims of kings to possess divine rights, the plutocrats who took over the world have caused immense troubles, which are becoming more obvious all the time. Ecological destruction, pollution and climate change; the uprooting of established societies worldwide; are direct results of free-ranging greed on the part of wealthy rulers. Increasingly destructive wars over resources and markets are ongoing. Is this the price we must pay to maintain the divine purpose of “rugged individualists” who hire some of us, sometimes? Society’s wealthy oligarchs deserve credit for perpetuating the myth of their superiority, despite mounting and recurring evidence to the contrary. With universal electronic information, we now can witness the personal hijinks and quirks of many of our wealthy first citizens. Our plebeian eyes have been opened to the fact that many of those idols are exceptional only for having some serious anti-social disorders which, when allowed expression by powerful people without social boundaries, actually harm society as a whole.

As a non-believer of the creed that the most beneficial human trait is ruthless obsession with wealth and power, I propose that we look into ways to help those unfortunates whose lives are poisoned by their obsessions. Perhaps there are therapies or medications that could help them temper their anti-social characteristics. At any rate, they should not be allowed to rule the world without any observation, input, or control from underlings who must live with the consequences. The unimaginably wealthy can buy pundits to sing their praises and politicians to fulfill their wishes. The needs of humanity get ignored, because after all, the wealthy rulers “give us jobs.” The system keeps mankind in the loop of ever-increasing environmental abuse, worker exploitation, public ignorance, and war. Is there another way—maybe a variety of ways—by which we all can benefit from Earth’s bounty? Science and technology make the world a provident place. Plenty for everyone is within reach, but obviously, the world is mismanaged. Can the human race survive if we continue to allow a tiny minority of ultra-wealthy neurotics to freely mismanage the world?

So far, humanity continues to reap the harvest of uninhibited plutocratic insanity. A bill in the California Legislature would increase by small amounts the taxes that billionaires and multi-millionaires pay. The revenues would provide services to help raise living standards for those who are struggling, or failing, to get by in this hyper-productive economy. With more money in circulation, more people will get to spend it, increasing wealth for everyone. The general welfare is ill-served by letting the ultra-rich keep wealth far beyond their capacity to spend. If these proposed tax increases are enacted, the obscenely rich will still be obscenely rich. Yet this bill has scant chance of seeing the light of day, much less being passed. California’s Constitution requires a two-thirds majority to raise taxes, and this requirement has been steadfastly protected by generations of voters. The greediest among us, even with their public displays of anti-social neuroses, are virtually guaranteed to hoard their wealth and stay in power, even though most voters actually believe the rich should be required to pay higher taxes. The status quo seems invulnerable, for reasons that have more to do with dogma than actual facts.

The dogma of greed worship is hard to explain, which is typical of organized religions—making sense is unimportant to true believers. But to my best efforts at understanding, the dogma holds that everyone in the world will be happy, healthy, and wise only if the most avaricious and ruthlessly selfish people get to reign absolutely over everyone else, all the while ignoring the needs of everyone else—no matter what. If we have yet to achieve this promised earthly paradise, according to the dogma, it is because we lack patience, or else we try to interfere by letting government regulate this natural state of things. Rather than consider the needs of the vast majority of people, statewide, nationwide, and worldwide, dogma tells us we just need more faith in the ultimate beneficence of greed. The destructive neuroses of plutocrats are to be ignored, same as climate change, widespread poverty, and ongoing warfare.

It seems that some days of reckoning are approaching. With mounting evidence that society’s rulers are unfit to run the world for the benefit of all (including themselves in the long run) maybe the time has arrived for the world’s plebes to take over. The calamities of climate, war, poverty, and ecological destruction are way ahead of that promised land of universal prosperity resulting from unhindered greed. If sick people who need our help are instead allowed to reign supreme, they are practically guaranteed against ever getting well. At the same time, millions or billions of human lives, and perhaps civilization itself, are at grave risk. One of the plutocrats who founded the American republic set down sentiments which still serve as a beacon toward our ultimate goal, even though we have often lost sight of it: “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” So even America's ruling elites pay lip service to higher ideals than those they usually seek. We now have the means to achieve the goal of equality. Have we the will?

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/2/2167099/-Wealth-worship-makes-a-high-hurdle

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