Rich & Richer
I caught the first few minutes of this conversation that Joe Rogan had with Bernie Sanders recently. In it, Sanders states that it would take the sum total of the net worth of 52% of America’s least wealthy to match the wealth of Elon Musk. So the wealth of the most wealthy man matches the cumulative wealth of the bottom 52% in America, in terms of net financial worth. Bernie sees this as evidence that there is a problem in our society.
Do I think it is “good” that Elon’s relative net worth matches that of the lowest 52% of our society, combined? No. But I don’t think it is automatically bad. I hold this view for two reasons.
First, I believe that the primary driver of wealth disparity is time. The longer that we maintain a relatively peaceful, secure society where capitalists can flourish, the more the “haves” can grow their wealth. I understand that Musk’s wealth was mostly accumulated in his lifetime, which is more an indication of the booming tech industry and his uniqueness as a businessperson.
Second, even though Musk has accumulated more dollars than anyone in history, he is not as wealthy as some of his Gilded Age peers in terms of wealth as a percent of U.S. Gross Domestic Product. With a net worth of $900 million in 1913, John D. Rockefeller’s wealth rose to nearly 3% of GDP in that year. The U.S. GDP for this year is projected to come in around $29.3 trillion dollars, putting Musk’s current net worth of $363 million at just 1.24% of GDP. So, on a relative scale, Musk does not command as big a slice of the economy as some of his predecessors.
The question on my mind is: How does the least wealthy 52% of America live? What is their quality of life? There will always be outliers on the performance curve. I’m comfortable with our society producing high-achievers, but not at the expense of average Americans living a reasonably good life. At this moment, I can’t say that I’ve done my homework well enough to know how well this lower 52% is living, I’m sorry to say.
There are about 10,835 people in America with a net worth of $100,000,000 or greater - 902 of whom are billionaires. As odd as it may sound, someone who has amassed “just” $100,000,000 in their lifetime will typically have done so in what most of us would consider to be the “right” way, in the sense that they’ve paid taxes on that wealth as it accumulated.
It’s the weird edge cases like Musk, whose wealth is mostly on paper and growing so fast, that present a unique challenge, in terms of Musk paying anything resembling his “fair share” of taxes. So long as he keeps his wealth encased in the companies he founded, there will be no “taxable event” that would allow Musks’s wealth accumulation achievements to benefit society at large. Before my libertarian friends point out that any money given to government is money squandered, I’ll simply say that there are lots of things that all of us rely on daily that is best built and maintained collectively through some form of government.
But I can’t help but think about people like Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt and Henry Ford. While each had their own philosophy of philanthropy, they seemed to share a greater concern with lifting up people on the lower rungs of the socioeconomic ladder than the concerns of their present day counterparts. They seemed to understand that if society doesn’t work for most of us, it may not work for any of us.
I worked a shift at Always Forward Crossfit’s booth on the midway at Granville’s July 4th celebration this week. The unifying factor that kept a few people coming back multiple times to swing the sledgehammer and make the bell ring was this: They believed they could do it. They came close on their first attempts, so they wanted to keep trying. We all need to believe that we can make the bell ring in life. And I hope that those high on the economic performance curve take reasonable steps to ensure that more people can make the bell ring because of their successes.
Sunday Supper
This Sunday how about this Lemon & Garlic Chicken w/ Cherry Tomatoes, or this Coconut Miso Salmon Curry? For dessert, I recommend this Peach Cobbler that is accented with saffron and honey.
Sunday Music
This Sunday check out this year-old performance by Thee Sacred Souls at the NPR Tiny Desk. Khruangbin is always a good listen, too. This Reggae Mix is fun as well. Enjoy!
If you know anyone who might like this essay, please share it with them.
Have a great week ahead! You can do anything you set your mind to. Let me know how I can help.
Peace & Love,